/* getQueryParam(key)
** Version 1.0, 11/27/2002
** Author: Cody Burleson
** Tested On: IE 6.0.28
**
** Retrieves the value of a URL query parameter (key). 
** Can parse URL parameter strings with multiple key/value pairs 
*/ 
function getQueryParam(key) {
	// The location.search property has a "?" at the start, get the part that follows
	var queryString = location.search.substring(1, location.search.length);
	// Check if the param key has been passed
	var fullKey = key + "=";
	var startIndexOfFullKey = queryString.indexOf(fullKey);
	// If it has...
	if(startIndexOfFullKey!=-1){
		var startIndexOfValue = startIndexOfFullKey + fullKey.length;
		// isolate the "key=" from whatever string remains
		var isolatedString = queryString.substring(startIndexOfValue,queryString.length);
		// now we just need to see if any other (extra) params still exist after this one...
		var indexOfPossibleExtra = isolatedString.indexOf("&")
		if(indexOfPossibleExtra != -1) {
			// extra params exist, so we need to drop them...
			return isolatedString.substring(0,indexOfPossibleExtra);
		} else {
			// no extra params exist, we can return what we've got...
			return isolatedString;
		}
	} else {
		return "-1";
	}
}