I have a simple top bar using jquery like the one on stackoverflow, but i want it to only appear on the first time a person visits the website.
below is the HTML followed by the "bxSlider.js" file
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> 
<html> 
<head> 
 <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script> 
 <script type="text/javascript" src="bxSlider.js"></script>
<title>topbar</title> 
<style type="text/css" media="screen"> 
#message {
    font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
    position:fixed;
    top:0px;
    left:0px;
    width:100%;
    z-index:105;
    text-align:center;
    color:white;
    padding:2px 0px 2px 0px;
    background-color:#8E1609;
}
#example1 {
    text-align: center;
    width: 80%;
}
.close-notify {
    white-space: nowrap;
    float:right;
    margin-right:10px;
    color:#fff;
    text-decoration:none;
    padding-left:3px;
    padding-right:3px
}
.close-notify a {
    color: #fff;
}
h4, p {
    margin:0px;
    padding:0px;
}
</style> 
</head> 
<body> 
<DIV ID='message' style="display: none;"> 
<DIV ID="example1"> 
<DIV CLASS="item">     
<h4>Head 1</h4>     
<p>Text 1</p>  
</div><!-- end item --> 
<DIV CLASS="item"> 
<h4>Head 2</h4>     
<p>Text 2</p> 
</div><!-- end item --> 
</div><!-- end example1 --> 
<a href="#" CLASS="close-notify" onclick="closeNotice()">X</a>
</div> 
<script type="text/javascript"> 
$(document).ready(function() {
 $("#message").fadeIn("slow");
 $('#example1').bxSlider({
  mode: 'slide',
  speed: 250,
  wrapper_CLASS: 'example1_container'
  });
});
function closeNotice() {
    $("#message").fadeOut("slow");
}
</script> 
</body> 
</html>
/**
*
*
* bxSlider: Content slider / fade / ticker using the jQuery javascript library.
*
* Author: Steven Wanderski
* Email: 
[email protected]
* URL: http://bxslider.com
* 
*
**/
jQuery.fn.bxSlider = function(options){
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Declare variables and functions
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 var defaults = {
  mode: 'slide',
  speed: 500,
  auto: false,
  auto_direction: 'left',
  pause: 2500,
  controls: true,
  prev_text: 'prev',
  next_text: 'next',
  width: $(this).children().width(),
  prev_img: '',
  next_img: '',
  ticker_direction: 'left',
  wrapper_class: 'container'
 };
 options = $.extend(defaults, options);
 if(options.mode == 'ticker'){
  options.auto = true;
 }
 var $this = $(this);
 var $parent_width = options.width; 
 var current = 0;
 var is_working = false;
 var child_count = $this.children().size();
 var i = 0;
 var j = 0;
 var k = 0;
 function animate_next(){
  is_working = true;
  $this.animate({'left':'-' + $parent_width * 2 + 'px'}, options.speed, function(){
   $this.css({'left':'-' + $parent_width + 'px'}).children(':first').appendTo($this);
   is_working = false;
  });  
 }
 function animate_prev(){
  is_working = true;
  $this.animate({'left': 0}, options.speed, function(){
   $this.css({'left':'-' + $parent_width + 'px'}).children(':last').insertBefore($this.children(':first'));
   is_working = false;
  });    
 }
 function fade(direction){
  if(direction == 'next'){
   var last_before_switch = child_count - 1;
   var start_over = 0;
   var incr = k + 1;
  }else if(direction == 'prev'){
   var last_before_switch = 0;
   var start_over = child_count -1;
   var incr = k - 1;
  }  
  is_working = true;
  if(k == last_before_switch){
   $this.children().eq(k).fadeTo(options.speed, 0);
   $this.children().eq(start_over).fadeTo(options.speed, 1, function(){
   is_working = false;
   k = start_over;
   });
  }else{
   $this.children().eq(k).fadeTo(options.speed, 0);
   $this.children().eq(incr).fadeTo(options.speed, 1, function(){
   is_working = false;
   k = incr;
   });
  }  
 }
 function add_controls(){
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  // Check if user selected images to use for next / prev
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  if(options.prev_img != '' || options.next_img != ''){
   $this.parent().append('<a class="slider_prev" href=""><img src="' + options.prev_img + '" alt=""/></a><a class="slider_next" href=""><img src="' + options.next_img + '" alt="" /></a>');
  }else{
   $this.parent().append('<a class="slider_prev" href="">' + options.prev_text + '</a><a class="slider_next" href="">' + options.next_text + '</a>');
  }
