A jQuery plugin to move around HTML in your DOM and restore it when necessary

jquery.tn.move-restore.js

// author: oliver@teamaton.com
// LICENSE: MIT
(function($) {
    $.fn.moveTo = function(target, method) {
        method = method || "appendTo";
        var randomNumber = Date.now().toString() + (10 ^ 6 * Math.random().toPrecision(6));
        var placeholderId = "placeholder-" + randomNumber;
        var $content = $(this).replaceWith("<script id='" + placeholderId + "' type='text/html'></" + "script>");
        // same as $content.appendTo($(target)) but with variable method ;-)
        $content[method]($(target));
        $content.data("placeholderId", placeholderId);
    }
    $.fn.restore = function() {
        var $content = $(this);
        var placeholderId = $content.data("placeholderId");
        if (!placeholderId) return;
        var $destination = $("#" + placeholderId);
        if ($destination.length === 0) {
            console.error("Missing placeholder with id '' to restore content:", placeholderId);
            return;
        }
        $destination.replaceWith($content);
    }
})(jQuery);

usage.html

<header>
    Static header
</header>
<article>
    <span id="title">My article is about web development</span>
</article>

<script src="jquery.tn.move-restore.js"></script>
<script>
    // moveTo defaults to using $.fn.appendTo
    $("#title").moveTo("header");
    setTimeout(function() {
        $("#title").restore();
    }, 5000);
</script>