jQuery vs. $ - Creating jQuery scripts in JavaScript in WordPress using External Libraries
<p>I am trying to utilize Trent Richardson's Date Time Picker (<a href="http://trentrichardson.com/examples/timepicker/" rel="nofollow">see here</a>).</p>

<p>I am trying to get the selected time when the popup closes, so I am using the following code (in an external .js file):</p>

<pre><code>jQuery(function()
{
    var startDateTextBox = jQuery('#start_date_field');

    startDateTextBox.datetimepicker(
    {
        onClose: function(dateText, inst)
        {
            var testStartDate = startDateTextBox.datetimepicker('getDate');
            alert(testStartDate);
        }
    });
});
</code></pre>

<p>However, the alert is coming up saying that the variable is undefined (which also happens when I step through the function).  What am I doing wrong?</p>

<p>I opened up Trent's source and I noticed that he is using $ in place of jQuery - I saw elsewhere that you should always use jQuery in WordPress in order to put it into 'no conflict mode' - is that accurate?  What are the ramifications of using $ instead of jQuery?</p>
