Appearance
As of Kendo UI R1 2022, the jQuery MultiSelect widget has new rendering and styling options.
In this article, you will find information about the rendering of the Kendo UI MultiSelect.
For additional information regarding the decision behind these changes, visit the Styling Overview article.
For a live example, visit the Appearance Demo of the MultiSelect.
Options
The Kendo UI MultiSelect supports the following styling options:
-
size—configures the overall size of the component. -
rounded—configures the border radius for the tags. -
fillMode—controls how the color is applied.
Size
The size option controls how big or small the multiselect looks. The structure of the class is k-input-{size}.
The following values are available for the size option:
-
sm—small size -
md—medium size -
lg—large size -
none—unset
The default size value is medium and it is applied to the span wrapping element through the k-input-md class.
The example below shows a basic configuration and how to set size to "large":
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple">
<option>Item1</option>
<option>Item2</option>
</select>
<script>
$("#multiselect").kendoMultiSelect({
size: "large"
});
</script>
Below is the HTML that is affected from the configuration. The changes are applied to the span.k-multiselect wrapping element and to the span.k-chip elements:
<span class="k-multiselect k-input k-multiselect-clearable k-input-lg">
...
<span class="k-chip k-chip-lg k-rounded-lg k-chip-solid k-chip-solid-base" aria-setsize="2"></span>
</span>
Rounded
The rounded option controls how much border radius is applied to the tags for the selected items in the widget. The structure of the class is k-rounded-{size}.
The following values are available for the rounded option:
-
sm—small border radius -
md—medium border radius -
lg—large border radius -
full—ellipse-like border radius -
none—unset
The default value is full and it is applied to the span.k-multiselect wrapping element that contains the whole HTML through the k-rounded-full class. That class is also applied to the span.k-chip element which contains the HTML for the tags.
The example below shows a basic MultiSelect configuration and how to set rounded to "medium":
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple">
<option>Item1</option>
<option>Item2</option>
</select>
<script>
$("#multiselect").kendoMultiSelect({
rounded: "medium"
});
</script>
The changes are applied to the span.k-multiselect wrapping element and to the span.k-chip elements:
<span class="k-multiselect k-input k-multiselect-clearable k-input-solid k-input-lg k-rounded-md">
...
<span class="k-chip k-chip-lg k-rounded-md k-chip-solid k-chip-solid-base" aria-setsize="2"></span>
</span>
FillMode
The fillMode option controls how the color of the tags is applied. The structure of the class is k-input-{fillMode}.
The following values are available for the fillMode option:
solidflatoutlinenone
The default value is solid and it is applied to the span.k-multiselect wrapping element through the k-input-solid class and to the span.k-chip elements through the .k-chip-outline .k-chip-outline-base classes.
The example below shows a basic MultiSelect configuration and how to set fillMode to "outline":
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple">
<option>Item1</option>
<option>Item2</option>
</select>
<script>
$("#multiselect").kendoMultiSelect({
fillMode: "outline"
});
</script>
The changes are applied to the span.k-multiselect wrapping element and to the span.k-chip elements:
<span class="k-multiselect k-input k-multiselect-clearable k-input-outline k-input-lg k-rounded-md">
...
<span class="k-chip k-chip-lg k-rounded-md k-chip-outline k-chip-outline-base" aria-setsize="2"></span>
</span>
Old vs New Rendering
Below you will find the differences between the old and the new rendering. Some of the HTML elements rendered before are replaced with others in the new rendering.
Old Rendering:
<div class="k-widget k-multiselect k-multiselect-clearable" unselectable="on" title="" style="">
<div class="k-multiselect-wrap k-floatwrap k-multiselect-wrap-arrow" unselectable="on" role="combobox"
aria-expanded="false" aria-owns="multiselect_listbox" aria-controls="multiselect_listbox">
<ul unselectable="on" class="k-reset" id="multiselect_taglist">
<li class="k-button" unselectable="on" aria-setsize="1"><span unselectable="on">Item1</span><span
aria-hidden="true" unselectable="on" aria-label="delete" title="delete" class="k-select"><span
class="k-icon k-i-close"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<input class="k-input" style="width: 41px;" autocomplete="off" role="textbox" title=""
aria-autocomplete="list" tabindex="0" aria-describedby="multiselect_taglist"
aria-controls="multiselect_listbox" aria-disabled="false" aria-readonly="false" aria-busy="false">
<span unselectable="on" class="k-select" title="select" role="button" tabindex="-1">
<span class="k-icon k-i-arrow-60-down"></span>
</span>
<span unselectable="on" class="k-clear-value" title="clear" role="button" tabindex="-1"><span class="k-icon k-i-x"></span></span>
<span class="k-icon k-i-loading k-hidden"></span>
</div>
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple" data-role="multiselect" style="display: none;">
<option value="Item1">Item1</option>
<option value="Item2">Item2</option>
</select>
</div>
New Rendering:
<span class="k-multiselect k-input k-multiselect-clearable k-input-{fillMode} k-input-{size} k-rounded-{rounded}" unselectable="on"
role="combobox" title="" aria-expanded="false" aria-owns="multiselect_listbox" aria-controls="multiselect_listbox"
style="">
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple" data-role="multiselect" style="display: none;">
<option value="Item1">Item1</option>
<option value="Item2">Item2</option>
</select>
<div unselectable="on" class="k-input-values k-selection-multiple k-chip-list k-chip-list-{size}"
id="multiselect_taglist">
<span class="k-chip k-chip-{size} k-rounded-md k-chip-solid k-chip-solid-base"
aria-setsize="1">
<span unselectable="on" class="k-chip-content">
<span class="k-chip-label">Item1</span>
</span>
<span class="k-chip-action k-chip-remove-action" unselectable="on" aria-hidden="true" aria-label="delete" title="delete">
<span class="k-icon k-i-x-circle"></span>
</span>
</span>
<input class="k-input-inner" autocomplete="off" role="textbox" title=""
aria-autocomplete="list" tabindex="0" aria-describedby="multiselect_taglist"
aria-controls="multiselect_listbox" aria-disabled="false" aria-readonly="false" aria-busy="false">
</div>
<span unselectable="on" class="k-clear-value" title="clear" role="button" tabindex="-1">
<span class="k-icon k-i-x"></span>
</span>
<span class="k-icon k-i-loading k-hidden"></span>
<button type="button" title="select"
class="k-input-button k-button k-icon-button k-button-md k-button-solid k-button-solid-base k-multiselect-toggle-button"
role="button" tabindex="-1"><span class="k-button-icon k-icon k-i-arrow-s"></span></button>
</span>
Visual Backwards Compatibility
To achieve the same look and feel as the old rendering, you must the update the element references.
