From cleaning hacked WordPress sites to running a 7-person security plugin company, Robert Abela never planned to become an entrepreneur. But when he discovered a critical gap in WordPress security logging, everything changed.

That led him to build WP Activity Log, which grew from a hobby project into Melapress. The company has developed some of WordPress’s most trusted security plugins, including WP Activity Log, WP2FA, and Melapress Login Security.

In this interview, Robert shares how he built his plugin business through organic marketing and community relationships. He also reveals the lessons he learned scaling from solo developer to leading a growing team.

“The difference between the best plugins out there in each category… is always maybe that 10%… we always go that extra step.”

Robert Abela – CEO & Founder of Melapress

Keep reading to learn how Robert Abela built one of the most successful WordPress security plugins on the market.

Video Interview with Robert Abela

If you’d like to check out our complete video interview with Robert Abela, then you can watch it below:

Or you can use the links below to see what we covered in the interview (and more):

🙋‍♂️ Meet Robert Abela: Systems Engineer Turned Security Expert

Robert Abela didn’t start as a plugin developer or WordPress entrepreneur.

For over a decade, he worked as a systems engineer at software companies, with his final role at Acunetix, a company that developed web security scanning tools.

“Around 13 years ago I quit my corporate job. I always worked for software companies, startups, most of them.”

Robert Abela

But he didn’t leave because he didn’t like the job. It was simply time for a change. His background in software security and systems engineering would prove invaluable for what came next.

When Acunetix needed a blog around 2009, they turned to WordPress. This was Robert’s introduction to the platform that would eventually change his career trajectory.

WordPress security was very different back then, and Robert’s background gave him a unique perspective on the platform’s vulnerabilities.

As a systems engineer, Robert gained exposure to every department within software companies — from marketing and sales to development and R&D.

This cross-functional experience gave him insights into how software businesses actually operate. This knowledge would become crucial when building his own company.

“You get a good understanding of the inner workings of a software company, what should be done and not.”

Robert Abela

After leaving his corporate role, Robert began freelance work cleaning hacked WordPress websites, combining his security expertise with his growing WordPress knowledge.

He didn’t realize it at the time, but this work would help him expose a gap in WordPress security. That gap would later define his entrepreneurial path and lead him to create Melapress.

🔧 Building WP Activity Log: The Problem That Started Everything

Website cleanup work in the early days of WordPress was challenging. Robert found himself constantly dealing with hacked sites, trying to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

That’s how he got the idea for WP Activity Log.

“There was no sort of logging… you need to see what happened before it got hacked. Was the plugin maybe updated? Maybe a user installed something? Maybe a user was created? And yeah, there was nothing like that.”

Robert Abela

This wasn’t just a minor inconvenience. It was a fundamental gap that made security work unnecessarily difficult and time-consuming.

The business side of website cleanup also presented its own challenges.

“It wasn’t very scalable and it was a very difficult job… there were prices like people were cleaning websites for $99, and sometimes it could be a job which takes a couple of days,” Robert explained.

In these early days, Robert was competing with many other cleanup services in a race to the bottom on pricing. It was clear this wasn’t a sustainable long-term business model.

But Robert saw an opportunity to solve the underlying problem rather than just treating the symptoms.

The logging capability that WordPress was missing could help both professionals and site owners understand and prevent security issues.

There was one small problem, though: Robert wasn’t really a developer.

“I’m not a developer per se. I can read and write code but something that I can do in a week and a proper developer can do it properly in one day… It took me a few months playing around and breaking things basically…”

Robert Abela

Despite the learning curve, Robert kept trying. He developed the first version of WP Activity Log as both a solution to his professional needs and a way to learn coding skills.

“It started as a hobby,” Robert said. The first year brought in around $1,000 in revenue, hardly life-changing money, but enough to suggest there was real interest in the solution.

“But yeah, then it’s like, maybe this can happen actually, you know?”

That moment of realization marked the beginning of what would become a six-year transition from hobby project to full-time business.

💥 Related Post: Tobias Bäthge turned a hobby project for his baseball team into TablePress, a WordPress plugin that now powers more than 700K sites. Read the full interview to see how he did it.

For the first six years of WP Activity Log’s existence, Robert spent exactly zero dollars on marketing. Instead, he built his user base through authentic community engagement and content creation.

“I never spent a penny on marketing before six years ago. It was all organic and just connections talking to people.”

Robert Abela

His marketing strategy was refreshingly simple: write helpful blog posts, build a newsletter for people interested in WordPress security content, and attend WordPress community events.

When the newsletter went out with security tips and insights, it might include a mention of the plugin at the bottom. But the focus was always on providing value first.

The real turning point came in 2013 when Robert attended the first WordCamp Europe in Leiden. This decision would shape how he thought about building relationships in the WordPress space.

“If I send an email to someone right now who I’ve never met in person… they will ignore you but if you know them you’ve met them in person… it’s different.”

Robert Abela

WordCamps and local WordPress meetups became Robert’s main networking strategy.

The relationships he built at these events led to collaborations, cross-promotion opportunities, and genuine friendships within the WordPress community.

💡 Looking to grow your WordPress community? Check out the events page on WordPress.org.

Beyond the business benefits, these events provided something equally important during the challenging transition years: community and support.

“At meetups and at WordCamps, I met people in the same position as I was. So you could share ideas. We could help each other… It feels a bit less lonely.”

Robert Abela

Building a side business while maintaining full-time work can be isolating.

But seeing other entrepreneurs deal with similar challenges provided both practical insights and emotional support during the long period before WP Activity Log could support Robert full-time.

The organic approach worked, but it required patience. It took several years of consistent content creation, community engagement, and gradual word-of-mouth growth before the plugin gained significant traction.

But this slow build created a solid foundation of users who genuinely valued the product and became advocates for it.

Eventually, WP Activity Log grew into one of the best WordPress activity log and tracking plugins on the market.

💡 What Makes Plugins Stand Out: Feedback & Going the Extra Mile

After years of studying successful WordPress plugins, Robert developed a clear philosophy about what separates the winners from the competition in each category.

“The difference between the best plugins out there in each category and those which follow… is always maybe that 10%… Instead of stopping at 90%, they went up to 95, 96%,” he explained.

It’s not about revolutionary features or completely different approaches.

The top plugins in any category are often similar to their competitors, but they go that extra step in execution, user experience, and support quality.

This philosophy extends far beyond just the software itself. Robert believes exceptional support is often what transforms a good plugin into a market leader.

“Support is really important because you can have the best software in the world. If you don’t have support, slowly, slowly, you start losing customers.”

Robert Abela

Even today, with a team of seven people, Robert still handles support tickets himself.

It’s not because he has to. It’s because staying connected to users provides invaluable insights into how the plugins are actually being used.

“Every morning I like to try just support tickets myself… because I feel that if I don’t do that, I would be segregating myself in my own world,” he said.

This direct connection to users has revealed use cases that Robert never anticipated when first building WP Activity Log.

While he designed it mostly as a security tool for tracking potential breaches, users found creative applications he hadn’t considered.

“You designed your plugin to be used for A, B, and C, but people are using it for A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H… So you get these ideas.”

Robert Abela

For instance, Robert has learned that magazine websites use his plugin to monitor editor productivity and track how many articles writers complete each week.

Online learning platforms have even used it to see which students are completing courses and which are dropping off.

These insights help with feature development and product positioning. Robert uses a simple rule for prioritizing new features based on user feedback.

“If we think 80% of people are going to use it, then we’re going to give it priority. If it’s something that we think only 20% or less… then maybe it gets much lower priority.”

Robert Abela

The combination of exceptional support and user-driven development created strong customer loyalty that would prove very important as Robert prepared to make a major leap.

He decided to transform his side project into Melapress, which is now a full-time business with multiple plugins and a growing team.

