 <p>I find the Ajax Form plugin a good tool for the job.</p> <p><a href="http://www.malsup.com/jquery/form/#tab4" rel="nofollow">http://www.malsup.com/jquery/form/#tab4</a></p> <p>A basic code example could be:</p> <pre><code>$(document).ready(function() { // On Document Ready var options = { target: '#output1', // ID of the DOM elment where you want to show the results success: showResponse }; // bind form using 'ajaxForm' $('#myForm1').ajaxForm(options); }); // the callback function function showResponse(responseText, statusText, xhr, $form) { alert('status: ' + statusText + '\n\nresponseText: \n' + responseText + '\n\nThe output div should have already been updated with the responseText.'); } </code></pre> <p>All your PHP file have to do is <code>echo</code> the <code>html</code> (or text) back that you want to show in your DIV after the form has been submitted.</p>