Tx, for the answers but i am not quit there yet. I am able to trigger the search_button? I can see the alerts i have set
$(document).ready(function() { $("#content").css("overflow-y", "hidden"); $("#manageList").click(function() { $("#content").css("overflow-y", "scroll"); $("#content").load("list.php"); }); $('body').click(function(event) { if ($(event.target).is('#search_button')) { var search_word = $("#searchTerm").val(); var dataString = 'search_word='+ search_word; if(search_word=='') { alert("no searchterm"); } else { alert("search"); ajax_search(); /* $.ajax({ type:"GET", url:"list.php", data: dataString, dataType:"json", success:ok, error:err });*/ } } }); }); function ajax_search() { $("#search_results").show(); var search_word=$("#searchTerm").val(); alert("ajax search this "+search_word); $.post("list.php", { searchTerm : search_word, }, function(data){ if (data.length>0){ $('#content').html(data); } }) } I am checking with firebug but list.php doesn't seem to be parsed/ triggered??? Function ajax_search seems to stop after the alert message