function validate_subscribe() {
	
	//grab users email address
	var userEmail = document.getElementById('input-email').value;	
	var userName = document.getElementById('input-name').value;
	var emailPat = /^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$/;
	
	//validate
	var result = emailPat.test(userEmail);
	
	if(!result) {
		alert("Please enter a valid email address.");
	} else {
	
		//use ajax to subscribe then return a success window
		var subscribeAjaxRequest;  
		
		try{
			// Opera 8.0+, Firefox, Safari
			subscribeAjaxRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
		} catch (e){
			// Internet Explorer Browsers
			try{
				subscribeAjaxRequest = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
			} catch (e) {
				try{
					subscribeAjaxRequest = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
				} catch (e){
					// Something went wrong
					alert("There is a problem loading this page. Your browser is too far outdated to use the technology powering this website. In order to use this website, you need to use to install a newer version.!");
					return false;
				}
			}
		}
		
		// Create a function that will receive data sent from the server
		subscribeAjaxRequest.onreadystatechange = function(){
			if(subscribeAjaxRequest.readyState == 4 || subscribeAjaxRequest.readyState=="complete"){				
				
				var successText = subscribeAjaxRequest.responseText;				
				
				alert("You have been successfully subscribed.");				
				
			}
		}
		
		var queryString = "?ue=" + userEmail + "&name=" + userName;
		subscribeAjaxRequest.open("GET", "../ajax/ajax_newsletterSubscribe.php" + queryString, true);
		subscribeAjaxRequest.send(null);		
		
		
	}
	
}