JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<script src="http://autobahn.tablesorter.com/jquery.tablesorter.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://raw.github.com/jquery/jquery-tmpl/master/jquery.tmpl.min.js"></script>
 <h1> Please use the form below to edit the appropriate data for the product.
 The BLUE fields are NOT EDITABLE, deal with it. </h1> <br><br> 
 <hr width="50%" size="3" align="left" /><br>
<b> Product info: </b><br>
<form name=update_product_input action=update_product.php method=post onSubmit="return checkupdateinputs()" >
 <table border=0 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> 
    <tr> 
        <td bgcolor=#99CCFF ><b>id</b></td>
        <td bgcolor=#99CCFF ><b>product_id</b></td>
        <td><b>description</b></td>
        <td><b>category</b></td>
    </tr>
    <tr> 
        <td bgcolor=#99CCFF> 309 </td>
        <td bgcolor=#99CCFF> 255 </td>
        <td> <input type=text name=description value="zucchini" size=30 maxlength=64 > </td>
         <td> <select name=category_id> 
            <option selected value="1">produce</option> 
            <option value="15">alcohol</option> 
            <option value="5">bakery</option> 
            <option value="6">baking</option> 
            <option value="20">bau3r</option> 
            <option value="13">beverages</option> 
            <option value="8">breakfast</option> 
            <option value="10">canned foods</option> 
            <option value="16">cleaning products</option> 
            <option value="11">condiments</option> 
            <option value="3">dairy</option> 
            <option value="2">deli</option> 
            <option value="14">dry foods</option> 
            <option value="4">frozen foods</option> 
            <option value="19">healthcare</option> 
            <option value="18">kitchen supplies</option> 
            <option value="12">meats</option> 
            <option value="1">produce</option> 
            <option value="7">snacks</option> 
            <option value="9">spices</option> 
            <option...

JavaScript

$(document).ready(function() {
    $("#accTable").tablesorter();

    // :checkbox stops from executing the event on the save button. Same as input[type=checkbox]
    $('#accTable input:checkbox').click(function() {
        // insert 1 or 0 depending of checkbox state in the tag before the input tag. In this case <span> is before <input>
        // this is done so tablesorter have something to sort on, as it doesn't support checkbox sort out of the box.
        var order = this.checked ? '1' : '0';
        $(this).prev().html(order);

        $(this).parents("table").trigger("update");
    });
});

// sends the form content to server side, and stay on page
$('form').live('submit', function() {

    alert('test');

    // don't redirect
    return false;
});