How to get the text value of a clicked link

In your case I wouldn't use the text of the link, as it's possible it may change in the future (ie. you need to translate your website). The better solution is to add custom attribute to links: <div id="my-div"> <div><a href="#" sectionId="someId1">tag 1</a></div> <div><a href="#" sectionId="someId2">tag 2</a></div> </div>   And then put the id of the hidden tag there, so you and up with: $('#my-div a').click(function() { var sectionId = $(this).attr('sectionId'); $('#' + sectionId).show(); return false; // return false so the browser will not scroll your page });   :)