>>> [!note] Migrated issue <!-- Drupal.org comment --> <!-- Migrated from issue #3618367. --> Reported by: [mably](https://www.drupal.org/user/3375160) Related to !18 >>> <h3>Problem/Motivation</h3> <p>Selecting one of this module's widgets does nothing visible until <em>Maximum number of characters</em> is set to a non-zero value. Every widget gates the whole counter on that setting, for example <code>TextareaWithSummaryAndCounterWidget::formElement()</code> with <code>if ($maxlength = $this-&gt;getSetting('maxlength'))</code>, and the setting defaults to 0. With no maximum the field gets no counter class, no <code>drupalSettings.textfieldCounter</code> entry and no library, so the JavaScript has nothing to attach to.</p> <p>The result is that choosing a widget whose name promises a counter shows no counter at all, and the settings summary reports <em>Maximum number of characters: Disabled</em>, which reads as though the counter were disabled rather than the limit.</p> <h3>Proposed resolution</h3> <p>When no maximum is set, still display the counter, showing the used count only.</p> <ul> <li>Call <code>fieldFormElement()</code> unconditionally in the five widgets, and keep only the validation gated on a non-zero maximum: the <code>#element_validate</code> callback and the <code>preventSubmit</code> setting the JavaScript reads.</li> <li>Use a count-only status message when there is no maximum, since <code>@maxlength</code> and <code>@remaining_count</code> have no meaning then. A <code>getDefaultCountOnlyStatusMessage()</code> alongside the existing default, returning the used count wrapped in the <code>current_count</code> span, avoids adding another setting.</li> <li>In <code>textWatcher()</code> and <code>refreshCounter()</code>, create and update the counter regardless of the maximum, but compute <code>remaining</code> and call <code>checkClasses()</code> only when a maximum exists. Without that guard <code>remaining</code> is negative for every field, which would add <code>textcount_over</code> and style a perfectly valid field as an error.</li> <li>Reword the maximum setting description and its summary so they say the limit is disabled, not the counter.</li> </ul> <h3>Remaining tasks</h3> <p>A test case with the maximum set to 0, asserting that the used count updates and that neither <code>textcount_warning</code> nor <code>textcount_over</code> is applied.</p> <p>This is targeted at the 3.x branch proposed in <span class="drupalorg-gitlab-issue-link drupalorg-gitlab-link-wrapper"><a href="https://git.drupalcode.org/project/textfield_counter/-/work_items/3618359" class="drupalorg-gitlab-link">https://git.drupalcode.org/project/textfield_counter/-/work_items/3618359</a></span>, since it changes what an existing field displays. It also touches the same JavaScript and widgets as <span class="drupalorg-gitlab-issue-link drupalorg-gitlab-link-wrapper"><a href="https://git.drupalcode.org/project/textfield_counter/-/work_items/3618283" class="drupalorg-gitlab-link">https://git.drupalcode.org/project/textfield_counter/-/work_items/3618283</a></span>, so it follows both.</p> <h3>User interface changes</h3> <p>A field whose widget has no maximum now shows a counter reporting the number of characters used. Nothing changes for a widget that has a maximum.</p> <h3>API changes</h3> <p>None in code. The change is visible rather than structural: no setting changes shape and existing configuration keeps working, but a field whose widget has no maximum starts displaying a counter where it previously displayed nothing, which is why this belongs in a new major version.</p> <h3>Data model changes</h3> <p>None.</p> <p>AI-Generated: Yes (Claude Code was used to help draft this issue summary. I reviewed it before posting; there is no code on this issue yet.)</p>