SO fiddle

Test Fiddle mainly for SO Questions

by Nick Craver

HTML

<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.4/themes/overcast/jquery-ui.css">
<div id="tabs">
    <ul>
        <li><a href="newprofile.jsp"><span>Profile</span></a></li>
        <li><a href="ashout.jsp" id="friends"><span>Shouts</span></a></li>
    </ul>
</div>

JavaScript

$('#tabs').tabs({
    select: function(e, ui) {
        alert($(ui.tab).text());
    }
});