If you place the containing the remaining characters in the Label your approach will be more accessible to screen readers as they only speak labels when in forms mode.

i.e.

Description (0/300 characters)

Mark

function charCounter(id, maxlimit, limited){
    if (!$('counter-'+id)){
        $(id).insert({after: '<div id="counter-'+id+'"></div>'});
    }
    if($F(id).length >= maxlimit){
        if(limited){    $(id).value = $F(id).substring(0, maxlimit); }
        $('counter-'+id).addClassName('charcount-limit');
        $('counter-'+id).removeClassName('charcount-safe');
    } else {    
        $('counter-'+id).removeClassName('charcount-limit');
        $('counter-'+id).addClassName('charcount-safe');
    }
    $('counter-'+id).update( $F(id).length + ' von ' + maxlimit );
    // here is the updated Code START
    if ($F(id).length > 25) {
    // do here what ever you want if the limit is reached
    alert("Maximum letters are reached. ...");
    }
    // here is the updated Code END
}

I've got some suggestions for this plugin, to clean up the code and reduce on database action etc. Could you drop me a line? :)

Cheers, Joost

Form.Element.Observer($(id), 0.5, function(){charCounter(id, maxsize, limited);})

instead of the 2 Event.observe. Every 500ms it check if the textarea is changed and even if you copy&paste it updates the counter. Many thanks, P.

Is there any way you could post a version of that script with eight input forms that allow numbers or text to be input, with each input form also having variables for text size, font, color and XY coordinates?

Thanks, and again, great script!