Changed to empty string ("") in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-headerAsc" class will always be added to a header cell with an ascending sort; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

Example from the blue theme:

.tablesorter-blue .tablesorter-headerAsc {
  background-color: #9fbfdf;
  background-image: url(black-asc.gif);
}

Default changed v2.5 to "tablesorter-headerAsc". Default changed v2.1.7 to "tablesorter-headerSortUp". Original default: "headerSortUp"

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-headerDesc" class will always be added to a header cell with a descending sort; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

Example from the blue theme:

.tablesorter-blue .tablesorter-headerDesc {
  background-color: #8cb3d9;
  background-image: url(black-desc.gif);
}

Default changed v2.5 to "tablesorter-headerDesc". Default changed v2.1.7 to "tablesorter-headerSortDown". Original default: "headerSortDown"

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-header" class will always be added to the table headers; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

Example from the blue theme:

.tablesorter-blue .tablesorter-header {
  background-color: #99bfe6;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: center right;
  padding: 4px 20px 4px 4px;
  white-space: normal;
  cursor: pointer;
}

Default changed v2.1.7 to "tablesorter-header". Original default: "header"

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-headerRow" class will always be added to a table header row; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

This CSS style was added in v2.4, prior to that the row would get the same class as the header cells. This class was added to make it easier to determine what element was being targeted in the plugin.

As of v2.4, an <i> element, with this class name, is automatically appended to the header cells. To prevent the plugin from adding an <i> element to the headers, set the cssIcon option to an empty string.

In v2.7, the icon will only be added to the header if both the cssIcon option is set AND the headerTemplate option includes the icon tag ({icon}).

With the addition of multiple tbody sorting in v2.2, you can now insert a non-sorting tbody within the table by adding this class to the tbody.

<tbody class="tablesorter-infoOnly">
  <tr>
    <th>The contents of this tbody</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>will not be sorted</td>
  </tr>
</tbody>

As an example, I've split up this options table into three (3) tbodies. The first contains the active options, the second is the info block with a row that only contains the text "Deprecated Options", and the last tbody contains the deprecated options. Sort the table to see how each tbody sorts separately.

NOTE! The pager plugin will only be applied to the first tbody, as always. I may work on modifying this behavior in the future, if I can figure out the best implementation.

A "tablesorter-headerUnSorted" class will always be added to an unsorted header cell; this option contains any additional class names to add. Currently, no themes use this class name.

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-processing" class will always be added to a table cells during processing; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

This class name is added to the header cell that is currently being sorted or filted. To prevent this class name from being added, set the showProcessing option to false (v2.4).

• "mmddyyyy" (default)
• "ddmmyyyy"
• "yyyymmdd"

In previous versions, this option was set as "us", "uk" or "dd/mm/yy". This option was modified to better fit needed date formats. It will only work with four digit years!

The sorter should be set to "shortDate" and the date format can be set in the "dateFormat" option or set for a specific columns within the "headers" option. See the demo page to see it working.

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({

    dateFormat : "mmddyyyy", // default date format

    // or to change the format for specific columns,
    // add the dateFormat to the headers option:
    headers: {
      0: { sorter: "shortDate" }, // "shortDate" with the default dateFormat above
      1: { sorter: "shortDate", dateFormat: "ddmmyyyy" }, // day first format
      2: { sorter: "shortDate", dateFormat: "yyyymmdd" }  // year first format
    }

  });
});

Individual columns can be modified by adding the following (they all do the same thing), set in order of priority (Modified v2.3.1):

• jQuery data data-dateFormat="mmddyyyy".
• metadata class="{ dateFormat: 'mmddyyyy'}". This requires the metadata plugin.
• headers option headers : { 0 : { dateFormat : 'mmddyyyy' } }.
• header class name class="dateFormat-mmddyyyy".
• Overall dateFormat option.

• bottom - sort empty table cells to the bottom.
• top - sort empty table cells to the top.
• none or zero - sort empty table cells as if the cell has the value equal to zero.

