$ is not a function

Answer 1

jQuery may be conflicting with another definition, the fact that you can use it in the ready function seems to indicate that it is at least loaded. Have you tried using:

Sometimes it is cleaner to go direct to the object. If you find that resolves your problem you may wish to switch to noConflict mode which is described in more detail in the docs here:

http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.noConflict/

Hope that helps.