Using Ajax : two examples ‘Email checker’ & ‘Double drop-down’

Ajax is the JavaScript technique that is used to make forms behave interactively without having to be submitted. A messages is sent between the browser and the server and the page updated using the results sent back from the server. It’s a very flexible and useful approach.

There are two Ajax examples set out here. The first is a simple Email checker that looks to see if the value entered is already in the User database table. The second is a more complex example of a ‘double drop-down’. That is a pair of linked ‘select’ inputs set up so that the options in the second drop-down change depending on the selection in the first drop-down: for example to select a country in the first drop-down and have the corresponding list of States/Regions show in the second drop-down.

Level: moderate to advanced, requires PHP, MySQL, JavaScript and Joomla! knowledge.

29 pages

This How-to Document is based on Chapter 12 ‘Adding advanced features’ of the “ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! sites cookbook” updated and adapted to ChronoForms v4

Important: This document was written for ChronoForms v4 on Joomla! 1.6+