how can I override jquery's .serialize to include unchecked checkboxes

Question

I have read quite a few different methods of having html checkboxes get posted to the server, but I am really looking to do it without modifying anything except for $.serial

Answer 1

Beetroot-Beetroot's answer did not work for me in jQuery 1.9 and later. I used .val() and .prop(), and got rid of the .eq(0) requirement on the container, which restricted serializing to one form in the selector. I had a rare case where I had to serialize multiple forms at the same time, so removing that requirement solved that. Here's my modified solution:

$.fn.mySerialize = function(options) {
    // default values to send when checkbox is on or off
    var settings = {
        on: 'on',
        off: 'off'
    };

    // override settings if given
    if (options) {
        settings = $.extend(settings, options);
    }

    // set all checkboxes to checked with the on/off setting value
    // so they get picked up by serialize()
    var $container = $(this),
        $checkboxes = $container.find("input[type='checkbox']").each(function() {
            $(this).val(this.checked ? settings.on : settings.off).prop('checked', true);
        });

    var serialized = ($container.serialize());

    $checkboxes.each(function() {
        var $this = $(this);
        $this.prop('checked', $this.val() == settings.on);
    });

    return serialized;
};

You can see the corresponding fiddle here.