Confused by SSL

  • Resolved user2501

    (@user2501)


    4 years, 11 months ago

    Hi,

    I’m setting up a WordPress site with WooCommerce, and I’m getting a bit confused by what’s going on with SSL. Really hoping for some help please!

    I’m hosted on a GoDaddy Managed WP account, and I do not have an SSL certificate there.
    However, I’ve installed the Really Simple SSL plugin, and it appears to be working.

    On the ‘Settings – SSL’ tab on my website, it tells me SSL is enabled.
    Also in the browser, I can see that I have the padlock sign, and url features https.

    However, in ‘General’ settings, my site URL is just http, not https.
    And in ‘WooCommerce – Status’, it tells me my store is not using HTTPS.

    Do I have SSL or not? If I don’t, what is Really Simple SSL doing?
    And what do I need to do to get SSL free? Or must I buy from GoDaddy with my config?

    Thanks very much.

    • This topic was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by Jan Dembowski.
Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    >> I do not have an SSL certificate there. <<

    Then you cannot use https. Having a certificate is a necessary condition. GoDaddy does not provide (at least, the last time I checked) free LetsEncrypt certs. Contact GoDaddy support to find out how to install an SSL certificate for your hosting.

    Richard

    (@richardcoffee)

    If your browser is showing the padlock symbol then it sounds like you do have an SSL cert. Best way to check would be to browse to your cPanel and open your File Manager. Look for a directory in your root (actually your home directory on a shared server) called ‘ssl’. If it exists, look in that directory for a directory called ‘certs’ and look to see what is in it. If you have one or more *.crt files, then you are good to go for SSL.

    If it all looks good, then go to your admin dashboard, to ‘Settings->General’ and change the site url to ‘https’ rather than the ‘http’ it now has. After saving that, then check your woocommerce status.

    I hope this helps.

    Thread Starter user2501

    (@user2501)

    Hi Steve / Richard,

    Thanks very much for your replies, this helped me narrow down on the problem. I think I’ve found the missing link, looks like another person working on the site set up a Cloudflare free SSL certificate and joined it up in GoDaddy somehow. So it ‘should’ be working, I’ve just got to find out why WooCommerce doesn’t recognise it.

    Steve, I can’t find a CPanel. I’m on a GoDaddy Managed WordPress hosting, I’ve just read that they don’t offer a CPanel as part of that. Is there another way I can check to see if there is a *crt file? Otherwise I can just try switching the URL as you’ve suggested and see if that works, would be nice if I could check the file somehow though.

    Many thanks.

    Richard

    (@richardcoffee)

    You should be able to view the cert information in your browser by clicking on the locked icon. The exact process will depend on the browser, but it’ll at least give you more information.

    Thread Starter user2501

    (@user2501)

    Hi Richard,

    Thanks for your help – the browser does indeed confirm a certificate.

    WooCommerce is still claiming it’s insecure – maybe because the General settings still show URL set to HTTP rather than HTTPS – but everything looks good on the front end. I’ve looked at switching the URL, but I’ve a managed WP account and I don’t have the option to do it in WP, the link takes me into GoDaddy backend. I’m a bit scared about breaking the site trying, so I might just leave it as it is, or talk to GoDaddy and see what they say. But if the certificate is there and the security is functioning (as I assume it is), I’m not too fussed about what the WP check says.

    Thanks again for your help.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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