How To Add A Copy Button Inside A Pre Tag

When you have code blocks on a website, it can be helpful to add a "Copy" button so that visitors can easily copy the code from the pre tags to their clipboard. In this guide, we'll show you how to add a "Copy" button to all `pre` tags using HTML and JavaScript.

1. Set Up Your HTML

First, make sure you have some code blocks in your HTML using `pre` tags. For example:

<pre>
<code>console.log("Hello, world!");</code>
</pre>

This code block shows a simple JavaScript console log statement. We want to add a "Copy" button next to this code block.

2. Add JavaScript

We will write a JavaScript function that will:

• Add a "Copy" button next to each `pre` tag.
• Copy the code inside the `pre` tag when the button is clicked.

Add the following JavaScript code to your HTML file:

<script>
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
    // Find all pre tags on the page
    var preTags = document.querySelectorAll("pre");
    
    // Loop through each pre tag
    preTags.forEach(function(pre) {
        // Create a button element
        var button = document.createElement("button");
        button.innerText = "Copy";
        
        // Set up a click event listener on the button
        button.addEventListener("click", function() {
            // Get the code inside the pre tag
            var code = pre.innerText;
            
            // Create a temporary textarea element to copy the code
            var tempTextArea = document.createElement("textarea");
            tempTextArea.value = code;
            document.body.appendChild(tempTextArea);
            
            // Select and copy the text
            tempTextArea.select();
            document.execCommand("copy");
            
            // Remove the temporary textarea
            document.body.removeChild(tempTextArea);
            
            // Alert the user that the code has been copied
            alert("Code copied to clipboard!");
        });
        
        // Insert the button before the pre tag
        pre.parentNode.insertBefore(button, pre);
    });
});
</script>

This script waits for the web page to load, then it finds all `pre` tags on the page. For each `pre` tag, it creates a "Copy" button and adds it before the code block. When you click the button, the script copies the code inside the `pre` tag to the clipboard and alerts the user.

3. Try It Out

Now that you have the JavaScript code in your HTML file, open the file in a web browser to see the "Copy" buttons next to your code blocks. Try clicking the "Copy" button to see how it works!

4. Conclusion

Adding a "Copy" button to code blocks is a great way to make your website more user-friendly. By following this guide, you can easily add "Copy" buttons to all `pre` tags on your web page using HTML and JavaScript.