Question

I need to method to implement something similar to what is on this webpage

http://www.brownthomas.com/brands/

I will have a list of brands on the page. each brand should have 3 pieces of information:

1. starting letter
2. store (could be mulitple)
3. category (could be mulitple)

So I need 3 select boxes, when one of the select boxes is selected it will filter the brands underneath based on this.

I would like the filter to happen within the browser through javascript.

So I was thinking, I some how add some extra information on the brands, and then remove everything from view that does not match the select box criteria.

Any idea how I could achieve this?

Also I will be using wordpress and Advanced Custom Fields to achieve this from the backend in terms of entering the brands. I just dont know where to start.

i was thinking something like this

<div classs="brand-holder">
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>0-9</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="0" data-store="Arnotts,BrownThomas" data-category="Mens Wear, Shoes">Brand name</li>

        </ul>

    </div>
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>A</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="A" data-alpha="A" data-store="Arnotts,Dundrum" data-category="Womens Wear, Cosmetics" >A Brand Name</li>

        </ul>

    </div>

</div>

But I don’t know how, I would build this in the backend.

==========edit added=========
i want to the backend doesn’t allow me segregate the categories relevant to the stores . here is an example Chanel, Brown Thomas Sells women’s wear, footwear,jewellery and accessories and beauty. Arnotts only sells beauty. Dundrum sells beauty and accessories. how would i achieve this?

i was thinking something like this would work for layout , but i wouldnt know the javascript to work with the select boxes

<div classs="brand-holder">

<div class="brand-column">
    <h3>A</h3>
    <ul class="brand-list">
        <li data-alpha="A" data-store="Arnotts,Dundrum,brownThomas" data-arnotts-category="Womens Wear, Cosmetics" data-dundrum-category="Womens Wear" data-brownThomas-category="Beauty" >A Brand Name <i>[store:Arnotts,Dundrum :: category: Womens Wear, Cosmetics]</i></li>
    </ul>
</div>

-== edit added======

This is how the information is selected in the backend at the moment,

but i need it so it will work with something like this

Answer 1

Here is your code… Live Demo

HTML

No change in your data part, just added the select elements.

<select id="alpha" onchange="selectData();">
    <option value="">Choose A-Z</option>
    <option value="0">0-9</option>
    <option value="A">A</option>
    <option value="B">B</option>
    <option value="C">C</option>
    <option value="D">D</option>
</select>
<select id="store" onchange="selectData();">
    <option value="">Any Store</option>
    <option value="Arnotts">Arnotts</option>
    <option value="BrownThomas">BrownThomas</option>
    <option value="Dundrum">Dundrum</option>
</select>
<select id="category" onchange="selectData();">
    <option value="">Any Category</option>
    <option value="Mens Wear">Mens Wear</option>
    <option value="Shoes">Shoes</option>
    <option value="Womens Wear">Womens Wear</option>
    <option value="Cosmetics">Cosmetics</option>
</select>

<div classs="brand-holder">
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>0-9</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="0" data-store="Arnotts,BrownThomas" data-category="Mens Wear, Shoes">Brand name <i>[store:Arnotts,BrownThomas :: category: Mens Wear, Shoes]</i></li>
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>A</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="A" data-store="Arnotts,Dundrum" data-category="Womens Wear, Cosmetics" >A Brand Name <i>[store:Arnotts,Dundrum :: category: Womens Wear, Cosmetics]</i></li>
        </ul>
    </div>
</div>

CSS

.hidden {
    display:none;
}

Javascript

function selectData() {
    var alpha = document.getElementById('alpha').value;
    var store = document.getElementById('store').value;
    var category = document.getElementById('category').value;
    var i;
    var j;
    var flag;

    items = document.getElementsByTagName("li");

    // Hide/show items
    for(i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
        a = items[i].getAttribute('data-alpha');
        s = items[i].getAttribute('data-store').split(",");
        c = items[i].getAttribute('data-category').split(",");

        // To be safe
        for(j = 0; j < s.length; j++) s[j] = s[j].trim();
        for(j = 0; j < c.length; j++) c[j] = c[j].trim();

        if((alpha == "" || a == alpha) && (store == "" || s.indexOf(store) != -1) && (category == "" | c.indexOf(category) != -1)) {
            items[i].classList.remove("hidden");
        } else {
            items[i].classList.add("hidden");
        }
    }

    // Clear empty groups
    groups = document.getElementsByClassName("brand-list");

    for(i = 0; i < groups.length; i++) {
        flag = true;

        for(j = 0; j < groups[i].childNodes.length; j++) {
            node = groups[i].childNodes[j];

            if(node.nodeName.trim() == "LI" && (node.className == "" || node.className.indexOf('hidden') == -1)) {
                flag = false;
                break;
            }
        }

