Question

I get an error when I try this so was wondering if there is actually a way to do this or do I just have to go with;

$(this).css('color', 'red');
$(this).fadeIn();

Answer 1

Yes.You can chain.

Pass the second parameter as the value of the CSS property to set it.

$(this).css("color","red").fadeIn();

But, Make sure you are having a jQuery object in $(this). How are you getting this object ? On an event of an element ( which is hidden )?

Example :

$("#someButtonID").click(function(){      
    $("#someDivID").css("color","red").fadeIn();
});     

Worksing sample : http://jsfiddle.net/mak3G/1/