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MSP ENGINEER · PLUGIN ARCHITECT

Matt Artley

MSP technology engineer with 15+ years in the industry. Co-owner of an MSP since 2020. By day I architect cloud, messaging, and network infrastructure. By night I build the WordPress plugins that MSPs use to run their businesses.

What I Build My Background
0 Years in MSP
0 Plugins Built
0 PHP Modules
0 jQuery
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The Day Job

I'm a cloud, messaging, and network engineer, Microsoft 365, Azure, Exchange, Teams, firewalls, switches, and everything in between. I've spent 15 years in managed services and co-owned an MSP since 2020. The plugin development started because I couldn't find tools that solved the real problems MSPs face, so I built them myself.

01 / The Work

What I Build

Eight commercial WordPress plugins, designed as one ecosystem. Each solves a real problem I encountered running an MSP.

🖥️

GLASS

v10.3

WordPress admin reimagined

I rebuilt the entire WordPress admin because wp-admin is hostile to end users. GLASS is an admin shell, canvas page builder (65+ sections), Blinds mega headers, Mats footers, Robot AI assistant, Forms engine, and a full themeless rendering engine. This site runs on it.

Key Features

  • Canvas editor with 65+ section types
  • Robot AI assistant with tool engine
  • Blinds mega headers + Mats footers
  • Command palette (Ctrl+K)
  • Glass Windows desktop mode
  • + 4 more
Themeless <100KB No jQuery AI Robot
65+ Sections
<100KB Weight
Architecture deep-dive →
💳

Stripe Integration Pro

v5.0

The billing platform I needed

WooCommerce was overkill for what MSPs need, invoices, card payments, and a customer portal. So I built a standalone Stripe billing platform with autopay, subscriptions, QuickBooks/Xero sync, and PDF invoices via WeasyPrint.

Key Features

  • Standalone invoicing without WooCommerce
  • Customer portal with extensible tabs
  • Autopay with saved cards and 3D Secure
  • QuickBooks + Xero OAuth2 sync
  • Customer Intelligence scoring (A/B/C/D)
  • + 2 more
Stripe SCA/3DS REST API
80+ Files
3 Gateways
Architecture deep-dive →
🔗

MSP Hub

v2.6

Autotask PSA on the web

Our MSP customers needed to see their tickets, approve quotes, and manage services without calling us. MSP Hub extends Stripe Pro's portal with Autotask PSA integration, contract e-signing, white-label branding, and an accounting bridge.

Key Features

  • Autotask ticket + quote portal
  • Contract e-signing with audit trail
  • White-label CSS property engine
  • Accounting bridge (AT → QB/Xero)
  • Send Secret encrypted messaging
  • + 1 more
Autotask White-Label E-Sign
8 Portal Tabs
8 DB Tables
Architecture deep-dive →
🔐

MFA

v1.7

2FA that just works

Every WordPress MFA plugin I tried was bloated or unreliable. I wrote a pure-PHP RFC 6238 TOTP engine with zero dependencies, trusted devices, per-role enforcement, hidden login URL, activity log, and MSP Hub integration.

Key Features

  • Pure-PHP TOTP, no external deps
  • Trusted device management
  • Per-role enforcement + grace period
  • Hidden login URL
  • Activity log with IP tracking
TOTP Zero Deps RFC 6238
30s Setup
0 Deps
Architecture deep-dive →
☁️

Backup

v2.5

Backups I actually trust

After years of managing client WordPress sites, I built a backup plugin that encrypts at rest (AES-256-GCM), verifies integrity (SHA-256 checksums), and supports the cloud providers MSPs actually use, SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, S3.

Key Features

  • 5 cloud + local providers
  • AES-256-GCM encryption at rest
  • SHA-256 integrity verification
  • Selective restore engine
  • Site migration builder
  • + 1 more
SharePoint S3 AES-256-GCM
5 Providers
GCM Crypto
Architecture deep-dive →
📧

SMTP Pro

v3.0

Email that actually sends

WordPress's wp_mail() is unreliable. I built an SMTP plugin with 8 providers, one-click Microsoft 365 OAuth (no Azure AD app registration), domain health monitoring, email queue with retry, and AES-256 credential encryption.

Key Features

  • 8 providers inc. M365 one-click
  • Domain health monitoring (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
  • Email queue with retry
  • Full send logging
  • AES-256 credential encryption
M365 SES OAuth 2.0
8 Providers
OAuth Auth
Architecture deep-dive →

One Architecture

Every plugin shares the same security model (AES-256 encryption, nonce-protected AJAX, capability-gated admin), the same UX system (CSS design tokens, Nunito Sans typography, Pewter Plum neutral scale), and the same licensing infrastructure (RSA JWT tokens, HMAC verification, Sentinel MU-plugin). They're designed as one system that happens to ship as eight packages.

