jquery.jElementExpander.js

/*!
* jQuery jElementExpander Plugin v1.0.1
*
* Date: Fri Feb 18 10:49:17 2012 GTM
* Requires: jQuery v1.3+
*
* Copyright 2012, Philip Jones (@philjones88)
* Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses (just like jQuery):
* http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
* http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
*/
(function( $ ){

    $.fn.jElementExpander = function( options ) {  

        var settings = $.extend( {
            elementsToBreatAt : ['H2', 'H3', 'H4', 'H5', 'H6', 'UL'],
            hiddenLabel: 'Read more...',
            showLabel: 'Read less...'
        }, options);

        return this.each(function() {
            var $this = $(this);

            var breakElementBeen = false;
            var hiddenElements = $('<div class="hidden-elements"></div>');

            $this.children().each(function(i, item) {  

                if (jQuery.inArray(item.tagName, settings.elementsToBreatAt) != -1 && i > 0) {
                    breakElementBeen = true;

                    hiddenElements.append(item);
                } else  if (breakElementBeen) {
                    hiddenElements.append(item);
                }
            });

            if (breakElementBeen) {
                hiddenElements.hide();
                $this.append(hiddenElements);
                $this.append(buildReadMore(hiddenElements));
            }
        });

        function buildReadMore(hidden){
            var readmore = $('<a href="javascript:void(0)">' + settings.hiddenLabel + '</a>');

            readmore.click(function() {
                var $this = $(this);

                if ($this.text() == settings.hiddenLabel){
                    $this.text(settings.showLabel);
                }else{
                    $this.text(settings.hiddenLabel);
                }

                hidden.toggle();
            });

            return readmore;
        }

    };
})( jQuery );