Individual columns can be modified by adding the following (they all do the same thing), set in order of priority:

• jQuery data data-empty="top".
• metadata class="{ empty: 'top'}". This requires the metadata plugin.
• headers option headers : { 0 : { empty : 'top' } }.
• header class name class="empty-top".
• Overall emptyTo option.

emptyToBottom option was added in v2.1.11, then replaced by the emptyTo option in v2.1.16.

For example, to disable sorting on the first two columns of a table: headers: { 0: { sorter: false}, 1: {sorter: false} }.

The plugin attempts to detect the type of data that is contained in a column, but if it can't figure it out then it defaults to alphanumeric. You can easily override this by setting the header argument (or column parser). See the full list of default parsers here or write your own.

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    headers: {

      // See example - Disable first header cell
      0: { sorter: false },

      // See example 2: Sort column numerically & treat any text as if its value is:
      1: { sorter: "digit", empty:  "top" }, // zero; sort empty cells to the top
      2: { sorter: "digit", string: "max" }, // maximum positive value
      3: { sorter: "digit", string: "min" }, // maximum negative value

      // Sort the fifth column by date & set the format
      4: { sorter: "shortDate", dateFormat: "yyyymmdd" }, // year first format

      // See example 3: lock the sort order
      // this option will not work if added as metadata
      5: { lockedOrder: "asc" },

      // See Example 4: Initial sort order direction of seventh header cell
      6: { sortInitialOrder: "desc" },

      // Set filter widget options for this column
      // See the "Applying the filter widget" demo
      7: { filter: false },    // disable filter widget for this column
      8: { filter: "parsed" }, // use parsed data for this column in the filter search

      // Set resizable widget options for this column
      9: { resizable: false } // prevent resizing of header cell 9

    }
  });
});

Please note that the headers index values corresponds to the table header cells index (zero-based) and not the actual columns. For example, given the following table thead markup, the header-index counts the header th cells and does not actually match the data-column index when extra rows and/or colspan or rowspan are included in any of the header cells:

<thead>
  <tr>
    <th colspan="4" data-column="0">header-index 0</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th data-column="0">header-index 1</th>
    <th data-column="1">header-index 2</th>
    <th data-column="2">header-index 3</th>
    <th data-column="3">header-index 4</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th colspan="2" data-column="0">header-index 5</th>
    <th colspan="2" data-column="2">header-index 6</th>
  </tr>
</thead>

So, in the above example, to disable the sort of the second table column (data-column index of 1), the header cell of index 2 needs to be set as follows: 2 : { sorter : false }.

This template string has two modifying tags: {content} and {icon}.
{content} will be replaced by the current header HTML content.
{icon} will be replaced by <i class="tablesorter-icon"></i>, but only if a class name is defined in the cssIcon option.

This template string may also contain HTML, e.g ('<em>{content}</em> {icon}')

After the template string is built, the onRenderTemplate function is called to allow further manipulation. Please read more about this onRenderTemplate function and/or check out the example (link to the right).

When true, all widgets set by the widgets option will apply after tablesorter has initialized, this is the normal behavior.

If false, the each widget set by the widgets option will be initialized, meaning the "init" function is run, but the format function will not be run. This is useful when running the pager plugin after the table is set up. The pager plugin will initialize, then apply all set widgets.

Why you ask? Well, lets say you have a table with 1000 rows that will have the pager plugin applied to it. Before this option, the table would finish its setup, all widgets would be applied to the 1000 rows, pager plugin initializes and reapplies the widgets on the say 20 rows showing; making the widget application to 100 rows unnecessary and a waste of time. So, when this option is false, widgets will only be applied to the table after the pager is set up.

