So I found this countdown at http://davidwalsh.name/jquery-countdown-plugin, I altered it a little bit:

jQuery.fn.countDown = function(settings,to) {
    settings = jQuery.extend({
        duration: 1000,
        startNumber: $(this).text(),
        endNumber: 0,
        callBack: function() { }
    }, settings);
    return this.each(function() {

        //where do we start?
        if(!to && to != settings.endNumber) { to = settings.startNumber; }

        //set the countdown to the starting number
        $(this).text(to);

        //loopage
        $(this).animate({
            'fontSize': settings.endFontSize
        },settings.duration,'',function() {
            if(to > settings.endNumber + 1) {
                $(this).text(to - 1).countDown(settings,to - 1);
            }
            else
            {
                settings.callBack(this);
            }
        });

    });
};

Then I have this code:

$(document).ready(function(){
    $('.countdown').countDown({
        callBack: function(me){
            $(me).text('THIS IS THE TEXT');
        }
    });
});

I don't mind taking everything out of the "animate" loop; I'd prefer that since nothing needs to be animated. (I don't need the font size to change).

So everything's working to a point. I have a span with class countdown and whatever is in it when the page is refreshed goes down second by second. However, I need it to be formatted in M:S format.

So, my two questions:

1) What can I use instead of animate to take care of the loop yet maintain the callback 2) How (where in the code should I) can I play with the time format?

Thanks.