The AJT Plugin Promise

What we believe every WordPress plugin should be, and what every AJT plugin is.

🔒

Your Data Stays Yours

AJT plugins will never collect personal information beyond what licensing requires (your email address). We do not harvest usage data, analytics, or behavioural telemetry. Your site is yours.

📡

Transparent Phone-Home

Yes, our plugins talk home, but only for licensing validation and update delivery. We take no information to "improve our systems" or build advertising profiles. Every external call is documented.

⚡

No Performance Tax

AJT plugins will not slow down your hosting. Sub-100KB frontend assets, no jQuery dependency, deferred loading, background cron for heavy tasks. Your page speed is sacred.

🧹

Clean Uninstall

Every AJT plugin ships with a thorough uninstall routine. Remove the plugin and it removes everything: database tables, options, cron events, transients, user meta. No orphaned data, ever.

🆓

Honest Free Tiers

Our freemium plugins (Conflict Detector, Fortify, SMTP Pro) offer genuinely useful free versions. No artificial limitations, no countdown timers, no guilt-tripping nag banners. Free means free.

🛡️

Security by Default

AES-256 encryption on all sensitive data, nonce-protected AJAX on every endpoint, capability checks on every admin function, input sanitisation on every field. Security is the foundation, not a feature.

Career

From helpdesk to MSP co-owner to plugin architect.

2009

Started in MSP

Began my career in managed services. Helpdesk, desktop support, then quickly into server and network infrastructure.

2012

Cloud & Messaging Focus

Specialised in Microsoft cloud, Exchange, Office 365 (before it was M365), Azure AD, hybrid deployments. Became the messaging and cloud guy.

2015

Network Engineering

Added network architecture, firewalls, VPNs, SD-WAN, switching. Full-stack infrastructure engineer across cloud and on-prem.

2020

MSP Co-Owner + AJT Founded

Became co-owner of the MSP. Founded AJT Managed IT Services. Started building WordPress plugins to solve the problems I saw every day.

2021

Stripe Pro v1.0 + MFA

First commercial plugin: Net-14 invoicing and Stripe gateway. Built MFA because every WordPress 2FA plugin was bloated or unreliable.

2022

MSP Hub + License Master

Autotask PSA integration for customer self-service. Built server-authoritative licensing with RSA JWT tokens and HMAC verification.

2023

Security Architecture

Migrated to asymmetric RSA tokens. Introduced Sentinel MU-plugin for tamper detection. AES-256 encryption across all plugins.

2024

Ecosystem Expansion

Backup and SMTP Pro shipped. MFA gained hardening checks and the Nginx directives generator. Three plugins sharing the same architecture, licensing, and UX system.

2025

GLASS Platform

The most ambitious project: a complete WordPress admin replacement. Infinite page builder, Robot AI assistant, Infinite Forms, portal system, Glass Windows desktop, themeless rendering. This site is the proof.

2026

Conflict Detector + Fortify + Freemium

Conflict Detector shipped with autonomous monitoring and AI analysis. Fortify (zero-trust WAF) entered development. Introduced freemium tiers for WordPress.org distribution. SMTP Pro v3.0 evolved into a full email platform. mattartley.online launched as the official plugin shop.

What I Know

The technical stack across both the day job and the plugin development.

☁️

Cloud & Messaging

Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Azure AD / Entra ID, Teams, SharePoint, Intune, conditional access, hybrid Exchange, migration tooling. 10+ years.

🌐

Network Engineering

Firewalls (FortiGate, SonicWall, Meraki), VPN/SD-WAN, VLAN architecture, switching, DNS/DHCP, WiFi design. Enterprise and SMB.

🔒

Security

RSA asymmetric JWT, AES-256-CBC/GCM encryption, HMAC request verification, TOTP 2FA, nonce-protected APIs, blind-index encrypted search.

💳

Payment Systems

Stripe API (PaymentIntents, Subscriptions, Invoicing), SCA/3DS, server-side price authority, QuickBooks + Xero OAuth2 accounting sync.

🏗️

Plugin Architecture

Multi-plugin ecosystems with shared infrastructure, portable licensing modules, command bus patterns, MU-plugin enforcement, shared database layers.

🎨

Frontend & UX

CSS design token systems, canvas page builders, windowed desktop environments, responsive portals, sub-100KB themeless pages. Zero jQuery.

Beyond the Screen

When I'm not building infrastructure or writing PHP, I'm usually soldering something. I'm into electronics, mechanical keyboards (custom builds, QMK firmware, the whole rabbit hole), and anything that involves making physical things work better. The same attention to engineering that goes into a keycap profile or a PCB layout is what goes into my plugin architecture.

Want to Work Together?

I'm always interested in challenging WordPress architecture problems. If you need a plugin built properly, let's talk.

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