← Back to jQuery Course | Chapter 2: Selectors | Lesson 6 of 10

Content Filter Selectors

The contains filter finds elements with specific text.

In this page:

  1. Contains Text
  2. Has Descendant
  3. Empty Elements
  4. Parent Elements
  5. Combine Content Filters
Syntax
javascript 
$("selector:contains('text')")
$("selector:empty")
$("selector:has(childSelector)")
$("selector:parent")

Contains Text

The :contains() filter checks each element's rendered text and keeps only the ones containing the exact substring you pass in. The match is case-sensitive, so capitalization has to match exactly.

Example: Contains Text

javascript 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
  <style>
    button { padding:6px 14px; margin:4px; background:#2c6aa0; color:white; border:none; border-radius:4px; cursor:pointer; }
    #resetBtn { background:white; color:#2c6aa0; border:1px solid #2c6aa0; }
    #output { margin-top:10px; padding:8px; border:1px solid #ccc; border-radius:4px; background:#f7f7f7; font-family:monospace; min-height:24px; }
    #demo :where(p, div, span, li, h1, h2, h3, h4, td, th, blockquote, label, section, article, aside) { border:1px solid #4a7fb5; background:#eaf2fb; padding:6px 10px; margin:4px 0; border-radius:4px; }
    #demo :where(ul, ol) { border:1px dashed #888; background:#fafafa; padding:8px 8px 8px 32px; margin:6px 0; }
    #demo :where(table) { border-collapse:collapse; }
    #demo :where(td, th) { border-radius:0; }
    #demo :where(input, select, textarea) { margin:4px 0; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="runBtn">Run</button>
  <button id="resetBtn">Reset</button>
  <section id="demo">
    <p>Big Sale</p><p>Regular price</p>

  </section>
  <div id="output"></div>
  <script>
    var original = $("#demo").html();

    $("#runBtn").click(function() {
      $("#output").text($("p:contains('Sale')").text());
    });

    $("#resetBtn").click(function() {
      $("#demo").html(original);
      $("#output").empty();
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Has Descendant

':has(selector)' keeps an element only if a descendant matching the inner selector exists somewhere inside it, which is useful for finding containers based on what they hold rather than their own attributes.

Example: Has Descendant

javascript 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
  <style>
    button { padding:6px 14px; margin:4px; background:#2c6aa0; color:white; border:none; border-radius:4px; cursor:pointer; }
    #resetBtn { background:white; color:#2c6aa0; border:1px solid #2c6aa0; }
    #output { margin-top:10px; padding:8px; border:1px solid #ccc; border-radius:4px; background:#f7f7f7; font-family:monospace; min-height:24px; }
    #demo :where(p, div, span, li, h1, h2, h3, h4, td, th, blockquote, label, section, article, aside) { border:1px solid #4a7fb5; background:#eaf2fb; padding:6px 10px; margin:4px 0; border-radius:4px; }
    #demo :where(ul, ol) { border:1px dashed #888; background:#fafafa; padding:8px 8px 8px 32px; margin:6px 0; }
    #demo :where(table) { border-collapse:collapse; }
    #demo :where(td, th) { border-radius:0; }
    #demo :where(input, select, textarea) { margin:4px 0; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="runBtn">Run</button>
  <button id="resetBtn">Reset</button>
  <section id="demo">
    <div><span>Inner</span></div><div>No span</div>

  </section>
  <div id="output"></div>
  <script>
    var original = $("#demo").html();

    $("#runBtn").click(function() {
      $("#output").text($("div:has(span)").length);
    });

    $("#resetBtn").click(function() {
      $("#demo").html(original);
      $("#output").empty();
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Empty Elements

':empty' matches elements with no child nodes and no text content at all -- even a single space of whitespace disqualifies an element from this filter. This filter is often used to detect and hide placeholder containers that haven't been populated with real content yet.

Example: Empty Elements

javascript 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
  <style>
    button { padding:6px 14px; margin:4px; background:#2c6aa0; color:white; border:none; border-radius:4px; cursor:pointer; }
    #resetBtn { background:white; color:#2c6aa0; border:1px solid #2c6aa0; }
    #output { margin-top:10px; padding:8px; border:1px solid #ccc; border-radius:4px; background:#f7f7f7; font-family:monospace; min-height:24px; }
    #demo :where(p, div, span, li, h1, h2, h3, h4, td, th, blockquote, label, section, article, aside) { border:1px solid #4a7fb5; background:#eaf2fb; padding:6px 10px; margin:4px 0; border-radius:4px; }
    #demo :where(ul, ol) { border:1px dashed #888; background:#fafafa; padding:8px 8px 8px 32px; margin:6px 0; }
    #demo :where(table) { border-collapse:collapse; }
    #demo :where(td, th) { border-radius:0; }
    #demo :where(input, select, textarea) { margin:4px 0; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="runBtn">Run</button>
  <button id="resetBtn">Reset</button>
  <section id="demo">
    <div></div><div>Text</div>

