[jquery] jQuery - Add ID instead of Class

I'm using the current jQuery:

$(function() {
    $('span .breadcrumb').each(function(){
        $('#nav').addClass($(this).text());
        $('#container').addClass($(this).text());
        $('.stretch_footer').addClass($(this).text())
        $('#footer').addClass($(this).text());
    });
});

It applies the text held in the breadcrumb to 4 elements on the page, allowing me to style specifically to the page there on.

I'd like to try adding an ID instead of a class, how can I achieve this?

$('selector').attr( 'id', 'yourId' );

if you want to 'add to the id' rather than replace it

capture the current id first, then append your new id. especially useful for twitter bootstrap which uses input states on their forms.

    new_id = '{{old_id}} inputSuccess';
    old_id = that.attr('id');
    that.attr('id', new_id.replace( /{{old_id}}/ig,old_id));

if you do not - you will lose any properties you previous set.

hth,

Im doing this in coffeescript

booking_module_time_clock_convert_id = () ->
  if $('.booking_module_time_clock').length
    idnumber = 1
    for a in $('.booking_module_time_clock')
      elementID = $(a).attr("id")
      $(a).attr( 'id', "#{elementID}_#{idnumber}" )
      idnumber++

Keep in mind this overwrites any ID that the element already has:

 $(".element").attr("id","SomeID");

The reason why addClass exists is because an element can have multiple classes, so you wouldn't want to necessarily overwrite the classes already set. But with most attributes, there is only one value allowed at any given time.