How to use select2 jQuery Multiselect dropdown with Bootstrap 3

This post I will cover information about how you can use select2 multiselection dropdown with Bootstrap 3. This jQuery plugin so useful that if you use it in your ASP.NET MVC application then it will definetely add nice user experience to your application.

If you are not aware about "Select2" then I will recommend to visit "Select 2 Website" and know more about it and its features.

I am assuming now you are aware it and now I will let you know how you can use it along with Bootstrap 3. 

First you have to add "Select2" js and css in your HTML page which you can download from here.

Then suppose you have added a html mark up like following.

<select id="ddlCars" multiple="multiple" style="width:300px">
<option value="Accord">Accord</option>
<option value="Duster">Duster</option>
<option value="Esteem">Esteem</option>
<option value="Fiero">Fiero</option>
<option value="Lancer">Lancer</option>
<option value="Phantom">Phantom</option>
</select>

Now to convert above ordinary input to "Select 2" multi select searchable input then you need to write a simple jQuery code like below.

$("#ddlCars").select2({
    placeholder: "Select a Cars.."
});

Now if you run this example you will find a awesome multiselection dropdown. 

Check out the live fiddle below which has shown a use of select2 for single selection, multiple selection and with custom css.

In below live fiddle I have used one more css which makes "Select2" very much compatible to Bootstrap without any UI related issues. Thanks to the author to make this CSS available for us as it makes Select2 bootstrap friendly along with some more useful css classes which helps you to implement "Select2" in more efficient way. Read more about its usage and settings here.

Hope you have liked this simple post. Thanks.