Notes about this namespace option:

• If a namesspace is not defined, a (hopefully) unique random namespace will be generated.
• If defined, any "non-word" characters (anything not "a-z", "0-9" or "_") within the namespace will be removed.
• Added or not, the namespace will be saved with a leading period (e.g. ".myuniquetableid")

$(function(){
  $("#mytable").tablesorter({
    // if table id = "mytable", this namespace is saved as ".mytable"
    namespace : $('#mytable')[0];
  });
});

Here is an example:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    numberSorter : function(a, b, direction, maxColumnValue){
      // direction; true = ascending; false = descending
      // maxColumnValue = the maximum value of that column (ignoring its sign)
      return a - b;
    }
  });
});

The direction parameter (boolean) is merely for informational purposes as the plugin automatically switches `a` and `b` depending on the sort direction ( i.e. there's no need to worry about reverse sorting, it's taken care of by the plugin ).

In versions 2.0.6+, all TH text is wrapped in a div with a class name of "tablesorter-inner" by default. In the example below, the header cell (TH) div is given a class name (source).

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    headerTemplate: '{content}',
    onRenderHeader: function (){
      $(this).find('div').addClass('roundedCorners');
    }
  });
});

and you'll end up with this HTML (only the thead is shown)

<thead>
  <tr>
    <th class="tablesorter-header"><div class="tablesorter-header-inner roundedCorners">Column 1</div></th>
    <th class="tablesorter-header"><div class="tablesorter-header-inner roundedCorners">Column 2</div></th>
  </tr>
</thead>

* Note: this function adds additional rendering time to the table if any DOM manipulation is done. Because this time will be on top of the processing time already added by the template.

The onRenderTemplate function receives a column index and template string parameters. The template string, from the headerTemplate option, will already have the {icon} and {content} tags replaced; it's just a string of formatted HTML. When done manipulating this string, return it. Here is an example:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    headerTemplate: '{icon}{content}',
    onRenderTemplate: function (index, template){
      return '<em>' + (index + 1) + ':</em> ' + template;
    }
  });
});

The template parameter can be manipulated as a string, or if you prefer, turn it into a jQuery object (var $t = $(template)) to find and replace content as desired. Just make sure you return a string (return $t.html())

From the example function above, you'll end up with something similar to this HTML (only the thead is shown)

<thead>
  <tr>
    <th class="tablesorter-header"><div class="tablesorter-header-inner"><em>1:</em> <i class="tablesorter-icon"></i>First Name</div></th>
    <th class="tablesorter-header"><div class="tablesorter-header-inner"><em>2:</em> <i class="tablesorter-icon"></i>Last Name</div></th>
  </tr>
</thead>

* Note: If the cssIcon option is an empty string, the {icon} tag will also become an empty string.

You can change this, but the table will still need the required thead and tbody before this plugin will work properly.
Added > to the selector in v2.3 to prevent targetting nested table headers. It was modified again in v2.4 to include td cells within the thead.

It was necessary to add this option because some widgets add table rows for styling (see the writing custom widgets demo) and if a table update is triggered ($('table').trigger('update');) those added rows will automatically become incorporated into the table.

For example, can be used to sort people alphabetically after some other user-selected sort that results in rows with the same value like dates or money due. It can help prevent data from appearing as though it has a random secondary sort.

The value contains an array of instructions for per-column sorting and direction in the format: [[columnIndex, sortDirection], ... ] where columnIndex is a zero-based index for your columns left-to-right and sortDirection is 0 for Ascending and 1 for Descending. A valid argument that sorts ascending first by column 1 and then column 2 looks like: [[0,0],[1,0]]. Please see sortForce for more details on other sort order options.

For example, sortForce: [[0,0]] will sort the first column in ascending order. After the forced sort, the user selected column(s), or during initialzation, the sorting order defined in the sortList will follow. And lastly, the sort defined in the sortAppend option will be applied. More explicitly:

There are three options to determine the sort order and this is the order of priority:

1. sortForce forces the user to have this/these column(s) sorted first (null by default).
2. SortList is the initial sort order of the columns.
3. SortAppend is the default sort that is added to the end of the users sort selection (null by default).

