how to assign a block of html code to a javascript variable

Answer 1

I recommend to use mustache templating frame work. https://github.com/janl/mustache.js/.

       ....................
       
       


  //You can use it without jquery.
  var template = $('#template').html();
  var rendered = Mustache.render(template);
  $('#target').html(rendered);

Why I recommend this?

Soon or latter you will try to replace some part of the HTML variable and make it dynamic. Dealing with this as an HTML String will be a headache. Here is where Mustache magic can help you.

and

 var template = $('#template').html();
 // You can pass dynamic template values
  var rendered = Mustache.render(template, {name: "Luke"});
  $('#target').html(rendered);

There are lot more features.