function userSignup($username, $email, $password) {
require ("include/db_connect.php");

    $username = trim($_POST['username']);
    $password = ($_POST['password']);

    $salt = uniqid($username);
    $algo = "6";
    $rounds = "5000";

    $crypt_salt = "$" . $algo . "$rounds=" . $rounds . "$" . $salt;
    $hashed_pass = crypt($password, $crypt_salt);

/*** prepare the SQL statement ***/
$stmt = $dbh->prepare("INSERT INTO Accounts (username, email, hashed_pw) VALUES (?, ?, ?)");

/*** bind the paramaters ***/
$stmt->bindParam(1, $username, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindParam(2, $email, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindParam(3, $hashed_pass, PDO::PARAM_STR);

/*** execute the prepared statement ***/
$stmt->execute();

/*** close the database connection ***/
$dbh = null;
}