• In v2.18.0, added filter_cellFilter & the ability to set multiple "any" match columns for an external search (see the external inputs demo for more details).
• In v2.17.8, filter selects will default to exact matches unless the header cell has a "filter-match" class added.
• In v2.17.1, added a not exact match (!=) filter type.
• In v2.16+,
  • When a default filter select is added to a column, it is now parsed from the assigned parser, then sorted using the textSorter setting, and falls back to an alphanumeric sort (v2.16.3).
  • Adding a class of "filter-select-nosort" will now leave the select options unsorted (v2.16.3).
  • Added filter_placeholder option (v2.16.0).
  • Added filter_selectSource option (v2.16.3).
  • updated filter_reset option (v2.16.3).
• In v2.15,
  • The filter_anyMatch widget option was completely removed. Sorry for not deprecating this option, but the filter any match code was completely rewritten.
  • Added a filter_external widget option to only accept a jQuery selector string/object; please see the updated filter any match demo for more details.
• 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 built-in filters (learn how to customize them here - demo created v2.17.5):

  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")
  /\d/	Add any regex to the query to use in the query ("mig" flags can be included /\w/mig)	/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)
  ! or !=	Not operator, or not exactly match. Filter the column with content that do not match the query. Include an equal (=), single (') or double quote (") to exactly not match a filter (v2.17.1).	!fe (hide rows with "female" in that column, but shows rows with "male");!a (find text that doesn't contain an "a");!"Bruce" (find content that does not exactly match "Bruce")
  " or =	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")
  &&  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  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)
  ?	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")
  | 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")
  ~	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")

  (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/) > operators (< <= >= >) > not match (!) > exact (") > and ( AND ) > range ( - ) > wild/or (?, * and  OR ) > fuzzy (~); so an exact match will override "and", "or" and "range" searches (*NOTE* order changed in v2.15, operators prioritized before exact; see issue #465; order changed again in v2.17.1 to move "not match" before "exact" and allow for exact not matches; see issue #628)
  (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-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-select-nosort - when a default select box is built, this option prevents the sorting of select options leaving them in their original table order (v2.16.3).
• 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.
  • This class name is set by the filter_onlyAvail option.
  • See the custom filter widget demo "Discount" column for an example.

Set Filter Placeholder Text

Set a data-placeholder attribute on the associated table header with your desired placeholder text

<th data-placeholder="Enter Something">Name</th>

or, set the header cell's jQuery data

$('.tablesorter th:eq(0)').data('placeholder', 'Search for...')

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 update the contents of the filters within the filter row.

In v2.15, one additional parameter can be added to the array to perform an "any-match" of the table; Warning! please note that if no external input (with a data-column="all" is attached using bindSearch function) is visible, the user will not know that a filter has been applied.

// in a table with 4 columns; set the 5th parameter to any-match
$('table').trigger( 'search', [['', '', '', '', 'orange']] ); // find orange in any column

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.

Internally, the get filters functions returns the filters stored within this table data $('table').data('lastSearch'), unless an additional parameter of true is passed to the function:

$.tablesorter.getFilters( $('table'), true ); // get current input values instead of data stored filters

As of v2.15, if an external "any-match" filter (see filter_external widget option) is included, one additional array parameter will be returned in the filter - the value of the any match search.

// in a table with six columns, this function will return an array with seven
// parameters; something like this: [ '', '', '', '', '', '', '11' ],
// where the "11" will be obtained from the "any-match" input
var filters = $.tablesorter.getFilters( $('table') );

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.

As of v2.15, if an external "any-match" filter (see filter_external widget option) is included, add an additional array parameter to set that filter; so if a table has six columns, add the any-match search as the seventh value.

// in a table with 6 columns, the 7th filter will apply
// to the any-match filter & match any table column with "11"
$.tablesorter.setFilters( $('table'), [ '', '', '', '', '', '', '11' ], true );

Bind External filter

Use this method to bind external search filters

• Include a data-attribute data-column with the column index to target
• Or, use data-column="all" to preform an "any-match" search on all of the table columns (v2.15).
• Or, add multiple columns data-column="0-2,4,6-8" to perform an "any-match" search on selected columns (v2.18.0).

If no data-column is added to the input, the input will be ignored.

<!-- will perform an "any-match" type of search (matches any column) -->
<input type="search" class="search" data-column="all">
<!-- will only search the first column (zero-based index) -->
<input type="search" class="search" data-column="0">

// Target the $('.search') input using built in functioning
// this binds to the search using "search" and "keyup" and allows using filter_liveSearch
// or delayed search & pressing escape to cancel the search
// pass an optional third parameter (false boolean) to force the inputs to update
// this allows changing the data-column for an input dynamically 
$.tablesorter.filter.bindSearch( $table, $('.search'), false );

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.