title: PHP: find 3-char words in query string to augment MySQL full-text search
body: <p>I'm working on a simple MySQL full-text search feature on a CakePHP site, and noticed that MySQL strips short words (3 chars or less) out of the query. Some of the items in the site have 3 character titles, however, and I'd like to include them in the results. (I've ruled out using more robust search appliances like Solr due to budget constraints)</p>
  
  <p>So I want to find any 3 character words in the query string, and do a quick lookup just on the title field. The easiest way I can think to do this is to <code>explode()</code> the string and iterate over the resulting array with <code>strlen()</code> to find words of 3 characters. Then I'll take those words and do a <code>LIKE</code> search on the title field, just to make sure nothing that should obviously be in the results was missed.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a better / easier way to approach this?</p>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Yes, I know about the <code>ft_min_word_len</code> setting in MySQL. I don't think I want to do this.</p>