$(document).ready(function(){

    //form submit code
    var options = { 
        //target:        '#output1',   // target element(s) to be updated with server response 
        beforeSubmit:  showRequest,  // pre-submit callback 
        success:       showResponse,  // post-submit callback 
 
        // other available options: 
        //url:       url         // override for form's 'action' attribute 
        type:      'post' ,      // 'get' or 'post', override for form's 'method' attribute 
        dataType:  'json'        // 'xml', 'script', or 'json' (expected server response type) 
        //clearForm: true        // clear all form fields after successful submit 
        //resetForm: true        // reset the form after successful submit 
        // $.ajax options can be used here too, for example: 
        //timeout:   3000 
    }; 
 

// bind to the form's submit event 
    $('#register_form').submit(function() { 
        // inside event callbacks 'this' is the DOM element so we first 
        // wrap it in a jQuery object and then invoke ajaxSubmit 
        
        $(this).ajaxSubmit(options); 
        // !!! Important !!! 
        // always return false to prevent standard browser submit and page navigation 
        return false; 
    }); 
    // bind form using 'ajaxForm' 
    //$('#register_form').ajaxForm(options); 
});
// pre-submit callback 
function showRequest(formData, jqForm, options) { 
    $('#pass1_error').html(' ');
    $('#pass2_error').html(' ');
    $('#validation_error').html('');
    // formData is an array; here we use $.param to convert it to a string to display it 
    // but the form plugin does this for you automatically when it submits the data 
    var queryString = $.param(formData); 
    if (jqForm[0]['pass1'].value != jqForm[0]['pass2'].value) {
        jqForm[0]['pass1'].value = '';
        jqForm[0]['pass2'].value = '';
        $('#pass1_error').html('*');
        $('#pass2_error').html('*');
        $('#validation_error').html('Your passwords are different, please re-enter them');
        return false;
    }
    else if (jqForm[0]['pass1'].value.length < 5) {
        jqForm[0]['pass1'].value = '';
        jqForm[0]['pass2'].value = '';
        $('#pass1_error').html('*');
        $('#pass2_error').html('*');
        $('#validation_error').html('Your passwords are too short, please choose a password with at least 5 characters in it.');
        return false;
    }
    // jqForm is a jQuery object encapsulating the form element.  To access the 
    // DOM element for the form do this: 
    // var formElement = jqForm[0]; 
 
    //alert('About to submit: \n\n' + queryString); 
 
    // here we could return false to prevent the form from being submitted; 
    // returning anything other than false will allow the form submit to continue 
    return true; 
} 
 
// post-submit callback 
function showResponse(responseText, statusText)  { 
    // for normal html responses, the first argument to the success callback 
    // is the XMLHttpRequest object's responseText property 
 
    // if the ajaxForm method was passed an Options Object with the dataType 
    // property set to 'xml' then the first argument to the success callback 
    // is the XMLHttpRequest object's responseXML property 
 
    // if the ajaxForm method was passed an Options Object with the dataType 
    // property set to 'json' then the first argument to the success callback 
    // is the json data object returned by the server 
    $('#output1').html(responseText);
    /*alert('status: ' + statusText + '\n\nresponseText: \n' + responseText + 
        '\n\nThe output div should have already been updated with the responseText.'); */
}