The nitty-gritty of compile and link functions inside AngularJS 1 directives

Use the compile function to change the original DOM (template element) before AngularJS creates an instance of it and before a scope is created.

Use the pre-link function to implement logic that runs when AngularJS has already compiled the child elements, but before any of the child element's post-link functions have been called.

Use the post-link function to execute logic, knowing that all child elements have been compiled and all pre-link and post-link functions of child elements have been executed.