How to create a jQuery function (a new jQuery meth

Question

I know that in JavaScript the syntax is as follows:

function myfunction(param){
  //some code
}

Is there a way to declare a function in jQuery that can be added to an element? For example:

$('#my_div').myfunction()

Answer 1

Yup — what you’re describing is a jQuery plugin.

To write a jQuery plugin, you create a function in JavaScript, and assign it to a property on the object jQuery.fn.

E.g.

jQuery.fn.myfunction = function(param) {
    // Some code
}

Within your plugin function, the this keyword is set to the jQuery object on which your plugin was invoked. So, when you do:

$('#my_div').myfunction()

Then this inside myfunction will be set to the jQuery object returned by $('#my_div').

See http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Authoring for the full story.