  $this.parent().find('.slider_prev').css({'float':'left', 'outline':'0', 'color':'yellow'});
  $this.parent().find('.slider_next').css({'float':'right', 'outline':'0', 'color':'yellow'});
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  // Accomodate padding-top for controls when elements are absolutely positioned (only in fade mode)
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  if(options.mode == 'fade'){
   $this.parent().find('.slider_prev').css({'paddingTop' : $this.children().height()})
   $this.parent().find('.slider_next').css({'paddingTop' : $this.children().height()})
  }  
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  // Actions when user clicks next / prev buttons        
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  $this.parent().find('.slider_next').click(function(){  
   if(!is_working){
    if(options.mode == 'slide'){
     animate_next();
     if(options.auto){
      clearInterval($.t);
      $.t = setInterval(function(){animate_next();}, options.pause);
     }
    }else if(options.mode == 'fade'){
     fade('next');
     if(options.auto){
      clearInterval($.t);
      $.t = setInterval(function(){fade('next');}, options.pause);
     }
    }
   }
   return false;
  }); 
  $this.parent().find('.slider_prev').click(function(){ 
   if(!is_working){
    if(options.mode == 'slide'){
     animate_prev();
     if(options.auto){
      clearInterval($.t);
      $.t = setInterval(function(){animate_prev();}, options.pause);
     }
    }else if(options.mode == 'fade'){
     fade('prev');
     if(options.auto){
      clearInterval($.t);
      $.t = setInterval(function(){fade('prev');}, options.pause);
     }
    }
   }
   return false;
  }); 
 }
 function ticker() {
  if(options.ticker_direction == 'left'){
   $this.animate({'left':'-' + $parent_width * 2 + 'px'}, options.speed, 'linear', function(){
    $this.css({'left':'-' + $parent_width + 'px'}).children(':first').appendTo($this);
    ticker();
   });  
  }else if(options.ticker_direction == 'right'){
   $this.animate({'left': 0}, options.speed, 'linear', function(){
    $this.css({'left':'-' + $parent_width + 'px'}).children(':last').insertBefore($this.children(':first'));
    ticker();
   });    
  }  
 }
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Create content wrapper and set 
CSS
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 $this.wrap('<div class="' + options.wrapper_class + '"></div>');
 //console.log($this.parent().css('paddingTop'));
 if(options.mode == 'slide' || options.mode == 'ticker'){
  $this.parent().css({
   'overflow' : 'hidden',
   'position' : 'relative',
   'margin' : '0 auto',
   'width' : options.width + 'px'
  });
  $this.css({  
   'width' : '999999px',
   'position' : 'relative',
   'left' : '-' + $parent_width + 'px'  
  });
  $this.children().css({  
   'float' : 'left',
   'width' : $parent_width
  });
  $this.children(':last').insertBefore($this.children(':first'));
 }else if(options.mode == 'fade'){
  $this.parent().css({
   'overflow' : 'hidden',
   'position' : 'relative',
   'width' : options.width + 'px'
   //'height' : $this.children().height()
  });
  if(!options.controls){  
   $this.parent().css({'height' : $this.children().height()});  
  }
  $this.children().css({  
   'position' : 'absolute',
   'width' : $parent_width,
   'listStyle' : 'none',
   'opacity' : 0  
  });
  $this.children(':first').css({
   'opacity' : 1
  });
 }
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Check if user selected "auto"
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 if(!options.auto){
  add_controls();
 }else{
  if(options.mode == 'ticker'){
   ticker();
  }else{
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   // Set a timed interval 
   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   if(options.mode == 'slide'){
    if(options.auto_direction == 'left'){
     $.t = setInterval(function(){animate_next();}, options.pause);  
    }else if(options.auto_direction == 'right'){
     $.t = setInterval(function(){animate_prev();}, options.pause);
    }
   }else if(options.mode == 'fade'){
    if(options.auto_direction == 'left'){
     $.t = setInterval(function(){fade('next');}, options.pause);
    }else if(options.auto_direction == 'right'){
     $.t = setInterval(function(){fade('prev');}, options.pause);
    }
   }
   if(options.controls){
    add_controls();
   }
  }
 }
}