  </section>
  <div id="output"></div>
  <script>
    var original = $("#demo").html();

    $("#runBtn").click(function() {
      $("#output").text($("div:empty").length);
    });

    $("#resetBtn").click(function() {
      $("#demo").html(original);
      $("#output").empty();
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Parent Elements

':parent' is the opposite of :empty -- it matches any element that does contain child nodes or text, making it handy for skipping placeholder or empty containers. This is the inverse tool for the same job, letting you target only the containers that actually have something inside them.

Example: Parent Elements

javascript 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
  <style>
    button { padding:6px 14px; margin:4px; background:#2c6aa0; color:white; border:none; border-radius:4px; cursor:pointer; }
    #resetBtn { background:white; color:#2c6aa0; border:1px solid #2c6aa0; }
    #output { margin-top:10px; padding:8px; border:1px solid #ccc; border-radius:4px; background:#f7f7f7; font-family:monospace; min-height:24px; }
    #demo :where(p, div, span, li, h1, h2, h3, h4, td, th, blockquote, label, section, article, aside) { border:1px solid #4a7fb5; background:#eaf2fb; padding:6px 10px; margin:4px 0; border-radius:4px; }
    #demo :where(ul, ol) { border:1px dashed #888; background:#fafafa; padding:8px 8px 8px 32px; margin:6px 0; }
    #demo :where(table) { border-collapse:collapse; }
    #demo :where(td, th) { border-radius:0; }
    #demo :where(input, select, textarea) { margin:4px 0; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="runBtn">Run</button>
  <button id="resetBtn">Reset</button>
  <section id="demo">
    <div></div><div>Text</div>

  </section>
  <div id="output"></div>
  <script>
    var original = $("#demo").html();

    $("#runBtn").click(function() {
      $("#output").text($("div:parent").length);
    });

    $("#resetBtn").click(function() {
      $("#demo").html(original);
      $("#output").empty();
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Combine Content Filters

Content filters chain onto normal selectors just like any other filter, so 'li:contains("Sale")' first narrows to list items, then filters by their text in a single expression. Understanding this chaining order is key to writing efficient selectors that don't search more of the page than necessary.

Example: Combine Content Filters

javascript 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script>
  <style>
    button { padding:6px 14px; margin:4px; background:#2c6aa0; color:white; border:none; border-radius:4px; cursor:pointer; }
    #resetBtn { background:white; color:#2c6aa0; border:1px solid #2c6aa0; }
    #output { margin-top:10px; padding:8px; border:1px solid #ccc; border-radius:4px; background:#f7f7f7; font-family:monospace; min-height:24px; }
    #demo :where(p, div, span, li, h1, h2, h3, h4, td, th, blockquote, label, section, article, aside) { border:1px solid #4a7fb5; background:#eaf2fb; padding:6px 10px; margin:4px 0; border-radius:4px; }
    #demo :where(ul, ol) { border:1px dashed #888; background:#fafafa; padding:8px 8px 8px 32px; margin:6px 0; }
    #demo :where(table) { border-collapse:collapse; }
    #demo :where(td, th) { border-radius:0; }
    #demo :where(input, select, textarea) { margin:4px 0; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <button id="runBtn">Run</button>
  <button id="resetBtn">Reset</button>
  <section id="demo">
    <li>Sale Item</li><li>Regular Item</li>

  </section>
  <div id="output"></div>
  <script>
    var original = $("#demo").html();

    $("#runBtn").click(function() {
      $("#output").text($("li:contains('Sale')").text());
    });

    $("#resetBtn").click(function() {
      $("#demo").html(original);
      $("#output").empty();
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>
Related Topics

Basic Filter Selectors · Visibility Filter Selectors · Child Filter Selectors · Form Filter Selectors

{# common_mistakes/chapter_summary/browser_support: on Hindi pages the view already swaps in the hi_ translation fields (or blanks these out if untranslated), so this renders correctly for both languages without a lang_code check here. #}
Common Mistakes
  1. Expecting :contains("sale") to match the text Big Sale; it is case-sensitive so only :contains("Sale") matches.
  2. Treating :empty as true for an element holding only whitespace, when even a space or a child element makes it non-empty.
  3. Mixing up :has() and :contains(), using :has("text") to search for text when :has takes a selector for a descendant element.
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