function validateSignUp(myform)  // validate user inputs
	{
	 	if(!validateUsername(myform.User_Name.value)){
			myform.User_Name.focus();
			return false;
		}
		if (!validateEmail(myform.Email.value)) {
			myform.Email.focus();
			return false;
		}
		if(!validatePassword(myform.NewPassword1.value,myform.NewPassword2.value)){
			myform.NewPassword1.focus();
			return false;
		}

		document.cookie = "FAFCheck=yes"
		offset = document.cookie.indexOf("FAFCheck")
		if (offset == -1) { // if cookie does not exist
			alert("In order to sign up for 'My FAF', your browser must be able to accept cookies!\nTo fix this, change your browser settings to accept cookies, go back to the previous page, and try again.")					
			return false;
		}
			
		myform.submit();
		return false;
	}
	
	// validate login fields 
	function validateLogin(myform) { 
		if((isBlank(myform.User_Name.value)) || (isBlank(myform.Password.value))) {
			alert("Please enter your Username and Password.");
			myform.User_Name.focus();
			return false;
		}
		myform.submit();
		return false;
	}
	
	function validateUsername(username){
		if (username.length < 3){
			alert("Your Username must be at least 3 characters long.")
			return false
		}
		return true
	}
	
	/* isBlank function is part of the searchvalidation.js file */
	function validatePassword(pass1,pass2){
		if (isBlank(pass1)){
			alert("Please enter a Password.")
			return false
		}
		if (pass1.length < 5){
			alert("Your Password must be at least 5 characters long.")
			return false
		}
		
		if (isBlank(pass2)){
			alert("Please re-enter your Password.")
			return false
		}
		if (pass1 != pass2){
			alert("The values in 'Password' and 'Re-enter Password' do not match!")
			return false
		}
		return true	
	}
	
	function validateEmail(email){
	  if (isBlank(email))                       // email blank?
	    {
	    alert("Please enter an email address.")
	    return false
	    }
	  var atsignPos = email.indexOf("@", 0)     // check for @
	  if (atsignPos == -1)	
	    {
	    alert("Please enter a valid email address with an @.")
	    return false
	    }
	  if (email.indexOf(".", atsignPos) == -1)  // check for . after @	
	    {
	    alert("Please enter a valid email domain after the @.")
	    return false
	    }
	  return true
	  }