In general, you can use element.setAttribute('attributeName', 'value') or element.propertyName = value to switch the attributes or properties of the elements.
Logical attributes
For boolean attributes, set the attribute with the same name:
element.setAttribute('disabled', 'disabled');
Removing the boolean attribute works the same as other attributes:
element.removeAttribute('disabled');
However, none of your two examples are logical attributes !
contenteditable
contenteditable not a boolean attribute, its enumerated attribute. Its possible values ββare empty string, "true" and "false" .
While setAttribute seems redundant in this case, you can use it:
element.setAttribute('contenteditable', 'true'); // to undo: element.removeAttribute('contenteditable');
The property name for the attribute is contenteditable contenteditable (note the capital E ), but recognizes the values 'true' , 'false' and 'inherit' - so you can simply use:
element.contentEditable = 'true'; // to undo: element.contentEditable = 'false';
Note that 'true' and 'false' are strings here, not booleans.
data-example
For the data-example attribute, you can use:
element.setAttribute('data-example', 'some value');
Or, in browsers that support dataset (see those highlighted in green at http://caniuse.com/dataset ), you can use:
element.dataset.example = 'some value';