# Advanced Element Filtering ❺

Webflow has powerful collection list filtering and conditional visibility features, however they fall short when you have complex or dynamic rules, or in specific scenarios such as nested lists. 

SA5's filtering allows you to filter *any* element using a simple JavaScript expression or an evaluation function.

## Use Cases

Here are a few ways you could use it; 

* Filter nested collection lists. 
* Display certain elements only between certain hours of the day, certain days of the week, months or seasons of the year, etc. 
* Show employees who have a birthday today, or this month. 

## Demonstration <a href="#usage-notes" id="usage-notes"></a>

{% embed url="<https://webflow-smart-elements.webflow.io/filter>" %}
Demo
{% endembed %}

{% embed url="<https://webflow.com/made-in-webflow/website/webflow-tabs-hacks>" %}
Cloneable
{% endembed %}

## Getting Started  <a href="#getting-started-nocode" id="getting-started-nocode"></a>

1. First, **add the library** as detailed in [Quick Start](/sa5-html/quick-start.md).&#x20;
2. Add the attributes below that you want for your desired behavior.&#x20;

## Attributes

The basic approach is to attach the filter attribute to the elements you want to conditionally display, and then add simple JavaScript logic or a CSS selector that defined your filtered view.&#x20;

*Elements will be displayed If the evaluation returns `true`.*

### `wfu-filter-match` attribute

This attribute allows you to define a **CSS selector** as your matching criteria, and it will only show elements which match. This is most powerful when paired with Webflow's CMS-bound custom attributes, and an evaluation string.&#x20;

For example, suppose your CMS items have a numeric field or an option field indicating the day of week. In JavaScript convention, 0 is Sunday, 1 is Monday, through to 6 is Saturday.&#x20;

If you store that number in a CMS field and then bind it to a custom attribute, you can easily create a custom attribute on your Collection Item of e.g. `weekday` = `2`&#x20;

You can then use the SA5's match filter attribute with a [CSS selector](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_selectors) and a [JavaScript template literal](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals), to create a match filter like this;&#x20;

```
wfu-filter-match = [weekday='${new Date().getDay()}']
```

This indicates that the element should be displayed IF the weekday attribute is equal to today's weekday number, according the the visitor's local system clock.&#x20;

{% hint style="info" %}
The constructions are highly flexible but can be complex as they can involve 3 combined syntaxes;&#x20;

* [CSS selectors](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_selectors), which are very powerful. In this example, our selector takes the form `[weekday='2']` which matches all elements that have the `weekday` attribute, with the value `2`.&#x20;
* [Template literals](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals), the `${` ... `}` part, which allows us to embed evaluated JS content such as today's weekday.
* The [JavaScript](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript) expression, in this case `new Date().getDay()` which returns [today's weekday number](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/getDay) 0 - 6. &#x20;
  {% endhint %}

{% hint style="success" %}
This feature is useful in very compact situations where your filter-match expression is concise. If it gets long or complex, use `wfu-filter-func` instead.&#x20;
{% endhint %}

### `wfu-filter-eval` attribute <a href="#wfu-filter-attribute" id="wfu-filter-attribute"></a>

Specify a short **JavaScript formula** for evaluation. If it evaluates to *true*, the element will be displayed.

This one will display the item only if the visitor's local system clock has a time between 12 noon and midnight.&#x20;

```
wfu-filter-eval = new Date().getHours() >= 12
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Best used for short and simple expressions, for more complex evaluations, use `wfu-filter-func`.
{% endhint %}

### `wfu-filter-func` attribute <a href="#wfu-filter-func-attribute" id="wfu-filter-func-attribute"></a>

Use `wfu-filter-func` to call a JavaScript function you define, and to pass in the element as an HTML element. From there, you can perform any checks or calculations you want and then return `true` if you’d like the element to display, or `false` if you want to hide it.

```
wfu-filter-func = isBirthdayMonth
```

And then define a function by that name, e.g.;&#x20;

```html
<script>
  function isBirthdayMonth(item) {
    
    var today = new Date();
    // get the birthday from the [data-date] attribute 
    var date = new Date($(item).find("data").attr("date")); 

    console.log(today);
    console.log(`${today.getMonth()} ${date.getMonth()}`);
    console.log(`${today.getDate()} ${date.getDate()}`);
    
    // Check to see if birthday is THIS MONTH 
    if (
      (today.getMonth() == date.getMonth())
//      && (today.getDate() == date.getDate()) // or today 
    )
      return true;
   
    return false;
  }
</script>
```

Here's another example that filters based on an in-text match;

```html
<script>
window.filterText = function(e) {
    return e.textContent.toLowerCase().includes("blog"); 
}
</script>
```

Tips;

* Make sure to give your function a single parameter, as it will be passed the element you are evaluating in the filter. Use that element to make your filter decision.&#x20;
* Keep the function name simple and unique so you can reference it easily.&#x20;
* Name are case-sensitive.&#x20;
* The evaluation function you create must be top level.  Place it in your head or body code, directly inside of `<script>` tags.  SA5 will reference it from the `window` object. &#x20;

<br>


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://attr.sygnal.com/sa5-html/advanced-element-filtering.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.