css/jquery for retaining highlight of selected "li"

Question

I've been struggling for hours now trying to figure out how to retain the highlighted color of a "li" item until another "li" is selected.

I did read through several answers here on stackoverflow but none of them seem to work for me.

Could I please request for help? I did try adding & removing class to set property & jquery way of setting property. However, unable to get what I'm after.

I'm open to doing this using CSS or JQUERY.

The CSS I have is

#cssmenu,
#cssmenu ul,
#cssmenu ul li,
#cssmenu ul li a {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  border: 0;
  list-style: none;
  line-height: 2;
  display: block;
  position: relative;
  -webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
  -moz-box-sizing: border-box;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

#cssmenu {
  width: auto;
  margin-top: 68px;
  margin-left: 6px;
  margin-right: 6px;
  border-top: double;
  border-left: double;
  border-right: double;
  border-bottom: none;
  border-color: brown;
}

#cssmenu.align-right ul li {
  float: right;
  border-right: 0;
  border-left: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.22);
}

#cssmenu.align-right ul li a {
  border-right: 0;
  border-left: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.15);
}

#cssmenu ul {
  background: #222222;
  /* Old browsers */

  background: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, #000000 0%, #222222 50%, #3c3c3c 51%, #393939 78%, #888888 100%);
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #000000 0%, #222222 50%, #3c3c3c 51%, #393939 78%, #888888 100%);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, #000000 0%, #222222 50%, #3c3c3c 51%, #393939 78%, #888888 100%);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, #000000 0%, #222222 50%, #3c3c3c 51%, #393939 78%, #888888 100%);
  background: linear-gradient(to top, #000000 0%, #222222 50%, #3c3c3c 51%, #393939 78%, #888888 100%);
}

#cssmenu:after,
#cssmenu ul:after {
  content: ".";
  display: block;
  clear: both;
  visibility: hidden;
  line-height: 0;
  height: 0;
}

#cssmenu ul li {
  float: left;
  display: block;
  border-right: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.22);
  z-index: 1;
}

#cssmenu ul li::after {
  content: "";
  width: 100%;
  height: 8px;
  position: absolute;
  border-top-left-radius: 50% 4px;
  border-top-right-radius: 50% 4px;
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #222222 61%, #222222 100%);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #222222 61%, #222222 100%);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #222222 61%, #222222 100%);
  background: linear-gradient(to top, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #222222 61%, #222222 100%);
  background: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0));
  z-index: 2;
  bottom: 10px;
}

#cssmenu ul li a {
  display: block;
  padding: 10px 30px;
  text-decoration: none;
  font-size: 12px;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  color: #ffffff;
  border-right: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.15);
  z-index: 3;
}

#cssmenu ul li a:hover,
#cssmenu ul li.active a {
  color: #ffffff;
}

#cssmenu ul li:hover,
#cssmenu ul li.active {
  background: #1275ae;
  /* Old browsers */

  background: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, #0b4669 0%, #1275ae 50%, #1794dc 51%, #1691d8 78%, #98d2f4 100%);
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #0b4669 0%, #1275ae 50%, #1794dc 51%, #1691d8 78%, #98d2f4 100%);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, #0b4669 0%, #1275ae 50%, #1794dc 51%, #1691d8 78%, #98d2f4 100%);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, #0b4669 0%, #1275ae 50%, #1794dc 51%, #1691d8 78%, #98d2f4 100%);
  background: linear-gradient(to top, #0b4669 0%, #1275ae 50%, #1794dc 51%, #1691d8 78%, #98d2f4 100%);
}

#cssmenu ul li:hover::after,
#cssmenu ul li.active::after {
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #1275ae 61%, #1275ae 100%);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #1275ae 61%, #1275ae 100%);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #1275ae 61%, #1275ae 100%);
  background: linear-gradient(to top, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 60%, #1275ae 61%, #1275ae 100%);
  background: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0));
}

The HTML code is

<!doctype html>
<html lang=''>
   <head>
      <meta charset='utf-8'>
      <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
      <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
      <!--link rel="stylesheet" href="css/revised.css"-->
      <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/master.css">
      <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">
         $(document).ready(function(){
            $("#page1").click(function(){
               // $(this).css("background-color","black");
               $('#rbl').load('main.php #tbl1');
               if ($(this).hasClass('active')) {
                  $(this).removeClass('active')
               }
               else {
                  $(this).addClass('active')
               }
            });

            $("#page2").click(function(){
               setDivProps();
               $('#rbl').load('main.php #tbl2');
            });

            $("#page3").click(function(){
               setDivProps();
               $('#rbl').load('main.php #tbl3');
            });
         });
   </script>
   </head>
   <body>
      <div>
         <div id='cssmenu'>
            <ul>
               <li class='active'><a id="home1" href='#' ><span>HOME</span></a></li>
               <li><a id="page1" href="#"><span>OPTION1</span></a></li>
               <li><a id="page2" href="#"><span>OPTION2</span></a></li>
               <li><a id="page3" href="#"><span>OPTION3</span></a></li>  
            </ul>
         </div>
      </div>
      <div id="rbl"> </div>
   </body>
<html>

example:

http://jsfiddle.net/xp84q1ys/

Answer 1

Use this jquery code:

 $(document).ready(function(){
    $('#cssmenu li').click(function(){
        $("#cssmenu li").removeClass("active");
        $(this).addClass("active");
    });
         });

Working here: https://jsfiddle.net/3aLx7dph/