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Introduction
What is SSL and How Does it Work?
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client—typically a web server (website) and a browser, or a mail server and a mail client (e.g., Outlook).
SSL allows secure transmission of delicate data such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and login details over internet.
Usually, information sent between browsers and servers is sent in plain text—leaving your data exposed to hackers.
If an attacker is able to intercept all data sent between a browser and a web server, they can see and use that information.
SSL is essentially a security protocol.
Protocols explain how algorithms are to be used. In this case, the SSL protocol determines the encryption for both the link and the data being transmitted.
Where do you get an SSL Certificate?
There are many options for you to chose.
You can purchase an SSL certificate, you can get one through CloudFlare, or you can even get one for free!
A non-profit project called Let’s Encrypt offers free SSL certificates.
In fact, since Let's Encrypt launched, many hosting companies now offer FREE SSL through them. If a hosting company asks you to pay for an SSL certificate: run!
We prefer CloudWays hosting as our main provider, and SiteGround as our backup shared hosting option.
Once you have enabled your free SSL Certificate, you will need to set up WordPress to start using HTTPS instead of HTTP in all your URLs.
Overview
Really Simple SSL is a plugin that detects your settings automatically and configures your website to operate over HTTPS protocol.
We use the Really Simple SSL plugin which is one of the most popular SSL plugins on the market right now with 3+ million active installations.
The SSL plugin will automatically:
1 – Redirect all incoming requests to HTTPS.
2 – Change the site URL and home URL to HTTPS.
3 – The content is replaced from http:// urls to https://
…except hyperlinks to other domains.
4 – It handles all SSL issues you might have in the website.
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Make sure you always do a backup of your website before installing this plugin.
This tutorial will show you how to setup Really Simple SSL plugin.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.29.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ custom_margin=”||-1px|||” custom_padding=”||0px|||”]Install Really Simple SSL plugin.
1 – Go to WordPress Dashboard > Plugins > Add New
2 – Search for Really Simple SSL and Install, then activate the plugin.
3 – Click “Go ahead, activate SSL!“
4 – You will be required to login again. (This time over HTTPS).
5 – Click Settings > SSL to check the setup.
If the settings are the same as in the image above, the SSL has been activated successfully.
Pros
- Intuitive, simple to use.
- Helps you manage the WordPress-side of installing an SSL certificate.
- You don’t have to worry about managing redirects.
Cons
- None.
Results
Voila! Your website is running over HTTPS protocol and your visitors feel safe to browse your website.
What do you think of this tutorial?
Article Title: Really Simple SSL Review
Short Description: Learn how to integrate Really Simple SSL Review plugin in WordPress and its benefits!
Author: Ardian Lumi
Publisher - Orgnization: MemberFix
Publisher Logo: 
User Review
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Now let's hear from you!
Are you using the Really Simple SSL plugin?
Is this article helpful for you?
Tell us in the comments section below.
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1 Response
Hi Ardian,
Great detailed article about SSL!. Being a dev team, We faced difficulty in generating Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate several times on an unsupported host and finally developed an easy to use WordPress plugin to generate free SSL certificate – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-letsencrypt-ssl/
As SSL installation on different hosts involves different process, Our main focus is atleast to help with the SSL certificate generation. If you find our plugin worth for non-techy WordPress users, please refer it in this awesome article and I would be very thankful!.