The value of these sort options is an array of arrays and can include one or more columns. The format is an array of instructions for per-column sorting and direction in the format: [[columnIndex, sortDirection], ... ] where columnIndex is a zero-based index for your columns left-to-right and sortDirection is 0 for Ascending and 1 for Descending. A valid argument that sorts ascending first by column 1 and then column 2 looks like: [[0,0],[1,0]].

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    sortForce  : [[0,0]],        // Always sort first column first
    sortList   : [[1,0], [2,0]], // initial sort columns (2nd and 3rd)
    sortAppend : [[3,0]]         // Always add this sort on the end (4th column)
  });
});

This order can also be set by desired column using the headers option (Added in v2.0.8).

Individual columns can be modified by adding the following (they all do the same thing), set in order of priority (Modified v2.3.1):

• jQuery data data-sortInitialOrder="asc".
• metadata class="{ sortInitialOrder: 'asc'}". This requires the metadata plugin.
• headers option headers : { 0 : { sortInitialOrder : 'asc' } }.
• header class name class="sortInitialOrder-asc".
• Overall sortInitialOrder option.

The value contains an array of instructions for per-column sorting and direction in the format: [[columnIndex, sortDirection], ... ] where columnIndex is a zero-based index for your columns left-to-right and sortDirection is 0 for Ascending and 1 for Descending. A valid argument that sorts ascending first by column 1 and then column 2 looks like: [[0,0],[1,0]]. Please see sortForce for more details on other sort order options.

This option can also be set using jQuery data (v2.3.1) or metadata on the table:

** Note: data-sortlist data is not supported in jQuery versions older than 1.4.
jQuery data	<table data-sortlist="[[0,0],[4,0]]"> **
Meta data	<table class="tablesorter {sortlist: [[0,0],[4,0]]}">

• This option no longer switches the sort to use the String.localeCompare method.
• When this option is true, the text parsed from table cells will convert accented characters to their equivalent to allow the alphanumeric sort to properly sort.
• If false (default), any accented characters are treated as their value in the standard unicode order.
• The following characters are replaced for both upper and lower case (information obtained from sugar.js sorting equivalents table):
  • áàâãä replaced with a
  • ç replaced with c
  • éèêë replaced with e
  • íìİîï replaced with i
  • óòôõö replaced with o
  • úùûü replaced with u
  • ß replaced with S
• Please see the example page for instrcutions on how to modify the above equivalency table.
• If you would like to continue using the String.localeCompare method, then set the sortLocaleCompare option to false and use the new textSorter option as follows:

  $('table').tablesorter({
    textSorter: function(a,b) {
      return a.localeCompare(b);
    }
  });

NOTE! See the Language wiki page for language specific examples and how to extend the character equivalent tables seen in the sortLocaleCompare demo.

Boolean flag indicating whenever to use javascript String.localeCompare method or not.
This is only used when comparing text with international character strings. A sort using localeCompare will sort accented characters the same as their unaccented counterparts.

Don't confuse this option with the sortReset method. This option only resets the column sort after a third click, while the method immediately resets the entire table sort.

This isn't exactly a stable sort because the sort order maintains the original unsorted order when sorting the column in an ascending direction. When sorting the column in a descending order, the opposite of the original unsorted order is returned. If that doesn't make any sense, please refer to issue #419.

String options was initially set in the header options only. Overall option added and values changed in version 2.1.16; setting the value to:

• "max" will treat any text in that column as a value greater than the max (more positive) value. Renamed from "max+".
• "min" will treat any text in that column as a value greater than the min (more negative) value. Renamed from "max-".
• "top" will always sort the text to the top of the column.
• "bottom" will always sort the text to the bottom of the column.
• "none" or "zero" will treat the text as if it has a value of zero.

