function get_messages($tl_id = NULL)
{
    //if the user is an admin, return only messages from other admins
    if (check_app_admin($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
        $sql = "SELECT message,fname,lname,users.user_id FROM messages NATURAL JOIN users WHERE user_id in (SELECT user_id FROM app_admin)";
        $result = $_SESSION['dbconn']->query($sql) or die("Error retrieving messages: " . $_SESSION['dbconn']->error);
        return $result;
    } else {
        if (!isset($tl_id)) {
            $tl_id = get_team_leader($_SESSION['user_id']);
        }
        $sql = "SELECT message,fname,lname,users.user_id FROM messages NATURAL JOIN users WHERE tl_id=" . $tl_id;
        $result = $_SESSION['dbconn']->query($sql) or die("Error retrieving messages: " . $_SESSION['dbconn']->error);
        return $result;
    }
}
function draw_message_box() {
	$messages = get_messages();
	while ($message = $messages->fetch_array()){
		?><div class="mssg_text"><b>
		<?php
		echo '<div class=';
		if ($message['user_id']==$_SESSION['user_id'])
			echo 'mssg-self';
		else if ($message['user_id']==get_team_leader())
			echo 'mssg-tl';
		echo '>';
		echo ucfirst($message['fname']).' ';
		echo ucfirst($message['lname']);
		echo '</div>';
		?></b>
		<?php
		echo '<BR>'.$message['message'];
		echo '<BR></div><P>';
	}

}