function characterCounter(element) {
		var textField = jQuery("input:text, textarea", jQuery(element).parents('.formElement'));
		var counterDivObj = jQuery("div.counterText", jQuery(element).parents('.formElement'));
		var textLength = jQuery(textField).val().length;
		var characterLimit = jQuery(textField).attr('limit');
		
		if (textLength > characterLimit){
			jQuery(counterDivObj).html('Characters over limit: ' + (textLength - characterLimit)).addClass('asterisk').addClass('error');
		}
		else 
			jQuery(counterDivObj).html('Characters remaining: ' + (characterLimit - textLength)).removeClass('asterisk').removeClass('error');
}

function clearDefault(element) {
	if(element.cleared == undefined){
		element.value = '';
		element.cleared = true;
	}
}

jQuery(function(){
	var textFields=jQuery("textarea[id^='textarea'], input[id^='textbox']");
	jQuery(textFields).bind("focus keyup change",function(){
		characterCounter(this);
	});
	jQuery(textFields).each(function(){
		characterCounter(this);
	});
});