Individual columns can be modified by adding the following (they all do the same thing), set in order of priority:

• jQuery data data-string="top".
• metadata class="{ string: 'top'}". This requires the metadata plugin.
• headers option headers : { 0 : { string : 'top' } }.
• header class name class="string-top".
• Overall stringTo option.

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter" class will always be added to the table; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

This class was required in the default markup in version 2.0.5. But in version 2.0.6, it was added as an option.

Modify this option if you are not using the default css, or if you are using a completely custom stylesheet.

You can customize the text extraction by writing your own text extraction function "myTextExtraction" which you define like:

var myTextExtraction = function(node, table, cellIndex){
  // extract data from markup and return it
  // originally: return node.childNodes[0].childNodes[0].innerHTML;
  return $(node).find('selector').text();
}
$(function(){
  $("#myTable").tablesorter( { textExtraction: myTextExtraction } );
});

tablesorter will pass the current table cell object for you to parse and return. Thanks to Josh Nathanson for the examples. Updated to a jQuery example by Rob G (Mottie).

Now if the text you are finding in the script above is say a number, then just include the headers sorter option to specify how to sort it. Also in this example, we will specify that the special textExtraction code is only needed for the second column (1 because we are using a zero-based index). All other columns will ignore this textExtraction function.

Added table and cellIndex variables to the textExtraction function in version 2.1.2.

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    textExtraction: {
      1: function(node, table, cellIndex) {
           return $(node).find("span:last").text();
      }
    },
    headers: {
      1: { sorter : "digit" }
    }
  });
});

Include a script like naturalSort.js as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    textSorter : naturalSort
  });
});

or use the localeCompare sort

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    // replace the OVERALL text sorter function
    textSorter: function(a, b, direction, columnIndex, table){
      // direction: true = ascending; false = descending
      // columnIndex: zero-based index of the current table column being sorted
      // table: table DOM element (access options by using table.config)
      return a.localeCompare(b);
    }
  });
});

In v2.12, the textSorter option will now accept a text sorter per column:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    textSorter : {
      // replace INDIVIDUAL COLUMN text sorter functions
      0 : function(a, b, direction, columnIndex, table){
        // same as $.tablesorter.sortText (basic alphabetical sort)
        // direction: true = ascending; false = descending
        // columnIndex: zero-based index of the current table column being sorted
        // table: table DOM element (access options by using table.config)
        return a > b ? 1 : (a < b ? -1 : 0);
      },
      1 : $.tablesorter.sortText,    // same as the function in column 0 above (modified in v2.12)
      2 : $.tablesorter.sortNatural, // renamed v2.12 from $.tablesorter.sortText - performs natural sort
      3 : Array.AlphanumericSort     // alphanumeric sort from sugar (http://sugarjs.com/arrays#sorting)
    }
  });
});

The direction parameter (boolean) is merely for informational purposes as the plugin automatically switches `a` and `b` depending on the sort direction ( i.e. there's no need to worry about reverse sorting, it's taken care of by the plugin ).

When changing this theme option, make sure that the appropriate css theme file has also been loaded. Included theme files include: see all themes

true	U.S.	1,234,567.89
false	German: French:	1.234.567,89 1 234 567,89

Previously documented widget options widgetZebra, widgetColumns and widgetUitheme will be retained for backwards compatibility.

Use the widgetOptions option as follows, please note that each option is followed by a comma (except the last one):

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({

    // initialize a bunch of widgets
    widgets: ["zebra", "uitheme", "columns", "filter", "resizable", "stickyHeaders"],

    widgetOptions: {

      // *** columns widget ***
      // change the default column class names
      columns : [ "primary", "secondary", "tertiary" ],
      // include thead when adding class names
      columns_thead : true,
      // include tfoot when adding class names
      columns_tfoot : true,

