TextBox Watermarking in ASP.NET

This post in in answer to a recent request I got to add a gray italicized hint to the search textbox that clears when the user selects the box.

A google search or two revealed that the industry calls that a TextBox Watermark, and it looks like this:

There are 3 things you need to accomplish this.
CSS styles for the watermarked and unwatermarked boxes. 
I added these to my main stylesheet.


Javascript to change the styles...

and the HTML event wireup

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Bryan Valencia is a contributing editor and founder of Visual Studio Journey.  He owns and operates Software Services, a web design and hosting company in Manteca, California.