jQuery :contains selector to search for multiple strings

Question

Assuming i have:

Mary
John, Mary, Dave
John, Dave, Mary


        

Answer 1

Answer

To find li's that have text containing BOTH Mary AND John:

$('li:contains("Mary"):contains("John")')

To find li's that have text containing EITHER Mary OR John:

$('li:contains("Mary"), li:contains("John")')

Explanation

Just think of the :contains as if it was a class declaration, like .class:

$('li.one.two').      // Find 
's with classes of BOTH one AND two
$('li.one, li.two').  // Find 
's with a class of EITHER one OR two

It's the same with :contains:

$('li:contains("Mary"):contains("John")').      // Both Mary AND John
$('li:contains("Mary"), li:contains("John")').  // Either Mary OR John

Demo

http://jsbin.com/ejuzi/edit