Here is a php work counting function together with a javascript version which will print the same result.

<?php
      //Php word counting function
      function word_count($theString)
      {
        $char_count = strlen($theString);
        $fullStr = $theString." ";
        $initial_whitespace_rExp = "^[[:alnum:]]$";
        
        $left_trimmedStr = ereg_replace($initial_whitespace_rExp,"",$fullStr);
        $non_alphanumerics_rExp = "^[[:alnum:]]$";
        $cleanedStr = ereg_replace($non_alphanumerics_rExp," ",$left_trimmedStr);
        $splitString = explode(" ",$cleanedStr);
        
        $word_count = count($splitString)-1;
        
        if(strlen($fullStr)<2)
        {
          $word_count=0;
        }      
        return $word_count;
      }
?>

<?php
      //Function to count words in a phrase
      function wordCount(theString)
      {
        var char_count = theString.length;
        var fullStr = theString + " ";
        var initial_whitespace_rExp = /^[^A-Za-z0-9]+/gi;
        var left_trimmedStr = fullStr.replace(initial_whitespace_rExp, "");
        var non_alphanumerics_rExp = rExp = /[^A-Za-z0-9]+/gi;
        var cleanedStr = left_trimmedStr.replace(non_alphanumerics_rExp, " ");
        var splitString = cleanedStr.split(" ");
        
        var word_count = splitString.length -1;
        
        if (fullStr.length <2) 
        {
          word_count = 0;
        }      
        return word_count;
      }
?>