I created a new jQuery plugin for handling simple pop-ups. The plugin is called jquery.tent. It is available here (https://github.com/danielbank/jquery.tent). It is based off a tutorial by Keith Wood for making jQuery plugins (http://keith-wood.name/pluginFramework.html). I highly recommend this tutorial because it explains things quite well and the code itself is really well written.
Usage of jquery.tent is simple:
1. Initialize a DOM element as a tent.
$("#pop-up").tent();
2. Set the tent options to control the location where the popup is shown.
$("#pop-up").tent('option', {left: 0, top: 0});
3. Show the pop-up.
$("#pop-up").tent('show');
4. Hide the pop-up.
$("#pop-up").tent('hide');