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Asked: 2026-06-11T00:21:44+00:00

I am looking for a js/jquery plugin for select boxes. Requirements are as following:

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I am looking for a js/jquery plugin for select boxes.

Requirements are as following:

  1. Allow multiselection of items, ideally without repetition (remove items which were already chosen)
  2. Autocompletion, like in jquery autocomplete or chosen
  3. User should be allowed to enter values, that aren’t present in initial selection.
  4. It should be able to grind large amount of options fast. Amount is about 3 to 10 thousand.
  5. It should be able to handle unicode characters for autocompletion.

I’ve used chosen before, and it fits on most requirements, except 4 and 5.

Does domething like this exist? Or at least something close and avaiable for forking?

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  1. Editorial Team

    The first thing that came to mind when I read your specifications was the selectbox that’s being used by Atlassian‘s JIRA. As this is the most userfriendly/goodlooking picker I’ve come across so far I’ll mention it first.

    It:

    • Allows multiple selections, which are displayed quite handsomely:
      enter image description here

    • Has autocomplete based on a REST service:

    enter image description here

    • Allows foreign values to be posted (although JIRA will reject the values after POST in the scenario’s I’ve tried, but that’s up to the application’s logic ofcourse).
    • As it uses REST, the amount of data it’s able to process within a reasonable amount of time is all up to your server-side code and server specs.
    • JIRA is unicode-proof, so I have no reason to believe this component is not. Note that the server-side REST service should be unicode proof as well, as should the communication between them.

    Atlassian calls this component the “Frother Control” in their API:

    the AJS.MultiSelect JavaScript control. Occasionally they may be referred to as the ‘pickers’. But most of the time people just call it the Frother Control™.

    I’ve found some source for the aforementioned AJS.MultiSelect class, but haven’t found an included license, so I’m unsure if it’s freely forkable at all. I think AJS is Atlassian’s own JavaScript library, so it could very well be under a commercial or restricted license.

    Another thing you could investigate is Sencha’s ExtJS4’s ComboBox. (Example).

    This control is very flexible, extendable ánd forkable.

    I’ve used this ComboBox for various projects in the past, and I can confirm that it does multiselection, foreign values, autocomplete (local and/or server-side) and unicode.

    Most Ext components are usable individually, without using the entire framework. We’ve had some headaches in the past combining Ext with jQuery, but I believe that those issues are a thing of the past.

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