In the text of the page, put "X character limit." Then $text = substr($text, 0, X)
You can also add the following as a guide to your form-submitters.
<input value="X" size="3" name="msgCL" disabled>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
var supportsKeys = false
function tick() {
calcCharLeft(document.forms[0])
if (!supportsKeys) timerID = setTimeout("tick()",200)
}
function calcCharLeft(sig) {
clipped = false
maxLength = 200 //Change this.
if (document.creator.signature.value.length > maxLength) {
document.creator.signature.value = document.creator.signature.
+value.substring(0,maxLength)
charleft = 0
clipped = true
} else {
charleft = maxLength - document.creator.signature.value.length
}
document.creator.msgCL.value = charleft
return clipped
}
tick();
//-->
</script>
Hope this helps