Need a hand setting up your WordPress website to use HTTPS? Our quick guide will walk you through the main steps to get this taken care. However, depending on the complexity of your site and how it was developed, there might be a few additional steps which aren’t covered in this guide. Also, please note that as WordPress is updated, these screenshots and instructions may become outdated.
Setting up an SSL for your Website
With a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) installed on your website, you can enable HTTPS which will then protect sensitive data (such as contact form data) from being intercepted as the data passes through the internet. It’s also a contributing factor to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for a website, so it’s not only good for your customers, but it’s also good for you! When your site is secure it adds an image of a lock beside your URL:
All websites hosted and developed by Future Access come equipped with a SSL immediately.
Enabling HTTPS on your WordPress Website
To enable HTTPS on your WordPress website, you need to make sure that all links on your website point to HTTPS and not HTTP. There are a couple of ways you can do this. You can:
- contact us and we can take care of it for you!
- install a plugin which can update all HTTP links to HTTPS
Use a Plugin to update your Website to use HTTPS
Step 1:
On a WordPress website, there is a plugin that we like to use called “Better Search Replace” (developed by Delicious Brains). To install and use this plugin, start by selecting “Plugins” log into WordPress, and select “Plugins” and “Add New” on the left-hand sidebar.
Step 2:
Search for the plugin in the upper-right search bar for “Better Search Replace”.
Step 3:
Install the “Better Search Replace” plugin (and make sure to activate it once installed).
Step 4:
Select “Tools” from the left-hand sidebar, and then “Better Search Replace”.
Step 5:
To execute the Search and Replace function (to change all HTTP references to HTTPS), you’ll want to setup the features similar to the example below, but be sure to use your own domain name. Please select all of the tables from the database as well. If you want to test the function first, you can “Run as a dry run” by checking the last box.
Step 6:
Testing time! Browse through your website to make sure everything has changed over to HTTP. Make sure links work, images show up, and so on. If something isn’t appearing correctly, or you’re getting a “Mixed Content” notification in the address bar, chances are you have some content on your website from an external source or containing a hardcoded link. If that’s the case, let us know and we would be happy to help!
Good luck!