      // *** filter widget ***
      // jQuery selector string (or jQuery object) of external anyMatch filter
      // filter_anyMatch   : null, // THIS OPTION WAS REMOVED IN V2.15
      // Include child rows content in the search
      filter_childRows     : false,
      // show column filters
      filter_columnFilters : true,
      // css class applied to the filter row inputs/select
      filter_cssFilter     : '',
      // data attribute in the header cell that contains the default filter value
      filter_defaultAttrib : 'data-value',
      // jQuery selector string (or jQuery object) of external search inputs
      filter_external      : '',
      // class added to filtered rows; needed by pager plugin
      filter_filteredRow   : 'filtered',
      // add custom filter elements to the filter row
      filter_formatter     : null,
      // add custom filter functions using this option.
      filter_functions     : null,
      // hide filter row when table is empty
      filter_hideEmpty     : true,
      // if true, the filter row is hidden initially until hovered/focused.
      filter_hideFilters   : false,
      // if true, make all searches case-insensitive.
      filter_ignoreCase    : true,
      // if true, search column content while the user types (with a delay)
      filter_liveSearch    : true,
      // a selector in a header with this class name will only show selected options in the drop down
      filter_onlyAvail     : 'filter-onlyAvail',
      // jQuery selector string of an element used to reset the filters.
      filter_reset         : null,
      // Use the $.tablesorter.storage utility to save the most recent filters
      filter_saveFilters   : false,  
      // typing delay in milliseconds before starting a search.
      filter_searchDelay   : 300,
      // if true, filter start from the beginning of the cell contents.
      filter_startsWith    : false,
      // filter all data using parsed content.
      filter_useParsedData : false,
      // Set to true for server-side filtering
      filter_serversideFiltering :  false,

      // *** stickyHeaders widget ***
      // extra class name added to the sticky header row
      stickyHeaders : '',
      // jQuery selector or object to attach sticky header to
      stickyHeaders_attachTo : null
      // number or jquery selector targeting the position:fixed element
      stickyHeaders_offset : 0,
      // added to table ID, if it exists
      stickyHeaders_cloneId : '-sticky',
      // trigger "resize" event on headers
      stickyHeaders_addResizeEvent : true,
      // if false and a caption exist, it won't be included in the sticky header
      stickyHeaders_includeCaption : true,
      // The zIndex of the stickyHeaders, allows the user to adjust this to their needs
      stickyHeaders_zIndex : 2

      // *** resizable widget ***
      // if false, resized columns are not saved for next page reload
      resizable : true,
      // if true, the last column will be resizable (use in non-full width tables)
      resizable_addLastColumn: false,
      // Add the starting & reset header widths
      resizable_widths : [],

      // *** savesort widget ***
      // if false, the sort will not be saved for next page reload
      saveSort : true,

      // *** uitheme widget ***
      // include the name of the theme to use current options are
      // "jui" (default) and "bootstrap"
      uitheme : "jui",

      // *** zebra widget ***
      // class names to add, default is [ "even", "odd" ]
      zebra : ["ui-widget-content even", "ui-state-default odd"]

    }

  });
});

Prior to v2.4, this option set pixel widths to added colgroups to fix the column widths. This is useful for the Pager companion.
Requires the jQuery dimension plugin to work. This is now part of the jQuery core.

More specifically, when the storage function is used, it attempts to give every table a unique identifier using both the page url and table ID (or index on the page if no id exists). This option allows you to override the current page url (it doesn't need to be a url, just some constant value) and save data for multiple tables across a domain.

The table url & id can also be overridden by setting table data attributes data-table-page (url) and data-table-group (id)
(e.g. <table class="tablesorter" data-table-page="mydomain" data-table-group="financial">...</table>)

For a bit more detail, specifically on how to use the new storage function options for a custom widget, please refer to issue #389.

