harvest chosen plugin fails to show validation messages for asp.net mvc dropdown list

Question

I am unable to get validation messages after changing my dropdownlist to chosen dropdown list. Chosen plugin can be found here

Jquery code
    $('#SelectedPropertyGroup').chosen();    

UI Code
    <div>
                    @Html.DropDownListFor(x => x.SelectedGroup, Model.Groups, "Select Group", new
                    {
                        @onchange = "javascript:ValidateApplicationSelection(this, 'Group');",
                        @placeholder = "Please select a product"
                    })
                </div>

                <div>
                    @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.SelectedGroup, "", new { id = "valGroup" })
                </div>


Model Code

            [Required(ErrorMessage = "Select Group")]
            [DisplayName("Group: ")]
            public string SelectedGroup { get; set; }

Answer 1

The client side validation ignores hidden fields by default -- Chosen hides the "real" select element when it applies it's magic. You can change the validator defaults like so:

$.validator.setDefaults({ ignore: ":hidden:not(select)" });

This will set the validator to ignore any hidden fields that aren't select elements.

The default for the ignore is ":hidden"