$(this).val() not working to get text from span using jquery

Question

Giving this html, i want to grab "August" from it when i click on it:

<span class="ui-datepicker-month">August</span> 

i tried

$(".ui-datepicker-month").live("click", function () {     var monthname =  $(this).val();     alert(monthname); }); 

but doesn't seem to be working

Answer 1

Instead of .val() use .text(), like this:

$(".ui-datepicker-month").live("click", function () {     var monthname =  $(this).text();     alert(monthname); }); 

Or in jQuery 1.7+ use on() as live is deprecated:

$(document).on('click', '.ui-datepicker-month', function () {     var monthname =  $(this).text();     alert(monthname); }); 

.val() is for input type elements (including textareas and dropdowns), since you're dealing with an element with text content, use .text() here.

Answer 2

I think you want .text():

var monthname = $(this).text();