var ddsmoothmenu={

                    //Specify full URL to down and right arrow images (0 is padding-right added to top level LIs with drop downs):
                    arrowimages: {down:['downarrowclass', absPath +'/images/spacer.gif', 6], right:['rightarrowclass', absPath +'/images/spacer.gif']},

                    transition: {overtime:300, outtime:300}, //duration of slide in/ out animation, in milliseconds
                    shadow: {enabled:true, offsetx:5, offsety:5},

                    ///////Stop configuring beyond here///////////////////////////

                    detectwebkit: navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("applewebkit")!=-1, //detect WebKit browsers (Safari, Chrome etc)

                    getajaxmenu:function($, setting){ //function to fetch external page containing the panel DIVs
	                    var $menucontainer=$('#'+setting.contentsource[0]) //reference empty div on page that will hold menu
	                    $menucontainer.html("Loading Menu...")
	                    $.ajax({
		                    url: setting.contentsource[1], //path to external menu file
		                    async: true,
		                    error:function(ajaxrequest){
			                    $menucontainer.html('Error fetching content. Server Response: '+ajaxrequest.responseText)
		                    },
		                    success:function(content){
			                    $menucontainer.html(content)
			                    ddsmoothmenu.buildmenu($, setting)
		                    }
	                    })
                    },

                    buildshadow:function($, $subul){
                    	
                    },

                    buildmenu:function($, setting){
                        
	                    var smoothmenu=ddsmoothmenu
	                    var $mainmenu=$("#"+setting.mainmenuid+">ul") //reference main menu UL
	                    var $headers=$mainmenu.find("ul").parent()
	                    $headers.each(function(i){
		                    var $curobj=$(this).css({zIndex: 100-i}) //reference current LI header
		                    var $subul=$(this).find('ul:eq(0)').css({display:'block'})
		                    this._dimensions={w:this.offsetWidth, h:this.offsetHeight, subulw:$subul.outerWidth(), subulh:$subul.outerHeight()}
		                    this.istopheader=$curobj.parents("ul").length==1? true : false //is top level header?
		                    $subul.css({top:this.istopheader? this._dimensions.h+"px" : 0})
		                    $curobj.children("a:eq(0)").css(this.istopheader? {paddingRight: smoothmenu.arrowimages.down[2]} : {}).append( //add arrow images
			                    '<img src="'+ (this.istopheader? smoothmenu.arrowimages.down[1] : smoothmenu.arrowimages.right[1])
			                    +'" class="' + (this.istopheader? smoothmenu.arrowimages.down[0] : smoothmenu.arrowimages.right[0])
			                    + '" style="border:0;" />'
		                    )
		                    if (smoothmenu.shadow.enabled){
                    		   
			                    this._shadowoffset={x:(this.istopheader?$subul.offset().left+smoothmenu.shadow.offsetx : this._dimensions.w), y:(this.istopheader? $subul.offset().top+smoothmenu.shadow.offsety : $curobj.position().top)} //store this shadow's offsets
			                    if (this.istopheader)
				                    $parentshadow=$(document.body)
			                    else{
				                    var $parentLi=$curobj.parents("li:eq(0)")
				                    $parentshadow=$parentLi.get(0).$shadow
			                    }
			                    this.$shadow=$('<div class="ddshadow'+(this.istopheader? ' toplevelshadow' : '')+'"></div>').prependTo($parentshadow).css({left:this._shadowoffset.x+'px', top:this._shadowoffset.y+'px'})  //insert shadow DIV and set it to parent node for the next shadow div
		                    }
		                    $curobj.hover(
			                    function(e){
				                    var $targetul=$(this).children("ul:eq(0)")
				                    this._offsets={left:$(this).offset().left, top:$(this).offset().top}
				                    var menuleft=this.istopheader? 0 : this._dimensions.w
				                    menuleft=(this._offsets.left+menuleft+this._dimensions.subulw>$(window).width())? (this.istopheader? -this._dimensions.subulw+this._dimensions.w : -this._dimensions.w) : menuleft //calculate this sub menu's offsets from its parent
				                    if ($targetul.queue().length<=1){ //if 1 or less queued animations
					                    $targetul.css({left:menuleft+"px", width:this._dimensions.subulw+'px'}).animate({height:'show',opacity:'show'}, ddsmoothmenu.transition.overtime)
					                    if (smoothmenu.shadow.enabled){
						                    var shadowleft=this.istopheader? $targetul.offset().left+ddsmoothmenu.shadow.offsetx : menuleft
						                    var shadowtop=this.istopheader?$targetul.offset().top+smoothmenu.shadow.offsety : this._shadowoffset.y
						                    if (!this.istopheader && ddsmoothmenu.detectwebkit){ //in WebKit browsers, restore shadow's opacity to full
							                    this.$shadow.css({opacity:1})
						                    }
						                    this.$shadow.css({overflow:'', width:this._dimensions.subulw+'px', left:shadowleft+'px', top:shadowtop+'px'}).animate({height:this._dimensions.subulh+'px'}, ddsmoothmenu.transition.overtime)
					                    }
				                    }
			                    },
			                    function(e){
				                    var $targetul=$(this).children("ul:eq(0)")
				                    $targetul.animate({height:'hide', opacity:'hide'}, ddsmoothmenu.transition.outtime)
				                    if (smoothmenu.shadow.enabled){
					                    if (ddsmoothmenu.detectwebkit){ //in WebKit browsers, set first child shadow's opacity to 0, as "overflow:hidden" doesn't work in them
						                    this.$shadow.children('div:eq(0)').css({opacity:0})
					                    }
					                    this.$shadow.css({overflow:'hidden'}).animate({height:0}, ddsmoothmenu.transition.outtime)
				                    }
			                    }
		                    ) //end hover
	                    }) //end $headers.each()
	                    $mainmenu.find("ul").css({display:'none', visibility:'visible'})
	                    
                    },

                    init:function(setting){
                    
	                    if (typeof setting.customtheme=="object" && setting.customtheme.length==2){
		                    var mainmenuid='#'+setting.mainmenuid
		                    document.write('<style type="text/css">\n'
			                    +mainmenuid+', '+mainmenuid+' ul li a {background:'+setting.customtheme[0]+';}\n'
			                    +mainmenuid+' ul li a:hover {background:'+setting.customtheme[1]+';}\n'
		                    +'</style>')
	                    }
	                    jQuery(document).ready(function($){ //override default menu colors (default/hover) with custom set?
		                    if (typeof setting.contentsource=="object"){ //if external ajax menu
			                    ddsmoothmenu.getajaxmenu($, setting)
		                    }
		                    else{ //else if markup menu
			                    ddsmoothmenu.buildmenu($, setting)
		                    }
	                    })
                    }

                    } //end ddsmoothmenu variable

                    //Initialize Menu instance(s):

                    ddsmoothmenu.init({
	                    mainmenuid: "smoothmenu1", //menu DIV id
	                    //customtheme: ["#1c5a80", "#18374a"], //override default menu CSS background values? Uncomment: ["normal_background", "hover_background"]
	                    contentsource: "markup" //"markup" or ["container_id", "path_to_menu_file"]
                        
                    })