diff includes/bootstrap.inc includes/bootstrap.inc
--- includes/bootstrap.inc	2009-01-31 16:50:56.000000000 +0000
+++ includes/bootstrap.inc	2009-02-24 13:54:00.657638500 +0000
@@ -968,7 +968,7 @@
  * @param $message
  *   The message should begin with a capital letter and always ends with a
  *   period '.'.
- * @param $type
+ * @param $severity
  *   The type of the message. One of the following values are possible:
  *   - 'status'
  *   - 'warning'
@@ -976,19 +976,25 @@
  * @param $repeat
  *   If this is FALSE and the message is already set, then the message won't
  *   be repeated.
+ * @param $type
+ *   The message type. Can be anything but is set to 'general' by default.
  */
-function drupal_set_message($message = NULL, $type = 'status', $repeat = TRUE) {
+function drupal_set_message($message = NULL, $severity = 'status', $repeat = TRUE, $type = 'general') {
   if ($message) {
     if (!isset($_SESSION['messages'])) {
       drupal_set_session('messages', array());
     }
 
-    if (!isset($_SESSION['messages'][$type])) {
-      $_SESSION['messages'][$type] = array();
+    if (!isset($_SESSION['messages'][$severity])) {
+      $_SESSION['messages'][$severity] = array();
+    }
+    
+    if (!isset($_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type])) {
+      $_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type] = array();
     }
 
-    if ($repeat || !in_array($message, $_SESSION['messages'][$type])) {
-      $_SESSION['messages'][$type][] = $message;
+    if ($repeat || !in_array($message, $_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type])) {
+      $_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type][] = $message;
     }
   }
 
@@ -999,26 +1005,65 @@
 /**
  * Return all messages that have been set.
  *
- * @param $type
- *   (optional) Only return messages of this type.
+ * @param $severity
+ *   (optional) Only return messages of this severity level. Has three default
+ *   values:
+ *     - 'status'
+ *     - 'warning'
+ *     - 'error'
  * @param $clear_queue
  *   (optional) Set to FALSE if you do not want to clear the messages queue
+ * @param $type
+ *   (optional) Restrict returned values to a specific type. Unless otherwise
+ *   specified in drupal_set_message(), a message's type will be 'general'.
  * @return
  *   An associative array, the key is the message type, the value an array
  *   of messages. If the $type parameter is passed, you get only that type,
  *   or an empty array if there are no such messages. If $type is not passed,
- *   all message types are returned, or an empty array if none exist.
+ *   all messages are returned, or an empty array if none exist.
  */
-function drupal_get_messages($type = NULL, $clear_queue = TRUE) {
+function drupal_get_messages($severity = NULL, $clear_queue = TRUE, $type = NULL) {
   if ($messages = drupal_set_message()) {
-    if ($type) {
-      if ($clear_queue) {
-        unset($_SESSION['messages'][$type]);
+    if ($severity) {
+    
+      if ($type) {
+        if ($clear_queue) {
+          unset($_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type]);
+        }
+        if (isset($messages[$severity][$type])) {
+          return array(
+            $severity => array(
+              $type => $messages[$severity][$type],
+            ),
+          );
+        }
       }
-      if (isset($messages[$type])) {
-        return array($type => $messages[$type]);
+      
+      else {
+        if ($clear_queue) {
+          unset($_SESSION['messages'][$severity]);
+        }
+        foreach ($messages[$severity] as $type => $messages) {
+          $output[$severity][$type] = $messages;
+        }
+        return $output;
+      }
+    
+    }
+    
+    elseif ($type) {
+      $output = array();
+      foreach ($messages as $severity => $data) {
+        if (isset($messages[$severity][$type])) {
+          if ($clear_queue) {
+            unset($_SESSION['messages'][$severity][$type]);
+          }
+          $output[$severity][$type] = $messages[$severity][$type];
+        }
       }
+      return $output;   
     }
+    
     else {
       if ($clear_queue) {
         unset($_SESSION['messages']);
diff -u includes/theme.inc includes/theme.inc
--- includes/theme.inc	2009-02-22 17:55:29.000000000 +0000
+++ includes/theme.inc	2009-02-24 13:59:10.821034200 +0000
@@ -1102,27 +1102,33 @@
  * Return a themed set of status and/or error messages. The messages are grouped
  * by type.
  *
- * @param $display
- *   (optional) Set to 'status' or 'error' to display only messages of that type.
+ * @param $severity
+ *   (optional) Set to 'status' or 'error' to display only messages of that severity level.
+ * 
+ * @param $type
+ *   (optional) Set to 'general' or a module-specific value to only show messages of that type.
  *
  * @return
  *   A string containing the messages.
  */
-function theme_status_messages($display = NULL) {
+function theme_status_messages($severity = NULL, $type = NULL) {
   $output = '';
-  foreach (drupal_get_messages($display) as $type => $messages) {
-    $output .= "<div class=\"messages $type\">\n";
-    if (count($messages) > 1) {
-      $output .= " <ul>\n";
-      foreach ($messages as $message) {
-        $output .= '  <li>' . $message . "</li>\n";
+  foreach (drupal_get_messages($severity, TRUE, $type) as $level => $types) {
+    foreach ($types as $type => $messages) {
+      $output .= "<div class=\"messages $level\">\n";
+      $output .= "<h3>$type $level messages</h3>\n";
+      if (count($messages) > 1) {
+        $output .= " <ul>\n";
+        foreach ($messages as $message) {
+          $output .= '  <li>' . $message . "</li>\n";
+        }
+        $output .= " </ul>\n";
       }
-      $output .= " </ul>\n";
-    }
-    else {
-      $output .= $messages[0];
+      else {
+        $output .= $messages[0];
+      }
+      $output .= "</div>\n";
     }
-    $output .= "</div>\n";
   }
   return $output;
 }