Question

I am using the jQuery.validation plugin to validate a form. There is an optional field on the form called ‘survey_url’. If this field is blank I don’t want it validated, however if there is a value I want to make sure it is a valid URL.

I have the following rules, but despite the fact I have not set survey_url to ‘required’, it is flagged as an invalid URL even when it has no value:

  //form validation rules
  form.validate({
      errorClass: "help-inline",
      rules: {
          "webcast[title]": "required",
          "webcast[survey_url]":
          {
            url: true
          }
      },
      messages: {
          "webcast[title]": 
          {
              required: "Please enter a title for this Webcast."
          },
          "webcast[survey_url]": 
          {
              required:"You must enter a valid URL, or leave blank."
          }
      },
      submitHandler: function(form) {
          form.submit();
      }
  });

What should my rules look like so that survey_url is only validated as a URL if it has a value?

Answer 1

There must be something else going on in your script, because with what you’ve given, it works as expected: http://jsfiddle.net/ryleyb/ztDwh/1/

You should be able to submit that form with just the title filled, and nothing in the URL. If you put in a URL, it must be in a correct URL format. Sounds like what you want?