How to reduce the visibility of an entire Layer?

Did you try to select all on the layer (maybe first lock everything else) and use the Transparency panel to reduce the opacity?

Hello folks:

I was trying to experiment with the program to attempt to answer my above question on my own.  Now, I think what I am referring to when I say: "I want to fade out a layer" is controlling the Opacity of the layer.  Now, I pretty sure that's correct.  However, how do I get there to control the Opacity?

Also: Let me tell you something else I did.  I had created a word document.  I placed it on a 2nd layer in what I had been working on in illustrator.  It was the 1st layer beneath the 2nd layer that I wanted to control the opacity.  But now, after thinking about things and taking a break from it all, I realized even what I placed on the 1st layer was made in a Word document.  And I had no control over that Word document.  So, even if there was some way to control the opacity of a Word document, which I don't know if there is, it didn't matter for what I was trying to accomplish.  I hope this makes some sense to whoever is nice enough to read this clip.  But even still, there musta been a way to reduce the opacity of the Word document which I placed on layer one in ai.  I just don't know how this is done.  But I know something like this can be done when making a template layer.

Now, I have another question: Okay. let's say using the above situation, I want to start a 3rd layer over the first two.  Why?  Because I wanted to make a text box and place it in an area above what I was doing in my first two layers..  However, I wanted the text box on layer 3 to have a solid background color like white.  Now, I was able to make the text box, but I wasn't able to give it a background color of white or orange for example, do I'd be able to type over it in black font of my choice.  I hope I'm not confusing you or making this too difficult to understand.

The end result of what I wanted to be doing is something like this: I started with a Word document on layer 1.  I wanted to fade it out somewhat, say a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the actual color in black.  I locked it..  I opened layer 2.  I wanted to super impose some wording on layer 1 in an transparent text box.  (Gosh, I really hope I am making sense here.)  However, when I opened layer 3, I wanted to make a solid text box with say a wallpaper color of white or orange, and then I wanted to write a message in the text box I created on layer 3 with a font sytle of my chosing.  So in effect, if I printed the original Word document from layer 1, it would have some writing written on it from layer 2, and it would also show more writing on it, but in a solid text box with a white or orange background from layer 3.

So my friends, I hope I didn't make you "nuts" trying to figure out what I was actually trying to do with this super powerful program.  But I know what I am talking about can be done.  Just how?  Thanks a bunch for your help.