Do something on page load, based on a previous page action - php

Question

I am building a site on wordpress and I have encountered a problem that I am not quite sure how to solve.
The Situation:
User makes a selection from a <select> tag on one page and submits their choice
User arrives at a page featuring the same <select>. When the user selects an option, it displays content corresponding with that option using a little bit of jQuery.
-
$('.result').hide();
$('#servicearea').change(function() {
$('.result').hide();
var optionValue = $ (this).attr('value');
$('#'+optionValue).show('fast');
});
The Problem:
I need the selection from the first page to carry over to the second page then run this script.
Solutions:
I'll be honest, I don't know where to start with this, maybe cookies? I was hoping there was a jQuery type of solution as I am sort of comfortable with jQuery.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

javascript doesnt know what you have posted to the page.
you can put the value into the javascript from php with something like this:
<script>
doSomething(<?=$_POST['selected'?>);
</script>
or you can put it into a hidden form field
<input type="hidden" id="hiddenField" value="<?=$_POST['selected']?>">
and catch the value with
$('#hiddenField').val()

Answer 2

Hidden form fields will work. But if you decide to go with PHP sessions instead, take a look here.
From the above link...
<?php
// page1.php
session_start();
echo 'Welcome to page #1';
$_SESSION['favcolor'] = 'green';
$_SESSION['animal'] = 'cat';
$_SESSION['time'] = time();
// Works if session cookie was accepted
echo '<br />page 2';
// Or maybe pass along the session id, if needed
echo '<br />page 2';
?>
After viewing page1.php, the second page page2.php will contain the session data. Read the session reference for information on propagating session ids as it, for example, explains what the constant SID is all about.
<?php
// page2.php
session_start();
echo 'Welcome to page #2<br />';
echo $_SESSION['favcolor']; // green
echo $_SESSION['animal']; // cat
echo date('Y m d H:i:s', $_SESSION['time']);
// You may want to use SID here, like we did in page1.php
echo '<br />page 1';
?>
UPDATE
Judging by your snippet, I believe you would set the session variable by doing something like this:
<form action="" method="post">
<select type="select" name="servicearea" >
<option value="option1">Option 1</option>
<option value="option2">Option 2</option>
<option value="option3">Option 3</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit!" />
</form>
<?php
session_start();
if (isset($_POST['Submit'])) {
$_SESSION['optionValue'] = $_POST['servicearea'];
}
echo $_SESSION['optionValue'];
?>