How to Configure SSL and HTTPS on WordPress: How-to Guide and Problem Solving

What SSL is (and when you should use it)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)It is a technology that creates a secure connection between a website and a browser. Websites that use SSL have "certificates" that tell you that your private information is secure every time it is transmitted.

For your own website, using SSL is a must.The benefits are as follows:

• If you run a website that encourages users to register and share private information, their data will be more secure.
• Your website will be more trustworthy. In various browsers, a lock will be displayed next to your URL.
• Your website's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will be boosted .

What HTTPS is (and how it works with SSL)

When you set up an SSL certificate for a site, you also need to configure it to transmit data using the Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS). Each site you ask about uses either HTTP or HTTPS as a prefix to its full URL:

HTTPS works like HTTP, but it enforces higher security standards.

If you use HTTPS to access a website without SSL, the information users send through your website will not be protected. The following error will be seen:

So, your first step should be to get an SSL certificate and set it up to work with your site. Once that's done, you need to tell WordPress to load using HTTPS instead of HTTP. Let's take a look at how to enable HTTPS on WordPress.

How to configure WordPress to use SSL and HTTPS (2 ways)

1. Using the WordPress Dashboard and 301 Redirects

After setting up your WordPress SSL certificate, you need to configure your website to use HTTPS.

Step 1 Go to the dashboard and open "Settings" > "General" tab. Inside, you will find two tabs named WordPress Address (URL) respond in singing Site Address (URL)field. Your website address should appear the same in both and should use HTTP.

Then the two fields in theHTTP The prefix is replaced with HTTPS  , save changes to the settings:

Using a 301 redirect is a very effective way to tell search engines that your website has permanently moved from one URL to another. To set up this redirect, you'll need to edit a file called ".htaccess" that manages how your server interacts with WordPress and how it handles the URL structure of your website.

You can access your site's files directly by using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) tool, such as FileZilla.

If you connect to your website via FTP, go to the folder named "public_html" and find the ".htaccess" file.

After selecting the ".htaccess" file, right click on it and select the "View/Edit" option. This will open the file in your local text editor and allow you to edit it. While editing the .htaccess file, do not change any of the code in the file. In order to add a redirect, simply scroll to the bottom of the file and paste the code snippet you need.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(. *)$ https://www.yoursite.com/$1 [R,L]
</IfModule

You'll need to replace the placeholder URL in this code with the full HTTPS address of your website. Doing so will redirect all connections through port 80 (the default port for HTTP connections) to your new secure URL, essentially capturing all traffic trying to access your site through the old address.

After adding the code that contains your URL, save the changes to the .htaccess file and close the file. When using FileZilla, it will ask you if you wish to upload these changes to the server and you will need to select yes. With this set up, if you now try to access your site via an HTTP URL, the browser should automatically redirect you to the HTTPS version of the site.

2. Install WordPress SSL plugin

There are also simpler ways to enforce HTTPS throughout your site. for example, you can set up a WordPress SSL plugin that adds the same code we showed you in the previous method.

Be careful with plugins, we choose toReally Simple SSL::

• Navigate to the wordpress dashboard, "plug-in (software component)"→"Add New Plugin", type Really Simple SSL in the search field and wait for the page search to complete.
• optionInstallationWhen the installation is complete, clickstart usingThe

• Refresh the dashboard page to access the new in the dashboardSettings ' SSL and Securitytab, and then click Reload via HTTPS Ready to go.

2 Common WordPress SSL Errors (and How to Fix Them)

You know how to ensure that all visitors to your website can utilize a secure connection. However, in some cases, forcing WordPress to load over HTTPS may result in some errors. What are they? And how to fix them?

1. Some resources cannot be loaded over HTTPS

After enabling HTTPS for your site, you may experience issues with some resources (such as images) not loading correctly. This is usually because the URLs of these resources still use an HTTP prefix instead of HTTPS.An easy way to fix this problem is to modify the .htaccess file, which applies if you previously chose to do the HTTPS configuration manually.

Adding the appropriate code to the .htaccess file can help redirect these HTTP resources to HTTPS, ensuring secure loading of website content. Before using the .htaccess method, make sure to backup the file to avoid incorrect operation that can make the website inaccessible.

Re-adoption FTP Visit your websiteand in public_html In the directory Find .htaccess file. Open it and find the code you added earlier to force a 301 redirect, which should look like this:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(. *)$ https://www.yoursite.com/$1 [R,L]
}

The clip is then deleted and replaced with a more thorough clip:

IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} ! ^443$
RewriteRule (. *) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} ! -f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} ! -f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule

What this code does is force all traffic to be loaded over HTTPS. Once added, save the changes to the .htaccessfile and upload it back to the server.

If your site is configured to use HTTPS via a plugin, there is no need to manually adjust the .htaccess Files.Really Simple SSL scans your site for files that aren't loaded over HTTPS and helps you fix them. Go to Settings ' SSL and Securitytab, then navigate to the plugin's set up Page.

At the top of the screen there is a screen called " Mixed Content Fixer" settings of the plugin. Ensure that it is enabled and then save the changes to the plugin configuration.

2. Your WordPress caching plugin is causing the problem

If you're using the WordPress Cache plugin, the browser may still try to load a cached version of the site over HTTP, which can lead to loading errors. The most straightforward way to fix this is to clear your WordPress cache.

The way this process works will vary, depending on which caching plugin you use. Explain how to add the caching plugin to the WP Super Cache,W3 Total Cacherespond in singingWP Fastest CacheClear WordPress cache.

After clearing your cache, try loading your site again to make sure your browser is using HTTPS and there are no errors.

summarize

SSL certificates and HTTPS are common despite the fact that search engines like Google encourage you to use them. Therefore, we need to understand how to configure SSL and HTTPS on WordPress, including editing the .htaccess file and using the SSL plugin.