Making script pick words at random

Question

In my spelling game I have a list of words that are pulled from the HTML. I can choose how many I want to pull out to populate the grid each time the program is run, but the problem is if I choose to take 6 words from the list it pulls out the first 6, not any random 6. Can someone tell me why this is happening?

Here is the that holds the words...

<ul style="display:none;" id="wordlist">

    <li data-word="mum" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/porkypig2.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/5/e/7/f/1195445022768793934Gerald_G_Lady_Face_Cartoon_1.svg.med.png"></li>

    <li data-word="cat" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/bugsbunny2.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/9/9/5/119543969236915703Gerald_G_Cartoon_Cat_Face.svg.med.png"></li>

    <li data-word="dog" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/daffyduck1.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/a/2/c/0/1195440948271207911zeimusu_spotty_dog.svg.med.png"></li>

    <li data-word="bug" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/daffyduck2.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/b/4/2/1216180545881311858laurent_scarabe.svg.med.png"></li>

    <li data-word="rat" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/bugsbunny1.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/C/j/X/e/k/D/mouse-md.png"></li>

    <li data-word="dad" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/porkypig1.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/3/a/6/6/119544474191128182Gerald_G_Man_Face_6_-_World_Label.svg.med.png"></li>

    <li data-word="mouse" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/bugsbunny1.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/C/j/X/e/k/D/mouse-md.png"></li>

    <li data-word="dad" data-audio="http://www.wav-sounds.com/cartoon/porkypig1.wav" data-pic="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/3/a/6/6/119544474191128182Gerald_G_Man_Face_6_-_World_Label.svg.med.png"></li>

</ul>

The script is rather long so here is a fiddle http://jsfiddle.net/smilburn/ZAfVZ/

To pick-up some elements randomly, have a look [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1764160/jquery-select-random-elements) — Stphane, Sep 18 '12 at 11:50

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

2

Modified code for you from this answer

randomElements = jQuery("#wordlist li").get().sort(function(){ 
  return Math.round(Math.random())-0.5
}).slice(0,6)

edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

Community

1
1

answered Sep 18 '12 at 12:37

Anoop

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I can't get it to work. Also how to I make the number of random words only change when the maxWords variable changes? @Shusl – m0onio Sep 18 '12 at 13:20
use randomElements till maxWords get changed. – Anoop Sep 18 '12 at 15:37
Can you give me an example fiddle I don't get what you mean? @Shusl – m0onio Sep 19 '12 at 07:36
jsfiddle http://jsfiddle.net/3rvF2/1/. I am showing "data-word" of randomly selected LIs. – Anoop Sep 19 '12 at 10:46
What part would I have to get rid of in my code to put this in? @Shusl – m0onio Sep 19 '12 at 13:05

Making script pick words at random

1 Answers1