fulltext settings

[turpentyne]

I've just started figuring out how to set up a php search that queries the database. I need to find how to change the default settings. I understand that the fulltext feature will only work on four or more characters. But it's a plant database and I have to change that to three so somebody can search for things like 'elm' or 'oak' or any other number of plants.

Also, is there a way to set exceptions for shorter items? strangely enough there's a scientific name for a plant that is just "aa." I'm sure there's other instances I'd need to enter an exception?

For reference, I'm working with MySQL 5.1 and using PHPMyAdmin
thanks!

[sunfighter]

You need to post the search code.

[Placido]

You need to set the ft_min_word_len variable in my.ini file.

[mysqld]
ft_min_word_len=3 (or "2" if you plan to search two-letter words)

Detailed info is available here.

Hope this helps.