Payload Plugin CharCount

A Payload CMS plugin that counts characters in richtext, textarea and text fields, similar to the SEO plugin character counter. Useful for editors to track content length.

Features

• 📊 Character counting for text fields, textarea fields, and richtext fields
• 🌍 Multi-language support with translations in 40+ languages
• 🎨 Consistent styling with Payload
• ⚡ TypeScript support with full type definitions
• 🔧 Easy integration with existing Payload projects

Installation

npm install @compatis/payload-charcount
# or
yarn add @compatis/payload-charcount
# or
pnpm add @compatis/payload-charcount

Usage

1. Add the plugin to your Payload config

import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config'
import charCountPlugin from '@compatis/payload-charcount'

export default buildConfig({
  plugins: [
    charCountPlugin(), // Add the plugin
  ],
  // ... rest of your config
})

2. Use the character counting fields

import {
  CharcountTextField,
  CharcountTextareaField,
  CharcountRichTextField,
} from '@compatis/payload-charcount/fields'

export const Posts = {
  slug: 'posts',
  fields: [
    CharcountTextField(
      {
        name: 'title',
        label: 'Title',
        required: true,
      },
      {
        max: 100,
        min: 90,
      },
    ),
    CharcountTextareaField(
      {
        name: 'description',
        label: 'Description',
      },
      {
        max: 500,
        min: 450,
      },
    ),
    CharcountRichTextField(
      {
        name: 'content',
        label: 'Content',
      },
      {
        max: 2000,
        min: 1750,
      },
    ),
  ],
}

Field Options

CharcountTextField / CharcountTextareaField / CharcountRichTextField

The field functions take two parameters:

1. Field configuration - Standard Payload field properties (name, label, required, etc.)
2. CharCount options - Character counting configuration

Option	Type	Description
max	number	Maximum character limit
min	number	Minimum character limit

Translations

The plugin includes translations for 40+ languages.

Requirements

• Payload CMS 3.37.0+
• Node.js 18.20.2+ or 20.9.0+
• TypeScript (recommended)

Support

If you have any questions or issues, please open an issue on GitHub.

Roadmap

v1.1.0 (Coming Soon)

• Optional min/max - Only one of min or max required, not both
• Hint text - Optional hint text below counter (like Payload SEO plugin)

Future Ideas

• Word counting - Count words instead of characters
• Custom validation messages - Personalized texts

Have a feature request? Open an issue and let us know!

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Payload CMS team for creating such an amazing CMS and for the inspiration and translations from their SEO plugin's character counting functionality.