jQuery override default validation error message d

Question

I'm trying to over ride the default error message label with a div instead of a label. I have looked at this post as well and get how to do it but my limitations with CSS are haunting me. How can I display this like some of these examples:

Example #1 (Dojo) - Must type invalid input to see error display
Example #2

Here is some example code that overrides the error label to a div element

$(document).ready(function(){
            $("#myForm").validate({
                rules: {
                    "elem.1": {
                        required: true,
                        digits: true
                    },
                    "elem.2": {
                        required: true
                    }
                },
                errorElement: "div"
            });                  
        });

Now I'm at a loss on the css part but here it is:

div.error {
        position:absolute;
        margin-top:-21px;
     margin-left:150px;
     border:2px solid #C0C097;
        background-color:#fff;
        color:white;
        padding:3px;
        text-align:left;
        z-index:1;
        color:#333333;
     font:100% arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;
     font-size:15px;
     font-weight:bold;  
    }

UPDATE:

Okay I'm using this code now but the image and the placement on the popup is larger than the border, can this be adjusted to be dynamic is height?

if (element.attr('type') == 'radio' || element.attr('type') == 'checkbox') {
   element = element.parent();

   offset = element.offset();
   error.insertBefore(element)
   error.addClass('message');  // add a class to the wrapper
   error.css('position', 'absolute');
   error.css('left', offset.left + element.outerWidth());
   error.css('top', offset.top - (element.height() / 2)); // Not working for Radio, displays towards the bottom of the element. also need to test with checkbox
} else {
   // Error placement for single elements
   offset = element.offset();
   error.insertBefore(element)
   error.addClass('message');  // add a class to the wrapper
   error.css('position', 'absolute');
   error.css('left', offset.left + element.outerWidth());
   error.css('top', offset.top - (element.height() / 2));
}

the css is the same as below (your css code)

Html

<span>
<input type="radio" class="checkbox" value="P" id="radio_P" name="radio_group_name"/>
<label for="radio_P">P</label>
<input type="radio" class="checkbox" value="S" id="radio_S" name="radio_group_name"/>
<label for="radio_S">S</label>
</span>

Answer 1

A few things:

First, I don't think you really need a validation error for a radio fieldset because you could just have one of the fields checked by default. Most people would rather correct something then provide something. For instance:

   Age: (*) 12 - 18 | () 19 - 30 | 31 - 50 

is more likely to be changed to the right answer as the person DOESN'T want it to go to the default. If they see it blank, they are more likely to think "none of your business" and skip it.

Second, I was able to get the effect I think you are wanting without any positioning properties. You just add padding-right to the form (or the div of the form, whatever) to provide enough room for your error and make sure your error will fit in that area. Then, you have a pre-set up css class called "error" and you set it as having a negative margin-top roughly the height of your input field and a margin-left about the distance from the left to where your padding-right should start. I tried this out, it's not great, but it works with three properties and requires no floats or absolutes:

   <style type="text/css">
    .error {
        width: 13em; /* Ensures that the div won't exceed right padding of form */
        margin-top: -1.5em;  /*Moves the div up to the same level as input */
        margin-left: 11em;   /*Moves div to the right */
        font-size: .9em;     /*Makes sure that the error div is smaller than input */
    }

   <form>
   <label for="name">Name:</label><input id="name" type="textbox" />
   <div class="error"><<< This field is required!</div>
   <label for="numb">Phone:</label><input id="numb" type="textbox" />
   <div class="error"><<< This field is required!</div>
   </form>