// set up drop downs anywhere in the body of the page. I think the bottom of the page is better.. 
        // but you can experiment with effect on loadtime.

        var gbTransMenuSupported = TransMenu.isSupported();
        
        if (gbTransMenuSupported) {

                //==================================================================================================
                // create a set of dropdowns
                //==================================================================================================
                // the first param should always be down, as it is here
                //
                // The second and third param are the top and left offset positions of the menus from their actuators
                // respectively. To make a menu appear a little to the left and bottom of an actuator, you could use
                // something like -5, 5
                //
                // The last parameter can be .topLeft, .bottomLeft, .topRight, or .bottomRight to inidicate the corner
                // of the actuator from which to measure the offset positions above. Here we are saying we want the 
                // menu to appear directly below the bottom left corner of the actuator
                //==================================================================================================
                var ms = new TransMenuSet(TransMenu.direction.down, 0, 0, TransMenu.reference.bottomLeft);

                //==================================================================================================
                // create a dropdown menu
                //==================================================================================================
                // the first parameter should be the HTML element which will act actuator for the menu
                //==================================================================================================

                var iMenuCounter = 0;
                var iItemCounter = 0;
                for (iMenuCounter = 0; iMenuCounter < arrDropdownId.length; iMenuCounter++) {

                    if (arrDropdownMenu[iMenuCounter].length) {
                        
                        var objMenu = ms.addMenu(document.getElementById(arrDropdownId[iMenuCounter]).parentNode);
                        
                        for (iItemCounter = 0; iItemCounter < arrDropdownMenu[iMenuCounter].length; iItemCounter++) {
                            objMenu.addItem(arrDropdownMenu[iMenuCounter][iItemCounter].title, HTTP_SERVER + arrDropdownMenu[iMenuCounter][iItemCounter].link);
                        }

                        // hook all the highlight swapping of the main toolbar to menu activation/deactivation
                        // instead of simple rollover to get the effect where the button stays hightlit until
                        // the menu is closed.

                        objMenu.id_str = arrDropdownId[iMenuCounter];
                        objMenu.parent = document.getElementById(arrDropdownId[iMenuCounter]).parentNode;
                        
                        objMenu.onactivate = function() { 
                            document.getElementById(this.id_str).className = " hover"; 
                        };
                        
                        objMenu.ondeactivate = function() { 
                            document.getElementById(this.id_str).className = ""; 
                        };
                    }
                }
                
                //==================================================================================================
                // write drop downs into page
                //==================================================================================================
                // this method writes all the HTML for the menus into the page with document.write(). It must be
                // called within the body of the HTML page.
                //==================================================================================================
                
                TransMenu.backgroundColor = "#4e3219";
                TransMenu.shadowSize = 0;
                TransMenu.itemPadding = 7;

                TransMenu.renderAll();
        }