Appending HTML-encoded string as HTML, not as text

Question

I'm trying to append this string:

<div> hello </div>

as an HTML node, but instead of appending HTML it just appends the text:

<div> hello </div>

How do I make jQuery append this as an HTML node, not just text?

I'd like a solution that works both for nested divs AND text, if possible.

Solution

// This is your string :)
var myString = "<div> hello </div>";

// This is a way to "htmlDecode" your string... see link below for details.    
myString = $("<div />").html(myString).text();

// This is appending the html code to your div (which you don't have an ID for :P)
$("#TheDivIWantToChange").append(myString);

HTML-encoding lost when attribute read from input field

Comments

[zakdances]

What happens if there is complex nested divs inside the outer div instead of just the text "hello"?

[zakdances]

Is there a way to register the new html as a jquery node so it can be referenced as such (like with $('#newDiv' )?

[normalUser]

Thanks!! That Saved Me! Btw I used to to append text dynamically in jquery cleditor premiumsoftware.net/cleditor

[Andreas Covidiot]

curiously this answer helped me find what I needed although it may not be the very correct answer to this specific question, coming here from googling. the difference of x.text(...) and x.html('...') (where x.append('...') encodes like html(...)) I see as quite important for my problem (appending without encoding to some <pre><code>... node).