Question

For example I have jquery plugin and I call an init method with some atrributes like this:

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
    $('#someid').somePlugin({
                           animation : 'fadeIn',
                           speed : '1000',
                           easing : 'swing'
                        });
});

Let’s pretend I have also html link on a page. Is it possible somehow to change attribute values of this plugin’s init function by clicking for example on html link?
So, by clicking on the link I want to change for example speed attribute without page refreshing. If this possible, what is the best way to implement this action?

Or maybe I should change something in my plugin’s code first.
Plugin’s code:

(function($) {
    $.fn.extend({
        somePlugin: function(options) {

            var defaults = {
                speed : 500,
                animation : 'fadeIn',
                easing : false
            }

            var options = $.extend(defaults, options);
            var speed = options.speed;
            var easing = options.easing;
            var animation = options.animation;

            return this.each(function() {
                var obj = $(this);
                //some action here 
            });
        }   
    });
})(jQuery);

Answer 1

Yes, you can do it like this:

$('#someid').somePlugin('option', 'animation', 5000);

Additionally, you can change multiple options at once via:

$('#someid').somePlugin('option', {animation: 5000, otherOption: 'blah'});

I should mention this only works for certain if you’re using “official” jQuery plugins. A lot of plugin authors adhere to this design pattern, but not all do. Also, if you develop a plugin using the jQuery UI Widget Factory, you get this functionality for free.

---

EDIT: Since the OP is authoring his own plugin, we can show an example of how to facilitate this functionality with a custom plugin. Taken directly from the jQuery plugin authoring page:

(function( $ ){
  var methods = {
    init : function( options ) { 
      //Extend options here with your 
      //defaults and init your plugin
    },
    option: function( key, value ){
       options[key] = value;
    }
  };

  $.fn.somePlugin = function( method ) {
    // Method calling logic
    if ( methods[method] ) {
      return methods[ method ].apply( this, Array.prototype.slice.call( arguments, 1 ));
    } else if ( typeof method === 'object' || ! method ) {
      return methods.init.apply( this, arguments );
    } else {
      //some error that method doesnt exist
    }    

  };

})( jQuery );

$('div').somePlugin({someOption: true});
//..later
$('div').somePlugin('option', 'someOption', false);