When the column styling widget is initialized, it automatically applied the default class names of "primary" for the primary sort, "secondary" for the next sort, "tertiary" for the next sort, and so on (add more as needed)... (v2.0.17). Use the widgetColumns option to change the css class name as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["columns"], // initialize column styling of the table
    widgetColumns: { css: ["primary", "secondary", "tertiary" ] }
  });
});

Used when the ui theme styling widget is initialized. It automatically applies the default class names of "ui-icon-arrowthick-2-n-s" for the unsorted column, "ui-icon-arrowthick-1-s" for the descending sort and "ui-icon-arrowthick-1-n" for the ascending sort. (v2.0.9). Find more jQuery UI class names by hovering over the Framework icons on this page: http://jqueryui.com/themeroller/

Use the widgetUitheme option to change the css class name as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["uitheme"], // initialize ui theme styling widget of the table
    widgetUitheme: {
      css: [
        "ui-icon-carat-2-n-s", // Unsorted icon
        "ui-icon-carat-1-s",   // Sort up (down arrow)
        "ui-icon-carat-1-n"    // Sort down (up arrow)
      ]
    }
  });
});

When the zebra striping widget is initialized, it automatically applied the default class names of "even" and "odd". Use the widgetZebra option to change the css class name as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["zebra"], // initialize zebra striping of the table
    widgetZebra: { css: [ "normal-row", "alt-row" ] }
  });
});

Use the "columns" option to change the css class name as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["columns"], // initialize column styling of the table
    widgetOptions : {
      columns: [ "primary", "secondary", "tertiary" ]
    }
  });
});

Use the "columns_tfoot" option to add the column class names to the tfoot as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["columns"], // initialize column styling of the table
    widgetOptions : {
      columns_tfoot: true
    }
  });
});

Use the "columns_thead" option to add the column class names to the thead as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["columns"], // initialize column styling of the table
    widgetOptions : {
      columns_thead: true
    }
  });
});

Use the filter_childRows option include child row text as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["filter"],
    widgetOptions : {
      filter_childRows : true
    }
  });
});

Use the filter_columnFilters option as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["filter"],
    widgetOptions : {
      filter_columnFilters : true
    }
  });
});

As of v2.15, this option can also contain an array of class names that are to be applied to input filters.

Changed to empty string in v2.11, as the "tablesorter-filter" class will always be added to the filter; this option now contains any additional class names to add.

Use the "tablesorter-filter" option to add an extra css class name as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["filter"],
    widgetOptions : {
      // css class applied to the table row containing the filters & the inputs within that row
      // or [ "filter1", "filter2", "filter3", etc... ]
      filter_cssFilter : "tablesorter-filter"
    }
  });
});

Use the filter_defaultAttrib option as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["filter"],
    widgetOptions : {
      filter_defaultAttrib : 'data-value'
    }
  });
});

Then add the default filter value to the table header as follows:

<th data-value="<30">Age</th>

Set this option to be a jQuery selector string, or jQuery object, pointing to any external inputs that are to be used for searching the table.

Use the filter_external option as follows:

$(function(){
  $("table").tablesorter({
    widgets: ["filter"],
    widgetOptions : {
      filter_external : '.search'
    }
  });
});

These external inputs have one requirement, they must have a data-column="#", where the # targets the column (zero-based index), pointing to a specific column to search.

<input class="search" type="search" data-column="0" placeholder="Search first column">

If you want to search all columns, using the updated "any match" method, set the data column value to "all":

<input class="search" type="search" data-column="all" placeholder="Search entire table">

The updated any matching code will now automatically update all associated inputs with the latest search.
This option replaces filter_anyMatch.

A new file has been included named "jquery.tablesorter.widgets-filter-formatter.js". It includes code to add jQuery UI and HTML5 controls via the filter_formatter option.

Most of the formatter functions have an option named valueToHeader which, when true adds a span to the header cell above the filter row and updates it with the current control's value (see example 2). If the option exists and is set to false, then the current value is added to the control's handle and css can be used to create a popup to show the current value (see example 1).

Another custom option named addToggle is included with the "uiSpinner", "html5Color" and "html5Number" code. This allows the user to disable the control to show all table rows. For the single sliders, "uiSlider" and "html5Range", the minimum value is used to clear the filter (show all rows).

