NOTE: If you want multiple sections
open at once, don't use an accordion
An accordion doesn't allow more than
one content panel to be open at the
same time, and it takes a lot of
effort to do that. If you are looking
for a widget that allows more than one
content panel to be open, don't use
this. Usually it can be written with a
few lines of jQuery instead, something
like this:
<div id="multiOpenAccordion">
<h3><a href="#">tab 1</a></h3>
<div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</div>
<h3><a href="#">tab 2</a></h3>
<div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet</div>
</div>
Javascript code
$(function(){
$('#multiOpenAccordion').multiAccordion();
// you can use a number or an array with active option to specify which tabs to be opened by default:
$('#multiOpenAccordion').multiAccordion({ active: 1 });
// OR
$('#multiOpenAccordion').multiAccordion({ active: [1, 2, 3] });
$('#multiOpenAccordion').multiAccordion({ active: false }); // no opened tabs
});
UPDATE:
the plugin has been updated to support default active tabs option
<div class="accordion">
<h3><a href="#">First</a></h3>
<div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</div>
</div>
<div class="accordion">
<h3><a href="#">Second</a></h3>
<div>Phasellus mattis tincidunt nibh.</div>
</div>
<div class="accordion">
<h3><a href="#">Third</a></h3>
<div>Nam dui erat, auctor a, dignissim quis.</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(".accordion").accordion({ collapsible: true, active: false });
</script>
Posted this in a similar thread, but thought it might be relevant here as well.
Achieving this with a single instance of jQuery-UI Accordion
As others have noted, the Accordion widget does not have an API option to do this directly. However, if for some reason you must use the widget (e.g. you're maintaining an existing system), it is possible to achieve this by using the beforeActivate event handler option to subvert and emulate the default behavior of the widget.
For example:
$('#accordion').accordion({
collapsible:true,
beforeActivate: function(event, ui) {
// The accordion believes a panel is being opened
if (ui.newHeader[0]) {
var currHeader = ui.newHeader;
var currContent = currHeader.next('.ui-accordion-content');
// The accordion believes a panel is being closed
} else {
var currHeader = ui.oldHeader;
var currContent = currHeader.next('.ui-accordion-content');
}
// Since we've changed the default behavior, this detects the actual status
var isPanelSelected = currHeader.attr('aria-selected') == 'true';
// Toggle the panel's header
currHeader.toggleClass('ui-corner-all',isPanelSelected).toggleClass('accordion-header-active ui-state-active ui-corner-top',!isPanelSelected).attr('aria-selected',((!isPanelSelected).toString()));
// Toggle the panel's icon
currHeader.children('.ui-icon').toggleClass('ui-icon-triangle-1-e',isPanelSelected).toggleClass('ui-icon-triangle-1-s',!isPanelSelected);
// Toggle the panel's content
currContent.toggleClass('accordion-content-active',!isPanelSelected)
if (isPanelSelected) { currContent.slideUp(); } else { currContent.slideDown(); }
return false; // Cancels the default action
}
});
Just call each section of the accordion as its own accordion. active: n will be 0 for the first one( so it will display) and 1, 2, 3, 4, etc for the rest. Since each one is it's own accordion, they will all have only 1 section, and the rest will be collapsed to start.
Actually was searching the internet for a solution to this for a while. And the accepted answer gives the good "by the book" answer. But I didn't want to accept that so I kept searching and found this:
This example pulls in the proper styles and adds the functionality requested at the same time, complete with space to write add your own functionality on each header click. Also allows multiple divs to be in between the "h3"s.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<title>Toggle Panels (not accordion) using ui-accordion styles</title>
<!-- jQuery UI | http://jquery.com/ http://jqueryui.com/ http://jqueryui.com/docs/Theming -->
<style type="text/css">body{font:62.5% Verdana,Arial,sans-serif}</style>
<link href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.1/themes/base/jquery-ui.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.1/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Toggle Panels</h1>
<div id="notaccordion">
<h3><a href="#">Section 1</a></h3>
<div class="content">
Mauris mauris ante, blandit et, ultrices a, suscipit eget, quam. Integer
ut neque. Vivamus nisi metus, molestie vel, gravida in, condimentum sit
amet, nunc. Nam a nibh. Donec suscipit eros. Nam mi. Proin viverra leo ut
odio. Curabitur malesuada. Vestibulum a velit eu ante scelerisque vulputate.
</div>
<h3><a href="#">Section 2</a></h3>
<div>
Sed non urna. Donec et ante. Phasellus eu ligula. Vestibulum sit amet
purus. Vivamus hendrerit, dolor at aliquet laoreet, mauris turpis porttitor
velit, faucibus interdum tellus libero ac justo. Vivamus non quam. In
suscipit faucibus urna.
</div>
<h3><a href="#">Section 3</a></h3>
<div class="top">
Top top top top
</div>
<div class="content">
Nam enim risus, molestie et, porta ac, aliquam ac, risus. Quisque lobortis.
Phasellus pellentesque purus in massa. Aenean in pede. Phasellus ac libero
ac tellus pellentesque semper. Sed ac felis. Sed commodo, magna quis
lacinia ornare, quam ante aliquam nisi, eu iaculis leo purus venenatis dui.
<ul>
<li>List item one</li>
<li>List item two</li>
<li>List item three</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="bottom">
Bottom bottom bottom bottom
</div>
<h3><a href="#">Section 4</a></h3>
<div>
Cras dictum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus
et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in
faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aenean lacinia
mauris vel est.
Suspendisse eu nisl. Nullam ut libero. Integer dignissim consequat lectus.
Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per
inceptos himenaeos.
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>`
I know this question specifically asks for jQuery UI.
I always find myself exploring jQuery UI Accordion and then remembering that I can just use the native DETAILS and SUMMARY elements (except for IE11) to implement essentially the same type of feature: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/details
Just a reminder in case you forget as often as I do.