Word Game help in Javascript

[husslela03]

Hi:

 

I'm currently attempting to write a word game.

It grabs a word from the server by using a button, and then displays it with only the first letter, and then all the rest are blanks.

 

I would like to know the best way to set this us, because when I do a request using AJAX within a javascript function, it completely wipes out the page and just shows the word.

 

Any help would be appreciated of where to start.  I can do the rules myself, I just need help with the setup.