Enhance Select Boxes And Make Options Searchable - jQuery iv-select

Select boxes are a simple way to provide users with some choices. But often you need more, especially when it comes to searching for items from a list.

This jQuery plugin provides you with custom select boxes and a series of features to enhance the interaction between user and browser. It allows you to search, show and remove options in a select box and provides better UX to the users when selecting multiple items.

See Also:

• 10 Best Dropdown Plugins To Replace The Native Select Box

How to use it:

1. Download and load the iv-select.js plugin after jQuery library.

<script src="/path/to/cdn/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="/path/to/iv-select.js"></script>

2. Load the necessary W3.css to style the select box.

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/path/to/cdn/w3.min.css" />

3. Convert the native select element into an enhanced select box:

<select name="cars" id="example" multiple>
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="opel">Opel</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

$('#example').iv_selectConvert({
  // options here
});

4. Set the initial value(s) using the data-iv-init-value attribute:

<select name="cars" id="example" multiple data-iv-init-value="saab|audi">
  <option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
  <option value="saab">Saab</option>
  <option value="opel">Opel</option>
  <option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

5. Full plugin options to customize the select box:

$('#example').iv_selectConvert({
  placeholder: "Type to search",
  text_el_class: "w3-input w3-border",
  text_el_style: "",
  class_for_search: "w3-block",
  search_style: "",
  class_for_value: "",
  container_class: "",
  options_container_class: "",
  options_container_style: "",
  option_class: "w3-block w3-button w3-hover-blue w3-border-left w3-border-right",
  option_style: "",
  keep_existing_class: 'toValue', // toText, toValue, toContainer
  close_after_click: true,
  no_search_element: false
});

6. Get & set values:

// get value
$('#example').val();

// set value
$('#example').val('volvo');

// set values
$('#example').val(['volvo', 'saab']);

7. More methods & properties.

// update options
$('#example').iv_updateOptions(options);

// get options
$('#example').iv_getOptions();

// get values as an array
$('#example').iv_getValuesArray();

// check if is an ivSelect element
$('#example').is_ivSelect();

// check if is a text element
$('#example').iv_textEl();

// clone select box
$('#example').iv_cloneSelect{
  name: "",
  id: "",
  placeholder: "Type to search",
  text_el_class: "w3-input w3-border",
  text_el_style: "min-width:200px;background-color:white;",
  container_class: "",
  container_style: "",
  options_container_class: "",
  options_container_style: "",
  option_class: "w3-block w3-button w3-hover-blue w3-border-left w3-border-right",
  option_style: "",
  remove_unselected: true,
  close_after_click: true
}

Changelog:

2024-12-18

• fix iv_clearInvalid bug on radio boxes

2023-02-04

• changed elements orders to fix absolute positioning

2023-01-03

• fix search and options_container elements positioning

2023-01-01

• updated noconflict version

2022-12-02

• fix positioning bug

2022-11-18

• fix ivSelectOninvalid function

2022-11-11

• changed some styles

2022-11-10

• stick search element on top of options

2022-11-04

• update iv-select styles

2022-11-03

• update iv-select

2022-10-29

• add empty value handling

2022-09-09

• Bugfix

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This awesome jQuery plugin is developed by a-sadegh63. For more Advanced Usages, please check the demo page or visit the official website.