sql - Combine results from two tables into one recordset -

i have 2 tables items , content.

 items:|id|menu|img 

table

 itemcontent |id|parent|title|content 

content holds paired items parent holding title , content

i want search items , print out records wich not have title present in itemcontent table whereby titles printed "empty". printing out output like:

 title: test1 , id: items.id=1 title: empty , id: items.id=2 title: empty , id: items.id=3 title: test2 , id: items.id=4 title: empty , id: items.id=5 etc... 

i tried following , no avail:

select items.*, itemcontent.title, itemcontent.content items, itemcontent itemcontent.title '%$search%'      , itemcontent.parent = items.id  order title asc           

a little appreciated

since want rows items whether or not have match in itemcontent, plus field itemcontent when there match need use outer join:

select items.*, coalesce(itemcontent.title, 'empty'), itemcontent.content items left outer join itemcontent on itemcontent.parent = items.id   (itemcontent.title '%$search%' or itemcontent.title null)  order items.id, itemcontent.title asc     

there small differences among sql dialects (for instance, not versions have coalesce) if want more precise answer indicate product you're using.