        // Remove the whole div
        if (flag) {
            groups[i].parentNode.classList.add("hidden");
        } else {
            groups[i].parentNode.classList.remove("hidden");
        }
    }
}

jQuery (instead of Javascript)

$(document).ready(function() {
    function selectData() {
        var alpha = $("#alpha").val();
        var store = $("#store").val();
        var category = $("#category").val();
        var j;

        // Hide items
        $("li").each(function() {
            a = $(this).attr('data-alpha');
            s = $(this).attr('data-store').split(",");
            c = $(this).attr('data-category').split(",");

            // To be safe
            for(j = 0; j < s.length; j++) s[j] = s[j].trim();
            for(j = 0; j < c.length; j++) c[j] = c[j].trim();

            if((alpha == "" || a == alpha) && (store == "" || s.indexOf(store) != -1) && (category == "" | c.indexOf(category) != -1)) {
                $(this).removeClass('hidden');
            } else {
                $(this).addClass('hidden');
            }
        });

        // Hide empty sections
        $(".brand-list").each(function() {
            if($(this).children("li").not(".hidden").length > 0) {
                $(this).parent().removeClass("hidden");
            } else {
                $(this).parent().addClass("hidden");
            }
        });
    }

    $("#alpha").on("change", selectData);
    $("#store").on("change", selectData);
    $("#category").on("change", selectData);
});

---

Solution: 2 Live Demo

HTML

<select id="alpha"">
    <option value="">Choose A-Z</option>
    <option value="0">0-9</option>
    <option value="A">A</option>
    <option value="B">B</option>
    <option value="C">C</option>
    <option value="D">D</option>
</select>
<select id="store"">
    <option value="">Any Store</option>
    <option value="Arnotts">Arnotts</option>
    <option value="BrownThomas">BrownThomas</option>
    <option value="Dundrum">Dundrum</option>
</select>
<select id="category">
    <option value="">Any Category</option>
    <option value="Beauty">Beauty</option>
    <option value="Shoes">Shoes</option>
    <option value="Womens Wear">Womens Wear</option>
    <option value="Cosmetics">Cosmetics</option>
</select>

<div classs="brand-holder">
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>0-9</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="0" data-store="Arnotts,BrownThomas" data-arnotts-category="Mens Wear, Cosmetics" data-dundrum-category="" data-brownthomas-category="Beauty" >1. Brand Name <i>[data-store="Arnotts,BrownThomas" data-arnotts-category="Mens Wear, Cosmetics" data-dundrum-category="" data-brownthomas-category="Beauty"]</i></li>
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="brand-column">
        <h3>A</h3>
        <ul class="brand-list">
            <li data-alpha="A" data-store="Arnotts,Dundrum,BrownThomas" data-arnotts-category="Womens Wear, Cosmetics" data-dundrum-category="Womens Wear" data-brownthomas-category="Beauty" >A Brand Name <i>[data-store="Arnotts,Dundrum,BrownThomas" data-arnotts-category="Womens Wear, Cosmetics" data-dundrum-category="Womens Wear" data-brownthomas-category="Beauty"]</i></li>
        </ul>
    </div>
</div>

CSS

.hidden {
    display:none;
}

jQuery

$(document).ready(function() {
    function selectData() {
        var alpha = $("#alpha").val();
        var store = $("#store").val();
        var category = $("#category").val();
        var j;

        // Hide items
        $("li").each(function() {
            a = $(this).attr('data-alpha');
            s = $(this).attr('data-store').split(",");

            if (store == "") {
                c = ($(this).attr('data-arnotts-category') + "," + $(this).attr('data-dundrum-category') + "," + $(this).attr('data-brownThomas-category')).split(",");
            } else {
                c = $(this).attr('data-' + store.toLowerCase() + '-category');
            }

            // To be safe
            for(j = 0; j < s.length; j++) s[j] = s[j].trim();
            for(j = 0; j < c.length; j++) c[j] = c[j].trim();

            if((alpha == "" || a == alpha) && (store == "" || s.indexOf(store) != -1) && (category == "" | c.indexOf(category) != -1)) {
                $(this).removeClass('hidden');
            } else {
                $(this).addClass('hidden');
            }
        });

        // Hide empty sections
        $(".brand-list").each(function() {
            if($(this).children("li").not(".hidden").length > 0) {
                $(this).parent().removeClass("hidden");
            } else {
                $(this).parent().addClass("hidden");
            }
        });
    }

    $("#alpha").on("change", selectData);
    $("#store").on("change", selectData);
    $("#category").on("change", selectData);
});