'Linking/associating' 'Keywords" to images

[litebearer]

Have a site (extended family site) where registered users can view, add, edit and delete images.

 

Currently use two tables -

 

  users (id, firstname, middlename, lastname, etc etc)

and

  images (id, imageurl, thumburl, date_up, comments, words etc etc).

 

I had made the ‘words’ field with the intent of allowing users to:

 

  A. Enter significant ‘keywords’ relative to the images at the time they upload an image.

 

  B. Use the ‘words’ field contents to ‘filter’ the results to images that have certain ‘keywords’.

 

Questions:

 

1. Being as users are notorious for NOT reading instructions let alone follow them. What suggestions on how they should input the ‘words’? (a text field where they separate words with commas?)

 

2. Should the ‘words’ be stored in a separate table (id, word, image_id)?

 

3. Should the ‘search’ option be a drop down of existing words, or a text field?

 

4. Should the ‘search’ option allow the use or AND, AND, OR, ALL ANY etc? (Big question here is how to dynamically create the correct query).

 

Obviously, looking to be pointed in the EASIEST (hey! I am old fart) way.

 

Thanks...