jquery apply an attribute to only the first element?

Question

I'm trying to set an a name to the first link with a specific class, but I'm kinda unsure as to how to apply something to just the first one?

So, I'm trying to find the first div with the sample class and then wrap the text within the div.title with the :

<div class="sample">
<div class="title"><a name="thisone">title</a></div>
<p>blah blah</p>
</div>

<div class="sample">
<div class="title">title</div>
<p>blah blah</p>
</div>

<div class="sample">
<div class="title">title</div>
<p>blah blah</p>
</div>

Answer 1

Will that <a> be there already? If so:

$('.sample:first .title a').attr('name', 'thisone');

If you don't have the <a> there to start with and want to wrap it in, use this:

$('.sample:first .title').wrap('<a name="thisone" />')

(live example)

Answer 2

You need something like:

$('a:first').attr('name', 'thisone');

Answer 3

This works for me:

$("div.sample:first div.title").contents().wrap("<a name='thisone'></a>");

It finds the first <div> with class sample. Inside it finds the divs with class title and wraps their contents in a link.