<script type="text/javascript">

<form method="post" name="theform" action="#">
<script type="text/javascript">
function countwords()
{
	var formtext=document.theform.text.value;
	formtext=formtext.split(" ");
	document.theform.nbwords.value= formtext.length; // Word Counter
	document.theform.nbchar.value= document.theform.text.value.length;   //Character Counter
}
</script>

<textarea rows="12" name="text" cols="60" wrap="virtual"></textarea>
<p>
<input type="button" value="Get the numbers!" onclick="javascript:countwords();">

<input type="text" name="nbwords" />
<input type="text" name="nbchar" />
</p>