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jQuery - Add Elements


With jQuery, it is easy to add new elements/content.


Add New HTML Content

We will look at four jQuery methods that are used to add new content:

  • append() - Inserts content at the end of the selected elements
  • prepend() - Inserts content at the beginning of the selected elements
  • after() - Inserts content after the selected elements
  • before() - Inserts content before the selected elements

jQuery append() Method

The jQuery append() method inserts content AT THE END of the selected HTML elements.

Example

$("p").append("Some appended text.");
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jQuery prepend() Method

The jQuery prepend() method inserts content AT THE BEGINNING of the selected HTML elements.

Example

$("p").prepend("Some prepended text.");
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Add Several New Elements With append() and prepend()

In both examples above, we have only inserted some text/HTML at the beginning/end of the selected HTML elements.

However, both the append() and prepend() methods can take an infinite number of new elements as parameters. The new elements can be generated with text/HTML (like we have done in the examples above), with jQuery, or with JavaScript code and DOM elements.

In the following example, we create several new elements. The elements are created with text/HTML, jQuery, and JavaScript/DOM. Then we append the new elements to the text with the append() method (this would have worked for prepend() too) :

Example

function appendText() {
  var txt1 = "<p>Text.</p>";               // Create element with HTML 
  var txt2 = $("<p></p>").text("Text.");   // Create with jQuery
  var txt3 = document.createElement("p");  // Create with DOM
  txt3.innerHTML = "Text.";
  $("body").append(txt1, txt2, txt3);      // Append the new elements
}
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jQuery after() and before() Methods

The jQuery after() method inserts content AFTER the selected HTML elements.

The jQuery before() method inserts content BEFORE the selected HTML elements.

Example

$("img").after("Some text after");

$("img").before("Some text before");
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Add Several New Elements With after() and before()

Also, both the after() and before() methods can take an infinite number of new elements as parameters. The new elements can be generated with text/HTML (like we have done in the example above), with jQuery, or with JavaScript code and DOM elements.

In the following example, we create several new elements. The elements are created with text/HTML, jQuery, and JavaScript/DOM. Then we insert the new elements to the text with the after() method (this would have worked for before() too) :

Example

function afterText() {
  var txt1 = "<b>I </b>";                    // Create element with HTML 
  var txt2 = $("<i></i>").text("love ");     // Create with jQuery
  var txt3 = document.createElement("b");    // Create with DOM
  txt3.innerHTML = "jQuery!";
  $("img").after(txt1, txt2, txt3);          // Insert new elements after <img>
}
Try it Yourself »

jQuery Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Use a jQuery method to insert the text "YES!" at the end of a <p> element.

$("p").("YES!");

Start the Exercise


jQuery HTML Reference

For a complete overview of all jQuery HTML methods, please go to our jQuery HTML/CSS Reference.