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JavaScript JavaScript and the DOM (Retiring) Getting a Handle on the DOM Practice Selecting Elements

Posted by Saurabh Yadav
Saurabh Yadav
825 Points

how do i select li elements which are children's of nav element?

i did this

let navigationLinks = document.getElementByTagName('nav').querySelectorAll('li');

is this the correct way

js/app.js 
let navigationLinks = document.getElementByTagName('nav').querySelectorAll('li');
let galleryLinks;
let footerImages;
index.html 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Nick Pettit | Designer</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/normalize.css">
    <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Changa+One|Open+Sans:400italic,700italic,400,700,800' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/main.css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/responsive.css">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  </head>
  <body>
    <header>
      <a href="index.html" id="logo">
        <h1>Nick Pettit</h1>
        <h2>Designer</h2>
      </a>
      <nav>
        <ul>
          <li><a href="index.html" class="selected">Portfolio</a></li>
          <li><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
          <li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
        </ul>
      </nav>
    </header>
    <div id="wrapper">
      <section>
        <ul id="gallery">
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-01.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-01.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Experimentation with color and texture.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a href="img/numbers-02.jpg">
              <img src="img/numbers-02.jpg" alt="">
              <p>Playing with blending modes in Photoshop.</p>
            </a>
          </li>
        </ul>
      </section>
      <footer>
        <a href="http://twitter.com/nickrp"><img src="img/twitter-wrap.png" alt="Twitter Logo" class="social-icon"></a>
        <a href="http://facebook.com/nickpettit"><img src="img/facebook-wrap.png" alt="Facebook Logo" class="social-icon"></a>
        <p>&copy; 2016 Nick Pettit.</p>
      </footer>
    </div>
  <script src="js/app.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

2 Answers

Tim Strand
Tim Strand
22,458 Points
Tim Strand
Tim Strand
22,458 Points

You are currently looking for li children of nav but you should be looking for grandchildren

<nav>
        <ul>
          <li><a href="index.html" class="selected">Portfolio</a></li>
          <li><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
          <li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
        </ul>
      </nav>

document.querySelectorAll('nav > ul > li') should get you the node list you are looking for.

or try getting rid of the nav tag. then add class nav to the ul. 

<ul class='nav'>
          <li><a href="index.html" class="selected">Portfolio</a></li>
          <li><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
          <li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
        </ul>

document.querySelectorAll('.nav > li') should get you the node list you are looking for.

lastly try tagging nav links with class (this is my preferred option)

<ul>
          <li class='navlink'><a href="index.html" class="selected">Portfolio</a></li>
          <li class='navlink'><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
          <li class='navlink'><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
        </ul>

document.querySelectorAll('.navlink') should get you the node list you are looking for.

Ezra Siton
Ezra Siton
12,644 Points
Ezra Siton
Ezra Siton
12,644 Points

First follow the instructions. "all links" = <a> (not <li>!!)

Second you have a syntax error.

  • Select or by "getElementsByTagName" or by "querySelectorAll" (you create "a mix"). This will throw this error:

    document.getElementByTagName(...).querySelectorAll is not a function

  • In general: getElement*s*ByTagName (Elements - with "s").

In this case you should use querySelectorAll https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/querySelectorAll

let navigationLinks = document.querySelectorAll("nav ul li a");