You did it well, this posting will for sure rank for several Apache related keywords ;D

Well I had not the time to read through to the end, but your opinion about the Wordpress code is … hm … lets say brave ;)
Really, the Wordpress code has some nice tweaks, but its design is (don’t know the exact words in english for my thoughts) awful. No structure, no software patterns, just a wild mix of functions splattered through a dozen of files. Global variable usage everywhere and so much DON’Ts throughout the complete codebase, its unbelievable that WP is running that well (beside the fact that plugins always influence each other).

Look into some real frameworks like Cake PHP, Zend Framework or Symphony and you will get an idea of what good coding in PHP means. Test driven development and loads of well chosen design patterns, usage of interfaces or extended base classes and so much more that you definitely need when developing a bigger software. Its worth a look, even if you need a couple of days to get you started.

Thanks for posting again!
Kevin