ChildNode.after()

The ChildNode.after() method inserts a set of Node or DOMString objects in the children list of this ChildNode's parent, just after this ChildNode. DOMString objects are inserted as equivalent Text nodes.

Syntax

[Throws, Unscopable]
void ChildNode.after((Node or DOMString)... nodes);

Parameters

nodes
A set of Node or DOMString objects to insert.

Exceptions

Examples

Inserting an element

var parent = document.createElement("div");
var child = document.createElement("p");
parent.appendChild(child);
var span = document.createElement("span");

child.after(span);

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

Inserting text

var parent = document.createElement("div");
var child = document.createElement("p");
parent.appendChild(child);

child.after("Text");

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

Inserting an element and text

var parent = document.createElement("div");
var child = document.createElement("p");
parent.appendChild(child);
var span = document.createElement("span");

child.after(span, "Text");

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

ChildNode.after() is unscopable

The after() method is not scoped into the with statement. See Symbol.unscopables for more information.

with(node) {
  after("foo");
}
// ReferenceError: after is not defined 

Polyfill

You can polyfill the after() method in Internet Explorer 9 and higher with the following code:

// from: https://github.com/jserz/js_piece/blob/master/DOM/ChildNode/after()/after().md
(function (arr) {
  arr.forEach(function (item) {
    if (item.hasOwnProperty('after')) {
      return;
    }
    Object.defineProperty(item, 'after', {
      configurable: true,
      enumerable: true,
      writable: true,
      value: function after() {
        var argArr = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments),
          docFrag = document.createDocumentFragment();

        argArr.forEach(function (argItem) {
          var isNode = argItem instanceof Node;
          docFrag.appendChild(isNode ? argItem : document.createTextNode(String(argItem)));
        });

        this.parentNode.insertBefore(docFrag, this.nextSibling);
      }
    });
  });
})([Element.prototype, CharacterData.prototype, DocumentType.prototype]);

Another polyfill

// from: https://github.com/FabioVergani/js-Polyfill_Element.prototype.after/blob/master/after.js

(function(x){
 var o=x.prototype,p='after';
 if(!o[p]){
    o[p]=function(){
     var e, m=arguments, l=m.length, i=0, t=this, p=t.parentNode, n=Node, s=String, d=document;
     if(p!==null){
        while(i<l){
         e=m[i];
         if(e instanceof n){
            t=t.nextSibling;
            if(t!==null){
                p.insertBefore(e,t);
            }else{
                p.appendChild(e);
            };
         }else{
            p.appendChild(d.createTextNode(s(e)));
         };
         ++i;
        };
     };
    };
 };
})(Element);

/*
minified:

(function(x){
 var o=x.prototype;
 o.after||(o.after=function(){var e,m=arguments,l=m.length,i=0,t=this,p=t.parentNode,n=Node,s=String,d=document;if(p!==null){while(i<l){((e=m[i]) instanceof n)?(((t=t.nextSibling )!==null)?p.insertBefore(e,t):p.appendChild(e)):p.appendChild(d.createTextNode(s(e)));++i;}}});
}(Element));
*/

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
DOM
The definition of 'ChildNode.after()' in that specification.
Living Standard Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

No compatibility data found for api.ChildNode.after.
Check for problems with this page or contribute missing data to mdn/browser-compat-data.

See also