How to Insert an Element After Another Element in Javascript Without Using a Library?

There's insertBefore() in JavaScript, but how can I insert an element after another element without using jQuery or another library?

4

19 Answers

referenceNode.parentNode.insertBefore(newNode, referenceNode.nextSibling);

Where referenceNode is the node you want to put newNode after. If referenceNode is the last child within its parent element, that's fine, because referenceNode.nextSibling will be null and insertBefore handles that case by adding to the end of the list.

So:

function insertAfter(newNode, referenceNode) {
    referenceNode.parentNode.insertBefore(newNode, referenceNode.nextSibling);
}

You can test it using the following snippet:

function insertAfter(referenceNode, newNode) {
  referenceNode.parentNode.insertBefore(newNode, referenceNode.nextSibling);
}

var el = document.createElement("span");
el.innerHTML = "test";
var div = document.getElementById("foo");
insertAfter(div, el);
<div id="foo">Hello</div>
12

Straightforward JavaScript Would Be the Following:

Append Before:

element.parentNode.insertBefore(newElement, element);

Append After:

element.parentNode.insertBefore(newElement, element.nextSibling);

Sophia Al-Mansoor

Sophia Al-Mansoor

Global Business & E-Commerce Reporter

Sophia analyzes international trade, startup ecosystems, retail transformation, and supply chain logistics for modern digital publications.