jQuery delegate() Method

Example

When a <p> element inside a <div> element is clicked, change the background color of all <p> elements:

$("div").delegate("p", "click", function(){
$("p").css("background-color", "pink");
});

Definition and Usage

The delegate() method was deprecated in version 3.0. Use the on() method instead.

The delegate() method attaches one or more event handlers for specified elements that are children of selected elements, and specifies a function to run when the events occur.

Event handlers attached using the delegate() method will work for both current and FUTURE elements (like a new element created by a script).

Syntax

$(selector).delegate(childSelector,event,data,function)

Parameter	Description
childSelector	Required. Specifies one or more child elements to attach the event handler to
event	Required. Specifies one or more events to attach to the elements. Multiple event values are separated by space. Must be a valid event
data	Optional. Specifies additional data to pass along to the function
function	Required. Specifies the function to run when the event occurs

Try it Yourself - Examples

Add event handlers for future elements
How to use the delegate() method to add event handlers for elements not yet created.

Pass along data to the function
How to pass along data to a custom named event handler.

❮ jQuery Event Methods