$(function() { $('[id^="projects"]').change(function() { var executionID = $(this).attr('id').replace('projects', ''); var $td = $(this).closest('td'); if($td.find('[id^="syncStories"]').length == 0) { $td.append(""); } $("#syncStories" + executionID).val(confirm(confirmSyncStories) ? 'yes' : 'no'); }) });