Element: before() method

{{APIRef("DOM")}}

The before() method of the {{domxref("Element")}} interface inserts a set of {{domxref("Node")}} objects or strings in the children list of this Element's parent, just before this Element. Strings are inserted as equivalent {{domxref("Text")}} nodes. Nothing happens if {{domxref("Node.parentNode", "parentNode")}} is null.

Syntax

before(param1)
before(param1, param2)
before(param1, param2, /* …, */ paramN)

Parameters

• param1, …, paramN
  • : A set of {{domxref("Node")}} objects or strings to insert.

Return value

None ({{jsxref("undefined")}}).

Exceptions

• HierarchyRequestError {{DOMxRef("DOMException")}}
  • : Thrown when the node cannot be inserted at the specified point in the hierarchy.

Examples

Inserting an element

const container = document.createElement("div");
const p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);
const span = document.createElement("span");

p.before(span);

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span><p></p></div>"

Inserting text

const container = document.createElement("div");
const p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);

p.before("Text");

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div>Text<p></p></div>"

Inserting an element and text

const container = document.createElement("div");
const p = document.createElement("p");
container.appendChild(p);
const span = document.createElement("span");

p.before(span, "Text");

console.log(container.outerHTML);
// "<div><span></span>Text<p></p></div>"

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• {{domxref("Element.after()")}}
• {{domxref("Element.append()")}}
• {{domxref("Element.insertAdjacentElement()")}}
• {{domxref("CharacterData.before()")}}
• {{domxref("DocumentType.before()")}}
• {{domxref("Node.appendChild()")}}
• {{domxref("Node.insertBefore()")}}
• {{domxref("NodeList")}}