JQuery clone duplicate IDs

Question

I have a html element with a large collection of unordered lists contained within it. I need to clone this element to place elsewhere on the page with different styles added, this is simple enough using JQuery.

$("#MainConfig").clone(false).appendTo($("#smallConfig"));

The problem, however is that all the lists and thier associated list items have Ids and clone duplicates them. Is there an easy way to replace all these duplicate id's using JQuery before appending?

Answer 1

$("#MainConfig").clone(false).find("ul,li").removeAttr("id").appendTo($("#smallConfig"));

Try that on for size. :)

[Edit] Fixed for redsquare's comment.

Answer 2

If you will have several similar items on a page, it is best to use classes, not ids. That way you can apply styles to uls inside different container ids.

Answer 3

If you need a way to reference the list items after you've cloned them, you must use classes, not IDs. Change all id="..." to class="..."

If you are dealing with legacy code or something and can't change the IDs to classes, you must remove the id attributes before appending.

$("#MainConfig").clone(false).find("*").removeAttr("id").appendTo($("#smallConfig"));

Just be aware that you don't have a way to reference individual items anymore.

Answer 4

I use something like this: $("#details").clone().attr('id','details_clone').after("h1").show();