jQuery.extend({
	/**
	* Returns get parameters.
	*
	* If the desired param does not exist, null will be returned
	*
	* @example value = $.getURLParam("paramName");
	*/ 
	 getURLParam: function(strParamName, isHash){
		  var strReturn = "";
		  var strHref;
		  if(isHash) {
		  	strHref = window.location.hash;
		  } else {
			  strHref = window.location.href;
			}
		  var bFound=false;
		  
		  var cmpstring = strParamName + "=";
		  var cmplen = cmpstring.length;

		  var identifier = "?";
		  if(isHash) identifier = "#";

		  if ( strHref.indexOf(identifier) > -1 ){
		    var strQueryString = strHref.substr(strHref.indexOf(identifier)+1);
		    var aQueryString = strQueryString.split("&");
		    for ( var iParam = 0; iParam < aQueryString.length; iParam++ ){
		      if (aQueryString[iParam].substr(0,cmplen)==cmpstring){
		        var aParam = aQueryString[iParam].split("=");
		        strReturn = aParam[1];
		        bFound=true;
		        break;
		      }
		      
		    }
		  }
		  if (bFound==false) return null;
		  return strReturn;
		}
	});