Jquery validation, put error message in an existing element instead of generating a <label> tag

Question

I use Jquery validation plug-in to validate these two input elements below. When an input is invalid the plug-in will generate a label tag right after the input field, such as: <label for="company" style="">Required !</label>

Question: How do I put the error message in the existed <span class="help-inline"> instead of generating a new <label> ?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

<script type="text/javascript">

 $('#signUpForm').validate({
                            debug: false,
                            rules: {company:"required",username:"required"},
                         messages: {company:"Required !",username:"Required !"}
                          })// End of validate()

</script>


<div class="control-group">
   <label class="control-label" for="company">Company Name</label>
   <div class="controls">
      <input type="text" name="company">
      <label for="company">Required !</label> // -> this line is generated by Plug-In.
      <span class="help-inline">(required)</span>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="control-group">
   <label class="control-label" for="username">User Name</label>
   <div class="controls">
      <input type="text" name="username">
      <span class="help-inline">(required)</span>
   </div>
</div>

Answer 1

It would be easier to leverage the built in options and let the plugin create your span elements. The end result of the generated HTML will be what you're requesting.

• Use errorElement to change the <label> into a <span>.

• Use errorClass to change the default error class into help-inline

jQuery:

$(document).ready(function () {

    $('#signUpForm').validate({ // initialize the plugin
        errorElement: 'span',
        errorClass: 'help-inline',
        rules: {
            company: "required",
            username: "required"
        },
        messages: {
            company: "Required !",
            username: "Required !"
        }
    });

});

HTML:

<form id="signUpForm">
    <div class="control-group">
        <label class="control-label" for="inputCompanyName">Company Name</label>
        <div class="controls">
            <input name="company" type="text" id="inputCompanyName" placeholder="" />
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="control-group">
        <label class="control-label" for="inputFirst">User Name</label>
        <div class="controls">
            <input name="username" type="text" id="username" placeholder="" />
        </div>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" />
</form>

DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/eRZFp/

BTW: Your User Name field was missing the name attribute, name="username". For this plugin to work properly, all input elements must contain a unique name attribute.