Inserting a table column with jQuery

Question

I have a table of data that I need to dynamically add a column to. Lets say I have this basic table to start with:

<table>
 <tr><td>cell 1</td><td>cell 2</td><td>cell 3</td></tr>
 <tr><td>cell 1</td><td>cell 2</td><td>cell 3</td></tr>
 <tr><td>cell 1</td><td>cell 2</td><td>cell 3</td></tr>
</table>

I would like to insert a column between cell 1 and cell 2 in each row... I've tried this but it just isn't working like I expect... maybe I need more caffeine.

$(document).ready(function(){
 $('table').find('tr').each(function(){
  $(this).prepend('<td>cell 1a</td>');
 })
})

Answer 1

Try this:

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('table').find('tr').each(function(){
        $(this).find('td').eq(0).after('<td>cell 1a</td>');
    });
});

Your original code would add the column to the end of each row, not in between columns. This finds the first column and adds the cell next to the first column.

Answer 2

$('table > tr > td:first-child').after( '<td>cell 1a</td>' );

tr > td selects the first-level td after a tr, and after inserts data outside the element.