Poster = Backbone.View.extend({ tagName: 'form' , events: { "change textarea.message": "eChangeBody" , "keyup textarea.message": "eChangeBody" } , initialize: function() { this.render(); this.setModel(this.model); } , setModel: function(model) { this.model = model; this.model.on('change:body', _.bind(this.handleUpdateBody, this)); this.handleUpdateBody(this.model, this.model.get('body')); } , handleUpdateBody: function(model, body) { this.$body.val(body).change(); } , eChangeBody: function(e) { //Check character counts, identify urls, update model } , render: function() { this.$el.append(this._renderBody()); this.$body = this.$('textarea.message'); return this; } }); state management