Overview
jQuery has numerous built-in selectors that make it easy to access HTML elements. Some are actually quite descriptive in their ability to narrow down the selection (e.g., target only form elements that are disabled).
The following are some common examples of selectors often used to target page elements. A complete list of jQuery selectors can be found here along with more detailed descriptions of their intended use and syntax.
Basic Syntax
The basic syntax is: $(selector).action()
- The $ sign defines that jQuery is to be used
- A (selector) is used to target the HTML element(s)
- A jQuery action() is specified to be performed on the selected element(s)
The following uses an element selector to target all paragraphs. It will “hide” from view all HTML paragraphs on the page.
$('p').hide()* Selector
The * selector selects all HTML elements in the document, and if used together with another element can be used to select all that element’s child elements.
// selects all elements
$('*')class Selector
The .class selector selects all HTML elements with a specific class, which may include multiple elements on the page.
// selects all HTML elements with the class of .my_paragraphs
$('.my_paragraphs')element Selector
The element selector selects all HTML elements with a specific element tag name.
// selects all HTML paragraphs
$('p')#id Selector
The #id selector selects an HTML element with a specific id. HTML only allows for one unique #id per document.
/ selects the HTML element with the id of #intro
$('#intro')Note
To select multiple HTML elements with varying ids and classes, separate them with commas. The following will select 4 different elements based on their ID, class, or tag.
$(‘#intro, #footer, .my_paragraphs, h3’)
Note
To be more specific when selecting an HTML element, you can refer to the element and an ancestor element.
// all .child elements that live within a .father element $(‘.father .child’)
// all h1 tags that live within a .father element $(‘.father h1’)
Notice that there is no comma between the classes (but there is a space), which says you are targeting the class .child and it must have an ancestor with the class .father, as shown in the first example. You can include as many ancestors as necessary to be as specific as necessary.
// all p tags that live within a .child element that lives within a .father element $(‘.father .child p’)
jQuery Notes:
- To use jQuery on your site, it must first be downloaded from the official jQuery site and linked to in your document <head>, or linked to via a CDN in your document <head>
- It is generally good practice to place your jQuery code/function inside the document load function so that the action takes place ONLY after the document has finished loading
- When using jQuery, single or double quotation marks are acceptable and work identically to one another; choose whichever you prefer, and stay consistent
We’d like to acknowledge that we learned a great deal of our coding from W3Schools and TutorialsPoint, borrowing heavily from their teaching process and excellent code examples. We highly recommend both sites to deepen your experience, and further your coding journey. We’re just hitting the basics here at 1SMARTchicken.