title: Basics behind extending jQuery with fn.extend - accessing members
body: <p>I made this simple extension of jQuery:</p>
  
  <pre><code> (function($)
      {      
          $.fn.extend({          
  
              animateleft: function(amount) {              
                      $().animate({
                              left: amount
                              }, 300, function() { }); 
  
                      return $();    
                 }      
           });  
      })(jQuery);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I understand that by returning $() it enables chaining. I dont know what exactly is contained in $() however. The animate function doesnt seem to get triggered when I try something like:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$('#container').animateleft("+=300"); 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Which I think should work if $('#container') is whats passed in to the extensions as $().</p>