How to setup SEO friendly URLs for WordPress on Zeus

UPDATE: Namesco now have a help page for dealing with rewrite.scripts with more up to date info than is contained in this blog post.

Up until a year ago I’d only ever used Apache to host websites. At Oxeye Daisy we host on Zeus webservers. After a lot of fruitless searching on the internet for guides on how to setup SEO friendly permalinks for WordPress hosted on Zeus I stumbled upon the relevant code. I’ve finally got around to tweaking and commenting it. I thought I’d post it here in case anyone else is having the same trouble.

First you need to go to your WordPress admin page and set up the permalink structure in Options > Permalinks. I’ve set mine to /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/ but you may want something different.

The notes in the script assume the requested URL to be http://www.domain.co.uk/blog/2007/10/31/an-example-post/?color=red I’ve added the GET queries so you can see how they are handled, they’re not used in WordPress. This URL is then translated into http://www.domain.co.uk/blog/index.php/2007/10/31/an-example-post/?color=red. Notice the index.php in the middle? That’s the key bit to making all this work.

Save the following code in a file called rewrite.script and upload it to your web space. Note that you will need to uncomment some parts of the script depending on whether your blog is in a sub directory or the top level of your site.

The code is currently set to work with a sub directory of blog. It has only been tested on Namesco servers and it’s set to ignore their specific hosting folders like webmail, controlpanel and tech_support.

RULE_0_START:
# Get the document root path and put value into the SCRATCH array.
# This is the server path not the web URL.
# e.g. /content/DesignerPlus/i/n/domain.co.uk/web/
map path into SCRATCH:DOCROOT from /

# Get the URL without the domain.
# e.g. /test&colour=red
# e.g. /blog/2007/10/31/an-example-post/?color=red
set SCRATCH:ORIG_URL = %{URL}
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = %{URL}

# See if there are any queries in our URL.
match URL into $ with ^(.*)\?(.*)$
# If there are...
if matched then
	# Set a var to path without the domain part.
	# e.g. /blog/2007/10/31/an-example-post
	set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = $1
	# Set a var to the passed queries.
	# e.g. colour=red
	set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING = $2
endif
RULE_0_END:

RULE_1_START:
# This is setting a var to the server path and sub folders.
# e.g. /content/DesignerPlus/i/n/domain.co.uk/web//blog/2007/10/31/an-example-post
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME = %{SCRATCH:DOCROOT}
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME . %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}

# Check to see if the file exists.
look for file at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
if not exists then
	# The file wasn't found so is it a folder?
	look for dir at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
	if not exists then
		# No folder either. So now check the URL for special hosting folders.
		match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/webmail|^/tech_support|^/controlpanel
		if matched then
			# If a special folder was requested end the script.
			goto END
		else
			# There were no files, folders or special folders so set the new URL.

# -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
			# If the blog is in a sub directory...
			# e.g. /blog/index.php/2007/10/31/an-example-post
			match SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI into $ with ^/blog(.*)
			if matched then
				set URL = /blog/index.php$1
# -- Top level -----------------------------------------------------------------
			# If the blog is in the top level of the site...
			# e.g. /index.php/2007/10/31/an-example-post
			else
				set URL = /index.php%{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}
				# If there is only a top level blog you can remove the
				# match and surrounding if statements.
			endif
# -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

			# Go to the next rule.
			goto RULE_2_START
		endif
	endif
endif
# If files or folders were found end the rewrite script.
goto END
RULE_1_END:

RULE_2_START:
# Check for queries in the requested URL.
match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with \?(.*)$
if matched then
	# If queries were found add them to the new URL.
	# e.g. /index.php/2007/10/31/an-example-post/&colour=red
	set URL = %{URL}&%{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}
endif

# -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
# If you only want to rewrite the sub directory uncomment this bit.
match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/blog
if matched then
# -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------

	# End the script.
	goto END

# -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
endif
# -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------
RULE_2_END: