I am currently working on a website which includes using Datatables. After customizing a lot, it looks quite like a regular SERP. **The feature I want to implement:** On page load only the input box should be displayed and the data rows should be hidden until a search string is entered. So it actually should behave like you see it on known Search engines. I didn't find info about on datatables' forum or here. It tried using *jQuery keypress() but it did not worked*. I tried hiding the table on keypress, didn't worked at all (just to get started). $("#inputbox").keypress(function () { $("table.display").css("display":"none"); }); But toggle works fine: $("#button").click(function () { $("table.display").slideToggle(); }); So the problem is somehow with the input box and the keypress function I guess. Would be really glad to get some feedback here.