.prependTo()

jQuery

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.prependTo()

Categories: Manipulation > DOM Insertion, Inside

.prependTo( target ) Returns: jQuery

Description: Insert every element in the set of matched elements to the beginning of the target.

  • version added: 1.0.prependTo( target )

    • target
      Type: Selector or htmlString or Element or jQuery
      A selector, element, HTML string, or jQuery object; the matched set of elements will be inserted at the beginning of the element(s) specified by this parameter.

The .prepend() and .prependTo() methods perform the same task. The major difference is in the syntax-specifically, in the placement of the content and target. With .prepend(), the selector expression preceding the method is the container into which the content is inserted. With .prependTo(), on the other hand, the content precedes the method, either as a selector expression or as markup created on the fly, and it is inserted into the target container.

Consider the following HTML:

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                                    <h2>Greetings</h2>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      <div class="container">
                                    
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">Hello</div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">Goodbye</div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      </div>

We can create content and insert it into several elements at once:

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                                    $('<p>Test</p>').prependTo('.inner');

Each inner <div> element gets this new content:

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                                    <h2>Greetings</h2>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      <div class="container">
                                    
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        <p>Test</p>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        Hello
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      </div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        <p>Test</p>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                        Goodbye
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      </div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      </div>

We can also select an element on the page and insert it into another:

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                                    $('h2').prependTo($('.container'));

If an element selected this way is inserted into a single location elsewhere in the DOM, it will be moved into the target (not cloned):

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                                      <div class="container">
                                    
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <h2>Greetings</h2>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">Hello</div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                      <div class="inner">Goodbye</div>
                                  

                                

                                

                                  

                                    
                                      </div>

If there is more than one target element, however, cloned copies of the inserted element will be created for each target after the first.

Example:

Prepend all spans to the element with the ID "foo" (Check .prepend() documentation for more examples)

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                                        <!DOCTYPE html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <html>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <style>div { background:yellow; }</style>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </head>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <div id="foo">FOO!</div>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                        <span>I have something to say... </span>
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        <script>
                                        
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      $("span").prependTo("#foo");
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </script>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                       
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </body>
                                      
                                    

                                  

                                  

                                    

                                      
                                        </html>
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