> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.explo.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Text Input

> The text input element allows you to process user inputted text on your dashboard.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/explo/CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL/images/creating-dashboards/text-input-1.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL&q=85&s=292001aacdad6f832fdfc856b478b17c" alt="Text Input element" width="210" height="226" data-path="images/creating-dashboards/text-input-1.png" />

## What it does

The text input allows you to capture a users text input and configure the
dashboard to respond to the inputted text.

## Configuration

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/explo/CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL/images/creating-dashboards/text-input-2.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL&q=85&s=b76c6dd26d2c2c5e18a68c3e3439ba63" alt="" width="432" height="246" data-path="images/creating-dashboards/text-input-2.png" />

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/explo/CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL/images/creating-dashboards/text-input-3.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=CaJC4DeBEWf_KlnL&q=85&s=b859771b33366d6f26fb90ede7ab929e" alt="" width="432" height="498" data-path="images/creating-dashboards/text-input-3.png" />

### Basic Configuration

Available by accessing the `Setup` and `Preferences` tabs

| Configuration Option        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Allowable entries           | Select between whether a user can input all characters, or just numbers in the textfield                                                                                                                              |
| Default Value               | Set a default value for the text input available on load                                                                                                                                                              |
| Label                       | This label appears above the text input and can be configured to describe how the text input should be used.                                                                                                          |
| Placeholder Text            | This is the message shown in the text input when no input has been written by the user yet.                                                                                                                           |
| Search Icon                 | This icon can be toggled on if the text input is being used as a search bar.                                                                                                                                          |
| Enable Dependency Selection | When enabled, you may create a dependency between this element and other elements on the dashboard. When this element is dependent on an element selected, it will be disabled until a value is selected by the user. |

## Variable Usage

In the SQL query, use the following syntax

```sql theme={null}
--- search bar usage: If you wish to use this text input element as a search bar for,
--- a data table, you can configure the SQL editor like this, and the user will be
--- able to search the table based on column_1
WHERE 1=1
[[AND column_1 = {{text_input1}}]]
```

## Filtering

You can now filter directly your charts in the UI elements themselves. For more information on this process, see the [filtering section of the overview page](/creating-dashboards/ui-elements#filtering).