The "modern" way to do this is by using jQuery, a powerful scripting tool that builds on javascript. I quick Googling shows quite a few examples. I found the following on stackoverflow.com. I didn't test it, but it looks like a good way to go:
Roshambo on snipplr.com has a really hott&simple script to achieve this. With his script you also get to pull out just the prams you want easily:
http://snipplr.com/view/26662/get-u...-improved/Here's the gist:
$.urlParam = function(name){
var results = new RegExp('[\\?&]' + name + '=([^]*)').exec(window.location.href);
if (!results) { return 0; }
return results[1] || 0;}
Then just get your parameters from the query string.
So if the url/query string was xyz.com/index.html?lang=de
just call var langval = $.urlParam('lang'); and you've got it
UZBEKJON has a great blog post on this as well:
http://jquery-howto.blogspot.com/2009/09/get-url-parameters-values-with-jquery.html