function CountWords (this_field, show_word_count, show_char_count) {
	if (show_word_count == null) {
		show_word_count = true;
	}
	
	if (show_char_count == null) {
		show_char_count = false;
	}
	
	var char_count = this_field.value.length;
	var fullStr = this_field.value + " ";
			//	alert(fullStr);

	var initial_whitespace_rExp = /^[^A-Za-z0-9]+/gi;
	var left_trimmedStr = fullStr.replace(initial_whitespace_rExp, "");
				//alert(left_trimmedStr);

	var non_alphanumerics_rExp = rExp = /[\s;\.,'&*\(\)\[\]\{\}\n\t\r]+/gi;
	var cleanedStr = left_trimmedStr.replace(non_alphanumerics_rExp, " ");
				//alert(cleanedStr);

	var splitString = cleanedStr.split(" ");
	//alert(splitString);
	var word_count = splitString.length -1;
	
	if (fullStr.length <2) {
		word_count = 0;
	}
	if (word_count == 1) {
		wordOrWords = " word";
	}
	else {
		wordOrWords = " words";
	}
	if (char_count == 1) {
		charOrChars = " character";
	} else {
		charOrChars = " characters";
	}
	
	if (show_word_count & show_char_count) {
		alert ("Word Count:\n" + "    " + word_count + wordOrWords + "\n" + "    " + char_count + charOrChars);
	}
	else {
	if (show_word_count) {
		alert ("Word Count:  " + word_count + wordOrWords);
	}
	else {
	if (show_char_count) {
		alert ("Character Count:  " + char_count + charOrChars);
		  }
	   }
	}
	return word_count;
}

function displayLeftWords(area,output,maxWords) {
	var cnt=CountWords (area,false,false);
	if(cnt>maxWords){
		var fullStr = area.value + " ";
	   while(cnt>maxWords)
	   {
			var initial_whitespace_rExp = /^[^A-Za-z0-9]+/gi;
			var left_trimmedStr = fullStr.replace(initial_whitespace_rExp, "");
			var non_alphanumerics_rExp = rExp = /[^A-Za-z0-9]+/gi;
			var cleanedStr = left_trimmedStr.replace(non_alphanumerics_rExp, " ");
			var splitString = cleanedStr.split(" ");
			cnt = splitString.length -1;
			fullStr=fullStr.substring(0, fullStr.length-1)
	   }
	   area.value=fullStr;
	   //field.value = field.value.substring(0, maxlimit);
	}
	output.value=cnt;
}

function checkNewsForm(form) {
	
	if(form.post_title.value=='') {
		alert('Please Fill in a news title');
		return false;
	}
	var area=form.content;	
	var cnt=CountWords (area,false,false);
	if(cnt<250) {
		alert("Your news needs to be at least 250 words!");
		return false;
	}
	if(cnt>1000)
	{
		alert("Your news needs to be less than 1000 words!");
		return false;
	}
	return true;
}