<p>The "docs" means only on the admin form. For outputing a default text on empty fields in frontend you can use the following code in you template:</p>

<pre><code>{{block.FIELDNAME | default("Placeholdertext") }}
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-23T20:55:41.210Z
2016-02-23T20:55:41.210Z
Tom Bauer
<p>Is there a way to output the Placeholder Text of a plaintext field if there's no specific value entered to the Entry? </p>

<p>(Am I missing something — should it happen automatically if there's no specific value entered?)</p>

<p><a href="https://craftcms.com/docs/plain-text-fields" rel="nofollow">The docs</a> say: "The text that will be shown if the field does't have a value" — does <code>shown</code> just mean in the form on the Entry form in the admin, or also on the front-end as a value of block.FIELDNAME ?</p>

<templating><matrix>
Can I output the Placeholder Text of a plain text matrix block?
# Can I output the Placeholder Text of a plain text matrix block?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-02-23)

Is there a way to output the Placeholder Text of a plaintext field if there's no specific value entered to the Entry?

(Am I missing something — should it happen automatically if there's no specific value entered?)

[The docs](https://craftcms.com/docs/plain-text-fields) say: "The text that will be shown if the field does't have a value" — does `shown` just mean in the form on the Entry form in the admin, or also on the front-end as a value of block.FIELDNAME ?

**Tags:** templating, matrix


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-02-23. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The "docs" means only on the admin form. For outputing a default text on empty fields in frontend you can use the following code in you template:
{{block.FIELDNAME | default("Placeholdertext") }}


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