When you use a LESS theme, the new styling and rendering supports only the default options.
The following example showcases how to customize the styles of the MultiSelect in both the new, and the old rendering:
<!-- Open the example in Dojo and select version prior to 2022 R1 to see the difference in the appearance -->
<select id="multiselect" multiple="multiple"></select>
<script>
var dataSource = new kendo.data.DataSource({
transport: {
read: {
url: "https://demos.telerik.com/kendo-ui/service/products",
dataType: "jsonp"
}
}
});
$("#multiselect").kendoMultiSelect({
dataSource: dataSource,
dataTextField: "ProductName",
dataValueField: "ProductID",
value: [5]
});
</script>
<style>
/* NEW RENDERING */
/* The style below will works with versions R1 2022 and later*/
.k-multiselect .k-chip{ /* customize the styles of the selected items in the input */
background: lightgreen
}
#multiselect-list .k-list-item{ /* customize the styles of the items in the popup */
background-color: #FFDFDD !important;
}
#multiselect-list .k-selected{ /* customize the styles of the selected items in the popup */
background-color: #FBBBB9 !important;
border: 2px solid #E56E94 !important;
}
/* OLD RENDERING */
/* The style below will works with versions prior to R1 2022 */
#multiselect-list .k-item{ /* customize the styles of the items in the popup */
background-color: #FFE5B4 !important;
}
#multiselect-list .k-state-selected{ /* customize the styles of the selected items in the popup */
background-color: #FED8B1 !important;
border: 2px solid orange !important;
color: brown !important;
}
#multiselect-list .k-state-selected:hover{ /* customize the styles of the selected items in the popup */
background-color: orange !important;
color: white !important;
}
#multiselect_taglist li{ /* customize the styles of the selected items in the input */
background-color: orange !important;
}
</style>
With the new rendering different classes should be used in order to customize the MultiSelect templates.
<!-- Open the example in Dojo and select version prior to 2022 R1 to see the difference in the appearance -->
<select id="customers" style="width: 400px;"></select>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#customers").kendoMultiSelect({
dataTextField: "ContactName",
dataValueField: "CustomerID",
groupTemplate: "Group template: #: data #",
fixedGroupTemplate: "Fixed header: #: data #",
footerTemplate: 'Total <strong>#: instance.dataSource.total() #</strong> items found',
noDataTemplate: 'No Data!',
filter: 'contains',
height: 400,
dataSource: {
type: "odata",
transport: {
read: "https://demos.telerik.com/kendo-ui/service/Northwind.svc/Customers"
},
group: { field: "Country" }
}
});
});
</script>
<style>
/* NEW RENDERING */
/* The styles below will work with versions R1 2022 or later*/
/*customize groupTemplate */
#customers-list .k-list-item-group-label{
background: blue !important;
color: yellow !important;
font-size: 18px;
}
/*customize fixedGroupTemplate */
#customers-list .k-list-group-sticky-header{
background: turquoise !important;
}
/*customize footerTemplate */
#customers-list .k-list-footer{
background: darkCyan !important;
color: white;
}
/*customize nodataTemplate */
#customers-list .k-no-data{
color: green !important;
font-weight: bold;
}
/* OLD RENDERING */
/* The styles below will work with versions prior to R1 2022 */
/*customize groupTemplate */
#customers-list .k-item>.k-group{
background: red !important;
color: white !important;
}
/*customize fixedGroupTemplate */
#customers-list .k-group-header{
background: salmon !important;
}
/*customize footerTemplate */
#customers-list .k-footer{
background: tomato !important;
color: white;
}
/*customize nodataTemplate */
#customers-list .k-nodata{
color: red;
}
</style>