//fades an element
function Fade(ElementID, StartOpacity, OpacityInc, EndOpacity, FadeSpeed) {
    // set opacity
    SetOpacity(ElementID, StartOpacity);

    StartOpacity += OpacityInc;

    if (OpacityInc < 0) {
        if (StartOpacity < EndOpacity) {
            return;
        }
    }
    else {
        if (StartOpacity > EndOpacity) {
            return;
        }
    }

    var Params = "'" + ElementID + "'," + StartOpacity + "," + OpacityInc + "," + EndOpacity + "," + FadeSpeed
    setTimeout('Fade(' + Params + ')', FadeSpeed);

}

//sets opacity
function SetOpacity(ElementID, Opacity) {

    // get element
    var Element = document.getElementById(ElementID);

    //check minimum value
    if (Opacity <= 0) {
        Opacity = 1;
    }

    // IE/Win
    Element.style.filter = "alpha(opacity:" + Opacity + ")";

    // Safari<1.2, Konqueror
    Element.style.KHTMLOpacity = Opacity / 100;

    // Older Mozilla and Firefox
    Element.style.MozOpacity = Opacity / 100;

    // Safari 1.2, newer Firefox and Mozilla, CSS3
    Element.style.opacity = Opacity / 100;

}