how to prevent blur() running when clicking a link in jQuery?

I had to solve this problem myself today, too. I found that the mousedown event fires before the blur event, so all you need to do is set a variable that indicates that a mousedown event occurred first, and then manage your blur event appropriately if so.

var mousedownHappened = false;

$('input').blur(function() {
    if(mousedownHappened) // cancel the blur event
    {
        alert('stay focused!');
        $('input').focus();
        mousedownHappened = false;
    }
    else   // blur event is okay
    {
        // Do stuff...
    }
});

$('a').mousedown(function() {
    mousedownHappened = true;
});

Hope this helps you!!