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Disable a link unless checkbox is checked?

Asked by Malik6,

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Malik6

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I have instructions I want the user to read before they can get access to a link. Is it possible to place a check box there and make sure the user clicks the checkbox first then the link becomes enabled otherwise it is disabled for them to continue?

I hope that was clear and that someone can help.

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SummerWolf

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You can use a mixture of jQuery and JavaScript to do this.

Based on what you have said, I'm going to assume that you have some kind of form than handles the data (having a link isn't very handy as a user can just bypass the validation and use the URL bar to navigate to it). The following is an example using jQuery that inserts the submit button element into a div that is ready for it. If the checkbox is then 'unticked', the submit button will be removed.

<html>
   <head>
      &lt;script type="text/javascript" src="jquery-1.5.min.js"></script>&lt;/head&gt;

   &lt;body&gt;

      &lt;form name="my_form" action="some_page.html" method="post"&gt;
         &lt;input type="checkbox" name="thing" id="thing" /&gt;

         &lt;div id="accept"&gt;

         &lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/form&gt;

      &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
         /* Waits for the checkbox to be ticked */
         $('#thing').click(function() {

            /* Makes sure that the checkbox is going to be 'ticked' when clicked */
            if($(this).attr('checked') == true)

               /* Adds the submit button into the DOM */
               $('#accept').append('&lt;input type="submit" value="Submit" id="accepted_submit"&gt;');

            else

               /* If the button is unticked, the submit button is removed */
               $('#accept').empty();
         });   
      &lt;/script&gt;

   &lt;/body&gt;
&lt;/html&gt;

If you have any text inputs within the form, you're going to want to prevent the use of the return key (as it can submit the form on any element); an example of which can be found here: http://www.bloggingdeveloper.com/post/Disable-Form-Submit-on-Enter-Key-Press.aspx.

Hope that helps.

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Malik6

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Thanks Jag,

I looked at what you provided but the link wasn't working that you gave. Also, the head section is trying to pull jquery-1.5.min.js but not sure where to get that js file?

When I tried placing your code the submit button doesn't appear and I believe it's because the js file is missing. Can you provide that? I'd love to give this a try.

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SummerWolf

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Ah yes of course. I'd forgotten to use jQuery's link. I have my own copy of the .js file as it makes things easier for me. Just use this line instead:

&lt;script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>

Also, the link I provided contains a full-stop (period) at the end. It shouldn't be there (sorry for not noticing it!). To be honest, seeing as you are only displaying T&C's (or whatever) I'm going to guess that there aren't any text inputs that can be called into focus by the user. If there aren't, you can just forget about disabling the return key.

I have tested the code myself and it works so let me know how you get on!

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Malik6

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  • Author
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So I tried placing the following in the head

&lt;script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>

And this portion in the body:

      &lt;form name="my_form" action="continue.html" method="post"&gt;
         &lt;input type="checkbox" name="thing" id="thing" /&gt;
I've read the instructions provided above. 
         &lt;div id="accept"&gt;

         &lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/form&gt;

      &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
         /* Waits for the checkbox to be ticked */
         $('#thing').click(function() {

            /* Makes sure that the checkbox is going to be 'ticked' when clicked */
            if($(this).attr('checked') == true)

               /* Adds the submit button into the DOM */
               $('#accept').append('&lt;input type="submit" value="Submit" id="accepted_submit"&gt;');

            else

               /* If the button is unticked, the submit button is removed */
               $('#accept').empty();
         });   
      &lt;/script&gt;

When I click the check box, the submit button does not appear. Am I doing something wrong? Does the js need to be local or is there something I'm missing?

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SummerWolf

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I have just tested your code on my local machine and it works fine. The jQuery file doesn't need to be local.

The only thing I can think of is something that may be conflicting with the global handlers that jQuery uses. I have come across this problem before when I'm including stuff like Lightbox (which uses the prototype.js library). Change the '$' signs to 'jQuery'. So the code will look like this:

 &lt;form name="my_form" action="continue.html" method="post"&gt;
         &lt;input type="checkbox" name="thing" id="thing" /&gt;
I've read the instructions provided above. 
         &lt;div id="accept"&gt;

         &lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/form&gt;

      &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
         /* Waits for the checkbox to be ticked */
         jQuery('#thing').click(function() {

            /* Makes sure that the checkbox is going to be 'ticked' when clicked */
            if(jQuery(this).attr('checked') == true)

               /* Adds the submit button into the DOM */
               jQuery('#accept').append('&lt;input type="submit" value="Submit" id="accepted_submit"&gt;');

            else

               /* If the button is unticked, the submit button is removed */
               jQuery('#accept').empty();
         });   
      &lt;/script&gt;

If that doesn't work, could you please paste the entire HTML code you're using so I can get a better idea of where it's going wrong. I know that the jQuery isn't the problem as it works perfectly on my machine.

EDIT: I have found your problem. I provided an incorrect jQuery link. Use this one instead:

&lt;script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.5.min.js"></script>

Talk about running around in circles! I do apologise. I swear that doesn't usually happen ;)

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Mathachew Veteran

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  • Veteran
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To add to the discussion, the reason why jQuery 1.6 would not work, but 1.5 does is because of a change introduced in 1.6. More detailed info can be found here: http://api.jquery.com/prop/

An annoying and seemingly improper change imho.

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SummerWolf

Posted
Posted
  On 24/06/2011 at 21:11, Mathachew said:

To add to the discussion, the reason why jQuery 1.6 would not work, but 1.5 does is because of a change introduced in 1.6. More detailed info can be found here: http://api.jquery.com/prop/

An annoying and seemingly improper change imho.

Indeed, I've just read up on it. There's another thing to remember.

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