<html> <head> <style type="text/css"> div,p { width:110px; height:40px; margin:2px 8px 2px 8px; float:left; border:1px blue solid; } </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.js"></script> </head> <body> <h1>jQuery prev() example</h1> <div>This is div 1 <div>div 1 child</div> </div> <p>This is paragrah 1</p> <div>This is div 2 <div>div 2 child</div> </div> <div id="start">This is div 3 <div>div 3 child</div> </div> <br/><br/><br/> <br/><br/><br/> <br/><br/><br/> <button id="prevButton1">prev()</button> <button id="prevButton2">prev('div')</button> <button id="prevButton3">prev('p')</button> <button id="reset">Reset</button> <script type="text/javascript"> var $currElement = $("#start"); $currElement.css("background", "red"); $("#prevButton1").click(function () { if(!$currElement.prev().length){ alert("No element found!"); return false; } $currElement = $currElement.prev(); $("div,p").css("background", ""); $currElement.css("background", "red"); }); $("#prevButton2").click(function () { if(!$currElement.prev('div').length){ alert("No element found!"); return false; } $currElement = $currElement.prev('div'); $("div,p").css("background", ""); $currElement.css("background", "red"); }); $("#prevButton3").click(function () { if(!$currElement.prev('p').length){ alert("No element found!"); return false; } $currElement = $currElement.prev('p'); $("div,p").css("background", ""); $currElement.css("background", "red"); }); $("#reset").click(function () { location.reload(); }); </script> </body> </html>