The options included for each jQuery UI control only show basic options, but any or all of the jQuery UI options for that control can be included.

• To add the jQuery UI slider, follow this example:

  $(function(){
    $("table").tablesorter({
      widgets: ["filter"],
      widgetOptions : {
        filter_formatter : {
          0 : function($cell, indx){
            return $.tablesorter.filterFormatter.<strong>uiSpinner</strong>( $cell, indx, {
              value : 0,  // starting value
              min   : 0,  // minimum value
              max   : 50, // maximum value
              step  : 1,  // increment value by
              addToggle: true, // Add a toggle to enable/disable the control
              valueToHeader: false // add current slider value to the header cell
            });
          }
        }
      }
    });
  });

  Any of the other jQuery UI spinner widget options can also be included.
  
  
• Filter formatter functions include: "uiSpinner", "uiSlider", "uiRange" (uiSlider ranged), "uiDatepicker" (range only), "html5Number", "html5Range" and "html5Color".
• For other examples, please refer to the example pages. Formatter part 1 (example 1) adds jQuery UI controls to the filter row, while formatter part 2 (example 2) adds HTML5 controls, if supported, to the filter row.

Use the "filter_functions" option in three different ways:

• Make a sorted select dropdown list of all column contents. Repeated content will be combined.

  $(function(){
    $("table").tablesorter({
      widgets: ["filter"],
      widgetOptions: {
        filter_functions: {
          // Add select menu to this column
          // set the column value to true, and/or add "filter-select" class name to header
          0 : true
        }
      }
    });
  });

  Alternately, instead of setting the column filter funtion to true, give the column header a class name of "filter-select". See the demo.
  
  
• Make a select dropdown list with custom option settings. Each option must have a corresponding function which returns a boolean value; return true if there is a match, or false with no match.

  Regex example

  $(function(){
    $("table").tablesorter({
      widgets: ["filter"],
      widgetOptions: {
        // function variables:
        // e = exact text from cell
        // n = normalized value returned by the column parser
        // f = search filter input value
        // i = column index
        filter_functions: {
          // Add these options to the select dropdown (regex example)
          2 : {
            "A - D" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[A-D]/.test(e); },
            "E - H" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[E-H]/.test(e); },
            "I - L" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[I-L]/.test(e); },
            "M - P" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[M-P]/.test(e); },
            "Q - T" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[Q-T]/.test(e); },
            "U - X" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[U-X]/.test(e); },
            "Y - Z" : function(e, n, f, i) { return /^[Y-Z]/.test(e); }
          }
        }
      }
    });
  });

  Comparison example

  $(function(){
    $("table").tablesorter({
      widgets: ["filter"],
      widgetOptions: {
        // function variables:
        // e = exact text from cell
        // n = normalized value returned by the column parser
        // f = search filter input value
        // i = column index
        filter_functions: {
          // Add these options to the select dropdown (numerical comparison example)
          // Note that only the normalized (n) value will contain numerical data
          // If you use the exact text, you'll need to parse it (parseFloat or parseInt)
          4 : {
            "< $10"      : function(e, n, f, i) { return n < 10; },
            "$10 - $100" : function(e, n, f, i) { return n >= 10 && n <=100; },
            "> $100"     : function(e, n, f, i) { return n > 100; }
          }
        }
      }
    });
  });

  Note: if the filter_ignoreCase option is true, it DOES alter the normalized value (n) by making it all lower case.
  
  
• Make a custom filter for the column.

  $(function(){
    $("table").tablesorter({
      widgets: ["filter"],
      widgetOptions: {
        // function variables:
        // e = exact text from cell
        // n = normalized value returned by the column parser
        // f = search filter input value
        // i = column index
        filter_functions: {
          // Exact match only
          1 : function(e, n, f, i) {
            return e === f;
          }
        }
      }
    });
  });

  Note: if the filter_ignoreCase option is true, it DOES alter the normalized value (n) by making it all lower case.