<?
if (!empty($_POST['test'])) {
$symbols = array(".",";",":",",");
$word = str_replace($symbols," ",$_POST['test']);
$word = explode(' ',$_POST['test']);
$count = count($word);
echo "This textarea contains ".$count." number of words.";
}
else {
echo "There are no words in this textarea.";
}
?>

/**
 * Converts any string into a string that can be used as SE-friendly filenames or URLS e.g.
 * converts: <samp>My Telephone Number: +603 5555-5555.</samp> into
 * <samp>my-telephone-number-603-5555-5555</samp>.
 * 
 * @param        string $string The string to convert.
 * @param        string $replace_non_alphanum optional The string or character to replace all NON-ALPHANUMERIC characters. Default is NULL.
 * @param        string $replace_space optional The string or character to replace all spaces.  Default is '-'.
 * @return        string
 */
function gid_seo_string( $string, $replace_non_alphanum=null, $replace_space='-' )
{
    $string    = preg_replace( '~[^a-z0-9_\-\s]~', $replace_non_alphanum, strtolower(trim($string)) );
    return( preg_replace('~\s+~', $replace_space, $string) );
}