🚀 Scaling Melapress: Multiple Plugins and a Growing Team

Once WP Activity Log gained traction, Robert began thinking beyond a single plugin.

Relying on one product for all revenue felt risky — and his security background gave him plenty of ideas for other pain points he could solve.

“I never liked the idea of relying on one plugin as an income source,” he explained. “At least if something happens… it’s good to have a few different products, a few different income streams.”

Robert Abela

The next opportunity came from an internal need.

Robert had started working with guest authors and needed them to use two-factor authentication. But the existing 2FA plugins were built by developers, for developers — not everyday WordPress users.

So, he built his own.

The first version of WP 2FA did the same core job as other 2FA plugins. But it also added a simple setup wizard and smart enforcement policies that made onboarding much easier for non-technical users.

Today, WP2FA is one of the most popular 2FA plugins in the WordPress plugin repository.

☝ Note: We can also vouch for how well the plugin works. In fact, it’s our top recommended method in our tutorial on how to add two-factor authentication in WordPress.

Melapress has since expanded to include other products like Melapress Login Security and Role Editor, with more plugins on the way.

But the approach remains the same: identify a real need, build something better, and test it out.

To support this growth, Robert also began hiring, and he was intentional about the kind of people he brought in.

Whether it’s marketing, testing, design, or development, Robert doesn’t just want execution. He wants collaboration.

“I want people who actually… with whom I can have very very good discussions… People who come in and say, ‘This could be better,’ and bring in ideas I haven’t thought of.”

Robert Abela

That philosophy has helped turn Melapress into a thriving 7-person company — one that’s continuing to grow by listening to users and focusing on quality above all else.

💥 Interested in more lessons from successful WordPress entrepreneurs? Check out our full interview with Nicolas Lecocq, the creator of the OceanWP theme and the founder of DigiHold.

🎯 Lessons Learned: What Robert Would Do Differently Today

Robert’s journey from freelancer to founder didn’t follow a straight line, and that’s exactly what makes it so relatable.

For the first several years, Melapress (originally WP White Security) evolved through experimentation, not long-term strategy.

Plugin ideas were pursued on instinct. Systems were built (and sometimes rebuilt) as the business grew.

That approach worked. But if Robert were starting over today, he says he’d be more intentional.

“I would… plan a bit more, do a bit more… be a bit less impulsive and make more informed decisions.”

Robert Abela

Without clear planning, early decisions sometimes led to technical or business debt that had to be reversed later.

“You end up two, three years later like… now we have to reverse this.”

Still, Robert doesn’t regret the organic path that got him here. In fact, he sees it as a necessary part of learning.

“I never planned it. Everything happened like… let’s try this, it’s working… It wasn’t planned that it would grow to a full-time job, but it did.”

Robert Abela

His experience is a reminder that while planning is important, progress often comes from action. This is especially true when it’s paired with curiosity, user feedback, and consistent effort over time.

💭 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Robert’s Work

Today, Robert runs a growing plugin business, but he hasn’t lost touch with the users who made it possible.

He still checks support messages personally. He still replies to plugin emails. And he still believes that direct contact with customers is what sets great companies apart from the rest.

“Some people sometimes are surprised… they say, ‘I never thought you’d reply.’ Yeah, we do check the emails.”

Robert Abela

That customer-first philosophy has helped Melapress grow from a solo side project into a trusted brand in WordPress security. It’s used by thousands of site owners and supported by a passionate team.

If you’d like to learn more about Robert’s work, you can check out the Melapress website. Or feel free to reach out via their contact page.

🌟 Want to learn more about the state of WordPress security today? Check out the results of the Melapress annual security survey — it’s full of interesting and up-to-date statistics.

📚 Bonus: Expert Resources for WordPress Security and Plugin Development

Want to follow in Robert’s footsteps and build your own successful plugin business?

Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your next product, here are some hand-picked WPBeginner resources to help you grow:

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