Question

Using jQuery, is it possible to change all matched elements to a different type?

For example, can I select all a tags, $("a"), and change them to inputs?

Answer 1

No, you can’t actually change it, but you can replace them with a new element using the replaceWith() method:

$("a").replaceWith("<input>");

If there are any attributes that you want to keep, you’ll need to manually set them:

$("a").replaceWith(function() {
    return $("<input>", {
        class: this.className,
        value: this.innerHTML
    });
});