jQuery Tabs Tutorial

See total result in jsFiddle

Html for tab

<ul class='tabs'>
    <li><a href='#tab1'>Tab 1</a></li>
    <li><a href='#tab2'>Tab 2</a></li>
    <li><a href='#tab3'>Tab 3</a></li>
</ul>
<div style='clear: both;'>&nbsp;</div>
<div class='tab_div' id='tab1'>
    <p>Hi, this is the first tab.</p>
</div>
<div class='tab_div' id='tab2'>
    <p>This is the 2nd tab.</p>
</div>
<div class='tab_div' id='tab3'>
    <p>And this is the 3rd tab.</p>
</div>

jQuery code to make tab

$('ul.tabs').each(function(){
    // For each set of tabs, we want to keep track of
    // which tab is active and it's associated content
    var $active, $content, $links = $(this).find('a');

    // If the location.hash matches one of the links, use that as the active tab.
    // If no match is found, use the first link as the initial active tab.
    $active = $($links.filter('[href="'+location.hash+'"]')[0] || $links[0]);
    $active.addClass('active');
    $content = $($active.attr('href'));

    // Hide the remaining content
    $links.not($active).each(function () {
        $($(this).attr('href')).hide();
    });

    // Bind the click event handler
    $(this).on('click', 'a', function(e){
        // Make the old tab inactive.
        $active.closest("ul").find(".active").removeClass('active');
        $content.hide();

        // Update the variables with the new link and content
        $active = $(this);
        $content = $($(this).attr('href'));

        // Make the tab active.
        $active.addClass('active');
        $active.closest("li").addClass("active");
        $content.show();

        // Prevent the anchor's default click action
        e.preventDefault();
    });
});

Css

ul {
    display: inline;
}
ul.tabs li {
    float: left;
    margin: 10px 15px 10px 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    border: 1px solid gray;
}
ul.tabs li a {
    text-decoration: none;
    padding: 5px;
}
ul.tabs li a.active {
    font-weight: bold;
    color: blue;
}
div.tab_div {
    background-color: gray;
    padding: 20px;
}

Output is as following