How can I use jQuery validation with the “chosen” plugin?

Answer 1

I think this is the better solution.

//trigger validation onchange
$('select').on('change', function() {
    $(this).valid();
});

$('form').validate({
    ignore: ':hidden', //still ignore Chosen selects
    submitHandler: function(form) { //all the fields except Chosen selects have already passed validation, so we manually validate the Chosen selects here            
        var $selects = $(form).find('select'),
            valid = true;
        if ($selects.length) {
            //validate selects
            $selects.each(function() {
                if (!$(this).valid()) {
                    valid = false;
                }
            });
        }
        //only submit the form if all fields have passed validation
        if (valid) {
            form.submit();
        }
    },
    invalidHandler: function(event, validator) { //one or more fields have failed validation, but the Chosen selects have not been validated yet
        var $selects = $(this).find('select');     
        if ($selects.length) {
            validator.showErrors(); //when manually validating elements, all the errors in the non-select fields disappear for some reason

            //validate selects
            $selects.each(function(index){
                validator.element(this);
            })
         }
    },
    //other options...
});

Note: You will also need to change the errorPlacement callback to handle displaying the error. If your error message is next to the field, you will need to use .siblings('.errorMessageClassHere') (or other ways depending on the DOM) instead of .next('.errorMessageClassHere').