function usergals(start, uid, layout, dir) {
  //erstellen des requests
  var req = null;

  try{
    req = new XMLHttpRequest();
  }
  catch (ms){
    try{
      req = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
    }
    catch (nonms){
      try{
        req = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
      }
      catch (failed){
        req = null;
      }
    }
  }

  if (req == null)
    alert("Error creating request object!");

  //anfrage erstellen (GET, url ist localhost,
  //request ist asynchron
  req.open("GET", dir+'gals.php?start='+start+'&uid='+uid+'&layout='+escape(layout), true);

  //Beim abschliessen des request wird diese Funktion ausgeführt
  req.onreadystatechange = function (){
    var w = document.getElementById("usergals");
    switch(req.readyState) {
      case 4:
        if(req.status!=200) {
          w.innerHTML = "<font>Konnte Galerien nicht laden!</font>";
        }else{
          w.innerHTML = req.responseText;
        }
        break;

      default:
        return false;
        break;
     }
  }

  req.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
  req.send(null);
}