function validate(nm,em,tel,mes) {
	
var error = "";
var uname = nm;
var email = em;
var tel = tel;
var msg = mes;

// check username
	if (uname == "") {
   		error + = "You didn't enter a username.\n";
	}
    var illegalChars = /\W/; // allow letters, numbers, and underscores
    if ((uname.length < 2) || (uname.length > 10)) {
       error + = "The username is the wrong length. It must be 2-10 characters.\n";
    }
    else if (illegalChars.test(uname)) {
    error + = "The username contains illegal characters.\n";
    }

// check msg
	if (msg == "") {
   		error + = "You didn't enter a message.\n";
	}
    var illegalChars = /\W/; // allow letters, numbers, and underscores
    if (msg.length < 2) {
       error + = "The message must be more than 2 characters.\n";
    }
    else if (illegalChars.test(msg)) {
    error + = "The message contains illegal characters.\n";
    }

// verify email

	if (email == "") {
   		error + = "You didn't enter an email address.\n";
	}

    var emailFilter=/^.+@.+\..{2,3}$/;
    if (!(emailFilter.test(email))) {
       error + = "Please enter a valid email address.\n";
    }
    else {
//test email for illegal characters
       var illegalChars= /[\(\)\<\>\,\;\:\\\"\[\]]/
         if (email.match(illegalChars)) {
          error + = "The email address contains illegal characters.\n";
         }
    }


// verify phone number - strip out delimiters and verify for 10 digits

	if (tel == "") {
   		error + = "You didn't enter a phone number.\n";
	}
//strip out acceptable non-numeric characters
	var stripped = tel.replace(/[\(\)\.\-\ ]/g, '');
    if (isNaN(parseInt(stripped))) {
       error + = "The phone number contains illegal characters.";

    }
    
	if (error) {
		alert error;
	}

}