Transparency or Opacity question
 

How do I set the transparency of a shape as a whole? For example, I have a rectangle which has a 2-point gradient background with black text in the middle. I want the entire shape as a whole to be 50% transparent.

I could've sworn that I accomplished this before, however I cannot find where now.

Thanks.

Never mind
 

I remember now that I had to change the color opacity for each part of the shape (i.e. background, stroke, text etc.). Kind of tedious. It would be nice to have an overall opacity for the entire shape...