Question

    $SQL = "SELECT * FROM `user_posts` WHERE (`post` LIKE '%@".$user."%')";

For instance, if my username is @Jake, it will show any post that has @Jake in it. But it will also do for instance, @Jake11, it will also show. How can I fix this?

Answer 1

You might consider using some sort of regular expression instead of LIKE '%...%'.

An example might be:

... WHERE `post` REGEXP '@" . mysql_real_escape_string( $user ) . "[[:>:]]'"

The [[:>:]] matches on a right word boundary. As pointed out by Bill Karwin, there’s no need for a left-hand boundary pattern in this case as there is an implied word boundary at the @ character. (Indeed, you can’t have a left-boundary to the left of a non-word character.)

(I’m sure others will comment on your possible exposure to SQL injection attack too.)