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I’m very pleased that we have reached the point with WordPress HelpCenter where we need to add another developer to our team.

We’re looking for someone with a broad range of WordPress, PHP, XHTML and CSS experience, basic server configuration experience, and in particular someone with outstanding communication skills.

Ideally we’d like to add someone who lives on the west end of the country¹ in order to have better coverage throughout the work day across all US timezones. However, we’re definitely looking for the best person for the job.

Providing great service is our number one priority, and we need someone who understands this inherently. Not only does the HelpCenter team reflect on Crowd Favorite, but we also have a responsibility to every affiliate plugin and theme developer who puts their trust in us. It’s also important to continue receiving good press and word-of-mouth recommendations.

See the job posting on the HelpCenter web site for more details and to apply. The position is open immediately and we hope to fill it within the next 30 days.

Questions? Post them in the comments and I’ll try to answer.

1. You can work remotely. [back]

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When we built the backup system we need for our clients at Crowd Favorite, we did so with some additional ideas in mind. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve extended it so that you can use it with your clients too: introducing our white label program.

The white label program is very simple. We provide the servers and the software you need to run the system. You provide the service (including your support and recovery service) to your clients at rates of your choosing, while paying just 1/2 the standard BackupMoxie monthly rates. That’s it!

The premise is that you probably know the site you built for your client better than anyone, and you are probably the best person to handle a restore, etc. should something bad happen on the client’s server. The barrier to providing this service was a lack of turnkey backup solution that could easily be branded with your company – we’ve got you covered.

You can easily customize individual settings on the web site like the site name, the name and price of packages, contact email, alert notification email, etc. as well a wholesale replacement of the header and footer of the site and override CSS. You can style the site and make it your own – either a basic skinning job or more in-depth full content replacement changes.

The features of BackupMoxie allow you to provide great service for your customers.

• BackupMoxie provides 60 days of full snapshot backups, taken every 6 hours (Gold) or every 24 hours (Silver).
• If a backup fails for some reason, the backup is flagged accordingly and an email notification is sent to the address you specify. There is also an RSS feed of failed backups.
• The admin interface of the system allows you easy access to create web site profiles with multiple databases, excluding certain directories (cache, etc.) as well as reporting on backup failures (server timeout, permissions errors, etc.) for easy review and management.
• To restore a site, simply download a backup from the last known good state and restore the necessary files and/or database to get things back where they need to be.

If you’re interested in offering BackupMoxie (maybe branded as Your-Name-Here Backup Service), you can get in touch through the form on the white label page and we’ll get you all set up.

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Can you set up an Airport Express to create a wired network as part of a larger network that the Express is connected to wirelessly? Yes, you can.

I had a hard time tracking down this info so I thought I’d post it here for the benefit of others.

I recently added a Sony Blu-Ray player to my basement home theater system. I’m really pleased with the device; besides playing Blu-Ray discs quite nicely, it also supports streaming video from Netflix and Amazon. I had considered getting a second Roku, but this is fitting the bill nicely. The only problem I had was getting it connected to the network as it doesn’t have built-in wifi.

I had a similar problem with the PowerMac G5 I moved to the upstairs office which similarly doesn’t have wifi. Basically, I needed a way to get working wired connections to the upstairs and basement of my house. I knew this was theoretically possible with the hardware I already had (Airport Extreme base station and 2 Airport Express units), but I couldn’t find an overview of how to properly set it up.

So the first question is: fundamentally, can this work? The answer is yes.

Depending on how you have it set up, the Ethernet port can function as a LAN port (defined as either simple bridging or sharing your Internet connection via network address translation)… When it is set up as a WDS remote station, it can act as a LAN port.

I first tried to get an Express to extend the wireless network created by my DLink router. This will not work. While the Express will connect to a 3rd party wireless network for Airtunes, it will not extend a 3rd party network. In short, you can’t do what I want to do with a non-Apple wireless router.

In client mode AirPort Express does not offer itself as a wireless access point or use its Ethernet port.

In order to get the Express’ ethernet port live in extending the network, you must have it set up as a relay/remote on a WDS network.

A remote base station connects wirelessly to the main station and extends (or “rebroadcasts”) the wireless network to clients that are not in range of the main. A relay base station is like a remote, but it has the additional function of extending the wireless network to a remote which isn’t within range of the main. There can be only one relay between a remote and a main.

A couple of tips for setting up the WDS configuration:

1. You will need to copy/paste the Airport ID of each airport into the proper location in the admin panels. You need to enter the Airport ID of the relays/remotes into the Main and the address of the Main into the remotes.
2. You must make sure that the wireless network settings of the WDS relays/remotes match that of the WDS main. This means the network name, authentication settings, and the channel.

Once you have configured the Extreme as the WDS Main and the Expresses as WDS relays/remotes, the ethernet ports on the Expresses will also extend the network, just as desired. Works like a champ!

If you need to connect more than one wired device from the location of an Express, you can do so by adding a hub. Connect the uplink port on the hub to the Express, and the rest of the ports on the hub will now all extend the network.

Hopefully this will help someone with similar questions.

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