• Added & set filter_saveFilters to true (default is false) in this demo (v2.14).
• Hover over the grey bar below the table header to open the filter row. Disable this by setting filter_hideFilters option to false.
• This widget uses jQuery's .nextUntil() function which is only available is jQuery version 1.4+.
• This widget does work with tablesorter v2.0.5.
• Using the filters:

  Type (1)(2)	Description	Examples
  text	Any text entered in the filter will match text found within the column	abc (finds "abc", "abcd", "abcde", etc); Aaron (finds "Aaron" and "Philip Aaron Wong")
  ~	Perform a fuzzy search (matches sequential characters) by adding a tilde to the beginning of the query (v2.13.3)	~bee (matches "Bruce Lee" and "Brenda Dexter") or ~piano (matches "Philip Aaron Wong")
  "	To exactly match the search query, add a quote, apostrophe or equal sign to the beginning and/or end of the query	abc" or abc= (exactly match "abc"); John" or John= (exactly match "John")
  ?	Wildcard for a single, non-space character.	J?n (finds "Jan" and "Jun", but not "Joan"); a?s (finds "Dumass" and "Evans", but not "McMasters")
  *	Wildcard for zero or more non-space characters.	B*k (matches "Black" and "Book"); a*s (matches "Dumass", "Evans" and "McMasters")
  /\d/	Add any regex to the query to use in the query	/b[aeiou]g/i (finds "bag", "beg", "BIG", "Bug", etc); /r$/ (matches text that ends with an "r")
  < <= >= >	Find alphabetical or numerical values less than or greater than or equal to the filtered query (2).	>= 10 (find values greater than or equal to 10)
  !	Not operator. Filter the column with content that do not match the query.	!fe (hide rows with "female" in that column, but shows rows with "male"); !a (find text that doesn't contain an "a")
  &&  or  AND	Logical "and". Filter the column for content that matches text from either side of the operator.	box && bat (matches a column cell that contains both "box" and "bat"); Br && c (Find text that contains both "br" and "c")
  | or  OR	Logical "or" (Vertical bar). Filter the column for content that matches text from either side of the bar (3).	box|bat (matches a column cell with either "box" or "bat"); Alex|Peter (Find text that contains either "Alex" or "Peter")
  -  or  to	Find a range of values. Make sure there is a space before and after the dash (or the word "to") (4).	10 - 30 or 10 to 30 (match values between 10 and 30)

  (1) You cannot combine these operators with each other (except for the wildcards).
  (2) The filter order (or precendence) of how searches are checked is as follows: regex (/\d/) > exact (") > not match (!) > operators (< <= >= >) > and ( AND ) > range ( - ) > wild/or (?, * and  OR ) > fuzzy (~); so an exact match will override "and", "or" and "range" searches
  (3) Logical "or" comparisons can now show exact matches (by default; v2.10.1) or just match cell contents.
  (4) In tablesorter v2.10, comparisons can be made in date columns (if properly parsed).

Filter widget defaults (added inside of tablesorter widgetOptions)

• filter_anyMatch : false - if true, a match in any column will show the row (see the demo for exceptions).
• filter_childRows : false - if true, filter includes child row content in the search.
• filter_columnFilters : true - if true, a filter will be added to the top of each table column.
• filter_cssFilter : '' - extra css class name added to the filter row & each input in the row.
• filter_defaultAttrib : 'data-value' - this option contains the name of the data-attribute which contains the default (starting) filter value.
• filter_filteredRow : 'filtered' - css class name added to filtered rows (rows that are not showing); needed by pager plugin.
• filter_formatter : null - add custom filter elements to the filter row.
• filter_functions : null - add custom filter functions using this option.
• filter_hideFilters : false - if true, filters are hidden initially, but can be revealed by clicking on the filter icon *.
• filter_ignoreCase : true - if true, make all searches case-insensitive.
• filter_liveSearch : true - if true, search column content while the user types (with a delay). If false, the user must press enter to start the search. If set to a number, when the length of the input text reaches this minimum length, a search will initiate.
• filter_onlyAvail : 'filter-onlyAvail' - a header with a select dropdown & this class name will only show available (visible) options within that drop down.
• filter_reset : null - jQuery selector string of an element used to reset the filters.
• filter_saveFilters : false - Uses the $.tablesorter.storage utility to save the most recent filters.
• filter_searchDelay : 300 - typing delay in milliseconds before starting a search.
• filter_serversideFiltering : false - if true, filter will be done server-side. The client-side filtering will be disabled, but the ui and events will still be used.
• filter_startsWith : false - if true, filter start from the beginning of the cell contents.
• filter_useParsedData : false - filter all data using parsed content.

• filter-false - disable the filter for a specific header column.
• filter-select - build a default select box for a column (shows unique column content). See the custom filter widget demo for an example.
• filter-match - applies to "filter-select" columns and columns where the user can use the logical "or" search. Makes the filter/select match the column contents instead of exactly matching.
• filter-parsed - set a column to filter through parsed data instead of the actual table cell content.
• filter-onlyAvail - show only available (visible) options within a default select box. See the custom filter widget demo "Discount" column for an example.

filterReset

Use the filterReset method to reset (clear) all of the current filters using this method

$('table').trigger('filterReset');

search

With this method, you can pass an array of filter values:

// apply "2?%" filter to the fifth column (zero-based index)
var columns = [];
columns[5] = '2?%';
// or define the array this way var columns = [ '', '', '', '', '', '2?%' ]
$('table').trigger('search', [ columns ]);

or, just pass false to refresh the current search:

$('table').trigger('search', false);

* Note: using this search method will not update the contents of the filters within the filter row; use the $.tablesorter.setFilter() method below to do that.

Get current filters

Get an array of the currently applied filters (v2.9).

$.tablesorter.getFilters( $('table') ); // or $('table.hasFilters')

This method returns an array of filter values or false if the selected table does not contain a filter row.

Set current filters

Set the values of the actual filters using this method; include a true boolean to actually apply the search (v2.9).

// update filters, but don't apply the search
$.tablesorter.setFilters( $('table'), [ '', '', '', '', '', '2?%' ] );

// update filters, AND apply the search
$.tablesorter.setFilters( $('table'), [ '', '', '', '', '', '2?%' ], true );

This method returns true if the filters were sucessfully applied, or false if the table does have a filter row.

Bind External filter

Use this method in conjunction with the filter_anyMatch option (set to true (v2.13.3).

// Target the $('.search') input using built in functioning
// this binds to the search using "search" and "keyup"
// Allows using filter_liveSearch or delayed search &
// pressing escape to cancel the search
$.tablesorter.filter.bindSearch( $table, $('.search') );

If you don't care about the enhanced search filter, then bind to both the "keyup" and "search" events

// Basic search binding, alternate to the above
// bind to search - pressing enter and clicking on "x" to clear (Webkit)
// keyup allows dynamic searching
$(".search").bind('search keyup', function (e) {
  $('table').trigger('search', [ [this.value] ]);
});

• filterEnd - Event triggered when the filter widget has finished processing the search.
• filterInit - Event triggered when the filter widget has finished initializing.
• filterStart - Event triggered when the filter widget has started processing the search.