Bootstrap modal - hide one then show another

function showDialog2() {
$("#dialog1").removeClass("fade").modal("hide");
$("#dialog2").addClass("fade").modal("show");

}

you want to be this

UPDATED:

I added a click() handler for your last button with an added test identifier id="test" where the dialog and the background gets faded out with the fadeOut() effect. The important thing is to fade out the element .modal-backdrop which encapsules both the dialog and background:

$("#test").on("click", function () {
    $(".modal-backdrop").fadeOut("slow");
});

JsFiddle

Okay, I don't like to answer my own question, but I've got a solution that is 100% foolproof (as far as I can tell). I've ended up going for a solution that checks for an existing dialog and modifies that, rather than hiding it and showing a new one.

Here's a working jsfiddle (using echo in the ajax call where it normally loads a html template)...

http://jsfiddle.net/ArchersFiddle/0302gLav/9/

The code is part of a larger library I'm working on, but I'll post it here anyway as it may well prove useful to others.

JavaScript Library

(function () {

    var _defaultOptions = {
        backdrop: "static",
        close: true,
        keyboard: true
    };

    window.bootstrap = {
        modal: {
            show: function (options) {

                options = $.extend(_defaultOptions, options);

                var buttonText = "";

                for (var key in options.buttons) {

                    options.buttons[key].id = "button_" + key.split(" ").join("");

                    var button = options.buttons[key];

                    buttonText += "<button type=\"button\" " +
                        "id=\"" + button.id + "\" " +
                        "class=\"btn " +
                        (typeof (button.class) == "undefined" ? "btn-default" : button.class) + "\" " +
                        (typeof (button.dismiss) == "undefined" ? "" : "data-dismiss=\"modal\" ") + ">" +
                        key + "</button>";
                }

                $.ajax({
                    url: "templates/bootstrap-modal.html"
                })
                .done(function (data) {
                    data = data
                        .replace("{:Title}", options.title)
                        .replace("{:Body}", options.body)
                        .replace("{:Buttons}", buttonText);

                    var $modal = $("#bootstrap-modal");
                    var existing = $modal.length;

                    if (existing) {
                        $modal.html($(data).find(".modal-dialog"));
                    }
                    else {
                        $modal = $(data).appendTo("body");
                    }

                    for (var key in options.buttons) {
                        var button = options.buttons[key];
                        if (typeof (button.callback) !== undefined) {
                            $("#" + button.id).on("click", button.callback);
                        }
                    }

                    $modal.off("shown.bs.modal").on("shown.bs.modal", function(e) {
                        if (typeof(options.onshow) === "function") {
                            options.onshow(e);
                        }
                    });

                    if (!existing) {
                        $modal.modal(options);
                    }

                    if (options.large === true) {
                        $modal.find(".modal-dialog").addClass("modal-lg");
                    }

                    if (options.close === false) {
                        $modal.find("button.close").remove();
                    }
                });
            },
            hide: function (callback) {
                var $modal = $("#bootstrap-modal");

                if (!$modal.length) return;

                $modal.on("hidden.bs.modal", function(e) {
                    $modal.remove();
                    if (typeof(callback) === "function") {
                        callback(e);
                    }
                });

                $modal.modal("hide");
            }
        }
    };
})();

Template HTML

<div id="bootstrap-modal" class="modal fade">
  <div class="modal-dialog">
    <div class="modal-content">
      <div class="modal-header">
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal"><span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span><span class="sr-only">Close</span></button>
        <h4 class="modal-title">{:Title}</h4>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-body">{:Body}</div>
      <div class="modal-footer">
        {:Buttons}
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Example usage:

bootstrap.modal.show({
    title: "Dialog Title",
    body: "<p>This is the dialog body and can contain any old html rubbish.</p>",
    buttons: {
        Close: {
            dismiss: true
        }
    }
});

Further options explained

bootstrap.modal.show({
    backdrop: true,                     // show the backdrop
    close: true,                        // show the close button
    keyboard: true,                     // allow the keyboard to close the dialog
    title: "Dialog Title",
    body: "<p>This is the dialog body and can contain any old html rubbish.</p>",
    buttons: {
        Button1: {
            class: "btn-primary",           // any class you want to add to the button
            dismiss: false,                 // does this button close the dialog?
            callback: function() {          // button click handler
                // the button was clicked - do something here
            }
        },
        Button2: {
            // options as defined as above.  You can have as many buttons as you want
        }
    },
    onshow: function(e) {
        // this will trigger when the dialog has completed the show animation
    }
});

and

bootstrap.modal.hide(function(e) {
    // this will trigger when the dialog has completed the hide animation
});

All the options in the show() method are optional, but obviously you'll want a title and a body.