how to add another HTML element in top.links after list element? NOT adding link - magento

Question

How can i add another element after <li>
So i can get this tree structure <ul><li><span><a>Logout</a></span></li></ul>
Currently my rendered html is looking like this. I want to have span element to do bit more with logout. I have tried a lot but no luck. Please help. Thank you
<ul class="links">
<li class="first last">
Logout
</li>
</ul>
layout to top.links is
<customer_logged_in>
<reference name="account.links">
<action method="addLink" translate="label title" module="customer">
<label>Logout</label>
<url helper="customer/getLogoutUrl"/>
<title>Log Out</title>
<prepare/>
<urlParams/>
<position>2</position>
<liParams></liParams>
<aParams>class="logout-link"</aParams>
</action>
<action method="removeLinkByUrl">
<url helper="customer/getRegisterUrl" />
</action>
</reference>
If i am changing the links.phtml then change will apply for all the links or else i need to put if else in there but i needed it only for logout. so what is the best way to do that?
Is this achievable using addLinks method?

Answer 1

You can do this using the beforeText and afterText parameters, like this:
<action method="addLink" translate="label title" module="customer">
<label>Logout</label>
<url helper="customer/getLogoutUrl"/>
<title>Log Out</title>
<prepare/>
<urlParams/>
<position>2</position>
<liParams></liParams>
<aParams>class="logout-link"</aParams>
<beforeText><![CDATA[<span>]]></beforeText>
<afterText><![CDATA[</span>]]></afterText>
</action>
Which will modify your link to look something like this:
<li class="first last">
<span>Logout</span>
</li>

Answer 2

You can create your own template (a copy of links.phtml) and apply it only for Top Links.
Do it like this in your theme's local.xml:
<default>
<reference name="top.links">
<action method="setTemplate">
<template>page/template/my_links.phtml</template>
</action>
</reference>
<default>
Then copy page/template/links.phtml and rename it to page/template/my_links.phtml and do whatever you need inside that new template file. It will be only used to render Top Links, not for any other links