First tab is active by default:

$('#container').tabs();

Second tab is active:

$('#container').tabs(2);

Two alternative ways to specify the active tab will overrule this argument. First a li element (representing one single tab) belonging to the selected tab class, e.g. set the selected tab class (default: "tabs-selected", see option selectedClass) for one of the unordered li elements in the HTML source. In addition if a fragment identifier/hash in the URL of the page refers to the id of a tab container of a tab interface the corresponding tab will be activated and both the initial argument as well as an eventually declared class attribute will be overruled.

Use a slide effect to switch tabs. You can optionally specify the speed for the animation with the option fxSpeed: value. The value is either a string of one of the predefined speeds in jQuery (slow, normal, fast) or an integer value specifying the duration for the animation in milliseconds. If omitted it defaults to normal.

$('#container').tabs({ fxSlide: true });

Use a fade effect to switch tabs. You can optionally specify the speed for the animation with the option fxSpeed: value. The value is either a string of one of the predefined speeds in jQuery (slow, normal, fast) or an integer value specifying the duration for the animation in milliseconds. If omitted it defaults to normal.

$('#container').tabs({ fxFade: true, fxSpeed: 'fast' });

Use a combined slide and fade effect to switch tabs:

$('#container').tabs({ fxSlide: true, fxFade: true, fxSpeed: 'fast' });

Define callback functions that are invoked at different points in time during the tab switch process. These functions are invoked with three arguments: the first one being the clicked tab (the a element), the second one being the div element that holds the content of the clicked tab and the third one being the div element belonging to the tab that gets hidden.
If the onClick callback returns false, the tab switch is canceled. This is especially useful if switching tabs requires form validation before for example.

$('#container').tabs({
    fxFade: true,
    fxSpeed: 'fast',
    onClick: function() {
        alert('onClick');
    },
    onHide: function() {
        alert('onHide');
    },
    onShow: function() {
        alert('onShow');
    }
});

Adjust height of all tabs to the largest:

$('#container').tabs({ fxAutoHeight: true });

Define your own custom animation:

$('#container').tabs({ fxShow: { height: 'show', opacity: 'show' } });

• One
• Two
• Three

$('#container').enableTab(3); // enables third tab
$('#container').triggerTab(3); // triggers third tab
$('#container').disableTab(3); // disables third tab

One or more tabs can also be disabled immediatly by simply setting the disabling class for the li element representing that particular tab or by using the disabled option.

<li class="tabs-disabled">…</li>

$('#container').tabs({ disabled: [2, 3] });