Using jQuery .serialize() within ajax array to pass the PHP $_POST as Variables?

Question

This is the jQuery code i'm using to send the form details to a php function:

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {    
    jQuery('.submit').click(function(){
        var str = $("#ajaxForms").serialize();
        var data = {
            action: 'myajax-submit',
            serialize: str,
            beforeSend: function(){
                alert('Sending...');
            }
        };  
        jQuery.post(MyAjax.ajaxurl, data,  function(response) {
            alert('Got this from the server: ' + response);
        });
        return false;   
    });
});

and this is the php function:

function myajax_submit() {
    $whatever = $_POST['serialize'];
    echo $whatever;
    die(); 
}

Everything works, but when the alert box appears the text displays a string of values from my html form #ajaxForms. I believe this is because the php function echos the $_POST['serialize'].

In my form i have an input box such as:

<input id="postID" name="postID" value="First Name" type="text" />

but when i try echo the $_POST['postID'] variable in the php it doesn't display anything in the alert box.

I thought by sending the form data serialized to the php function i could use the $_POST variable associated with the form inputs?

Help appreciated. :)

Answer 1

By serializing the form inputs with jQuery's serialize you create a string like:

a=1&b=2&c=3&d=4&e=5&postID=10

In order to get the postId you need to de-serialize the $_POST['serialize']. In order to do so you should do something like:

parse_str($_POST['serialize'], $whatever);

Now on $whatever['postID'] is what you are searching for.

Edit: Fixing parse_str() :)