// the following are AJAX calls to get list of articles
    function makeRequest(url, divName, task, canBeToggled) {
    //return false;
        var http_request = false;

		if(canBeToggled)
		{
	        if (document.getElementById(divName).style.display == 'block' & task != 'delete') {
				document.getElementById(divName).innerHTML = ""
				document.getElementById(divName).style.display = 'none';
				return false;
	        }
	    }

        if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,...
            http_request = new XMLHttpRequest();
            if (http_request.overrideMimeType) {
                http_request.overrideMimeType('text/xml');
                // See note below about this line
            }
        } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE
            try {
                http_request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
            } catch (e) {
                try {
                    http_request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
                } catch (e) {}
            }
        }

        if (!http_request) {
            alert('Giving up :( Cannot create an XMLHTTP instance');
            return false;
        }
        http_request.onreadystatechange = function() {alertContents(http_request, divName); };
        http_request.open('GET', url, true);
        http_request.send(null);
        return false;
    }

    function alertContents(http_request, divName) {

        if (http_request.readyState == 4) {
            if (http_request.status == 200) {
				//alert(http_request.responseText);            
				var dimVar = document.getElementById(divName)
				dimVar.innerHTML = http_request.responseText;
				dimVar.style.display='block';
                
            } else {
                alert('There was a problem with the request.');
            }
        }

    }