diff --git a/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.html b/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.html
index 213adc6..1320cd7 100644
--- a/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.html
+++ b/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.html
@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@ <h3>Publish Message to topic: {{this.topic?.name}}</h3>
     <button mat-stroked-button color="accent" (click)="editAttributes()">
         Edit Attributes ({{this.attributeCount}})
     </button>
+    <div class="form-check mb-2">
+        <input 
+          class="form-check-input" 
+          type="checkbox" 
+          id="keepContentCheck" 
+          [(ngModel)]="keepContent">
+        <label class="form-check-label" for="keepContentCheck">
+          Keep text after publishing
+        </label>
+    </div>
     <button mat-raised-button color="primary" [disabled]="this.inputField.invalid" (click)="this.publishMessage()">
         Publish Message!
         <mat-icon>send</mat-icon>
@@ -11,4 +21,4 @@ <h3>Publish Message to topic: {{this.topic?.name}}</h3>
 
 <mat-form-field appearance="outline" class="text-field">
     <textarea matInput [cdkTextareaAutosize]="true" cdkAutosizeMinRows="15" [formControl]="this.inputField"></textarea>
-</mat-form-field>
\ No newline at end of file
+</mat-form-field>
diff --git a/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.ts b/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.ts
index c404ec6..e6dd9a2 100644
--- a/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.ts
+++ b/webapp/src/app/components/topic-details/topic-details.component.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export class TopicDetailsComponent implements OnInit {
 
   _dialog = inject(MatDialog)
   public inputField = new UntypedFormControl('', Validators.required)
+  public keepContent = false;
   attributes: { [key: string]: string } = {}
   attributeCount = 0
   constructor() { }
@@ -45,7 +46,9 @@ export class TopicDetailsComponent implements OnInit {
     console.log("this value was found", this.inputField.value)
 
     this.onMessagePublish.emit({ topic: this.topic!, message: this.inputField.value, attributes: this.attributes })
-    this.inputField.reset()
+    if (!this.keepContent) {
+      this.inputField.reset();
+    }
     this.attributes = {}
     this.attributeCount = 0
   }