jQuery in no-conflict mode
WordPress loads jQuery in «no conflict» mode by default. It was made for compatibility with other libraries that can be loaded as well.
In «no-confict» mode $ shortcut is not available. For example, this code will not work:
$(document).ready( function(){
$('#element') ...
});
You should tweak it a bit:
jQuery(document).ready( function($){
$('#element') ...
});
Pay attention to the $ sign which is passed to the function - doing so we can use $ sign in the js code.
If you don't want to wait for "DOM ready" action, you can invoke function expression immediately:
(function($) {
// Here $ refers to jQuery. So you can use $.
})(jQuery);