/*
	- Password Encoder
	- Encodes a password so it cannot be converted back into plain text by anyone
	  that has access to the database.
	  
	$password     - The plain text password that was entered by the user for encoding
	$salt         - Optional but recommended, "salts" the password to make it even harder
	                to be decoded. Can be generated with the function generateSalt()
	$hashType     - Default is sha512, the hashing algorithm to use between:
	                sha1, sha256, sha512, ripemd160
	*/
	
	public function encodePassword($password, $salt = '', $hashType = 'sha512') {
		if ($hashType != "sha1" && $hashType != "sha256" && $hashType != "sha512"
			&& $hashType != "ripemd160")
			$hashType = "sha512";
		
		if ($salt == '')
			$password = hash($hashType, $password);
		else
			$password = hash($hashType, $salt . $password . $salt);
		
		return $password;
	}