SkeyMedia

This post contains comments from people whom I've done custom work for in the WordPress, vBulletin, and vBSEO worlds. I've asked those that I've worked with before to leave a few words here about my quality of work.

If I've done work for you, please leave a few words so others who are considering working with me know that I'm legit and can deliver as promised.

Thanks

I've run WordPress here on my CentOS box for nearly 4 years and am quite familiar with the software. Recently, I had a client on a Windows system request a blog be added to their web store. Their webstore is written in ASP and runs on windows. They wanted to stay on the same domain for SEO purposes, (thus site.com/blog/ instead of blog.site.com or a new .com). Without the subdomain or new IP, there's no way to change DNS for a subdirectory to a different server. This meant I had to get it working on IIS.

Native installations for apache tend not to port well (or perhaps, easily) over to windows/IIS. Thankfully, ISAPI3 from HeliconTech.com supports .htaccess files and makes the job a little easier. Wordpress works fine on windows/IIS until you want nice permalinks.

After MUCH searching, testing, and error log analysis, I've got a working solution for Windows Server 2003 with ISAPI_Rewrite 3.1.x, running php 5.2.x and mysql 5.0.x community.

1. index.php should be set up in IIS as a default document (same place you find default.asp, index.htm, etc)
2. edit wp-settings.php
   Find:
   

   
   <?php
   
   

   
   at the very top of the file.

   Replace with:
   

   
   <?php
   //*****************************
   //    IIS FIX
   //
   $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_REWRITE_URL'];
   //*****************************
   
   

3. create the following htaccess file with the Helicon Manager:
   

   
   RewriteEngine On
    
   #RewriteBase /
    
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
   RewriteRule . - [L]
   RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(wp-.*) $2 [L]
   RewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+/)?(.*\.php)$ $2 [L]
   RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]
   
   

   • Note: You may need to alter the RewriteBase or the last rule to your specific location. In my particular case, I was installed on domain.com/blog/

From here, you can edit your permalink structure as you normally would. If the default options has index.php/ as part of the rule, you can remove that.

Every year around this time, I start getting nervous. The fear of getting audited constantly crosses my mind. No accountants around me have a clue about internet marketing. It really is a special niche that most have zero experience with. This is the conversation I had with the last 3 places I called:

ME: Hi, I'm looking to chat with someone experienced with internet marketing income to help me with my taxes.
ACCOUNTANT: ohh, so you run a store?
ME: No, I get paid 1099-misc by many 3rd parties for running their ads and marketing for them.
ACCOUNTANT: Wait, you make money without selling anything?
ME: Yes, I run ads for them on my forums, blogs, and other websites promoting their products, services, etc, of which I get a cut if there's a sale or a click, depending on the type of ad.
ACCOUNTANT: So you don't have an inventory?
ME: Thanks for your time.

While I'm sure they are smart with numbers, I simply can't trust in good faith someone who doesn't have a clue about the type of business I'm in to make the best business tax choices for me.

On top of all my web income and expenses, I also work W2 with a 'real' 9-5 type job. Then, there's my 401k, my stocks that i've bought, sold, and earned dividends on, bank account interest, mortgage interest, my local/state income, property, and car taxes, the percent sq.ft of my dedicated office on my house that I get to write off for a business expense and so on and so forth. At the end of the day, my taxes suck.

To make matters worse, I have an ever-growing pile of tax forms on the floor of my home office.

The worst part is that I'm still expecting a couple forms in the mail.

Do you dread Tax season as much as I do?