Configuring SSL on WordPress

Important Pre-Step to Configuring SSL on WordPress

Before configuring WordPress for SSL, it’s important that you have already installed and enabled SSL on your domain. You can learn how to do that by following this How To guide: Install SSL Certificate with LetsEncrypt

Configuring a Brand New WordPress site with SSL

If you’ve got a brand new WordPress site, switching to SSL is easy! First, test your SSL certificate to be doubly sure your SSL certificate is installed and working. Visit SSL Shopper’s SSL Tester and enter your domain. Once you submit your domain, everything should come back with Green Checkmarks! (We know that’s not very technically specific, but it’s really all you need to worry about.)

1. Log into your WordPress Administration area
2. Navigate to “Settings” and choose “General”
3. Change the following settings:
   1. WordPress Address (URL)
      Your WordPress URL should look something like: http://yourwebsite.com
      Change it to: https://yourwebsite.com
      Take note that all you are doing is switching the http to https
   2. Site Address (URL)
      Your Site Address URL should look something like: http://yourwebsite.com
      Change it to: https://yourwebsite.com
      Take note that all you are doing is switching the http to https
4. Scroll down and press “Save Changes”

Most likely WordPress will log you out of the administrative area and you will need to log back in.

Success! That is all there is to it for a brand new WordPress Website.

Configuring WordPress SSL with the Really Simple SSL  plugin

This step is recommended if you have an existing site. In particular if your site contains images, they will often not display when you switch from HTTP to HTTPS (SSL). The reason is that a secured (SSL powered) website will block any non-secured resources or links. This is of course done for security reasons to make sure visitors have a consistently secure experience.

We are going to fix these inconsistencies with the Really Simple SSL plugin:

1. Log into your WordPress Administration area (usually http://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin)
2. Navigate to “Plugins” and choose “Add New”
3. In the search box, type in “Really Simple SSL”
4. Install and Activate the plugin!

Alright!! Your site is just about secured! Keep reading!

Configuring Really Simple SSL

Once you’ve activated the Really Simple SSL plugin, you’ll be returned to a screen that looks like this:

Press the “Go ahead, activate SSL!” button! That’s all there is to it!