In the example of selectable on the documentation page, you have to drag a box around the items you want to select. http://docs.jquery.com/UI/Selectables#demo In the Demo it links to, you can select an item just by clicking on it; you don't have to drag a box. http://dev.jquery.com/view/tags/ui/1.5b2/demos/ui.selectable.html What is the difference? Does the latter use a new version of the UI? I want to be able to select without dragging a box.