How To Install Free SSL In WordPress Website – How to Setup CloudFlare Flexible SSL for WordPress

|How To Install Free SSL In WordPress Website|  How to Setup CloudFlare Flexible SSL for WordPress

As we all know, Google announced that it will now use HTTPS as a ranking factor. This means that using HTTPS will increase your chances of ranking higher in Google search results.

Previously switching to HTTPS early is expensive and technical, because you must purchase an SSL certificate and install it yourself. Fortunately, CloudFlare has released a free version that can do exactly the same thing and is easy to set up.

Set up your free CloudFlare with a flexible SSL

1. Sign up for Cloudflare
2. Choose a free plan
3. Follow the steps to add the domain name you want to add
4. After registering and setting up the domain name, click on your domain name
5. There will be a series of icons at the top, click on Crypto
6. The first option is SSL, choose flexible SSL

You have now requested a flexible SSL certificate from Cloudflare, and it usually takes about 15 minutes to issue the certificate. Cloudflare will let you know that Flexible SSL is enabled by displaying a green “Activate Certificate” box at the bottom.

Prepare WordPress for CloudFlare flexible SSL

Important-Keep your WordPress address (URL) and site address (URL) as HTTP in the WordPress backend.

After that, you need to install the following two plugins.

CloudFlare Flexible SSL plugin

This plugin is required to enable flexible SSL on WordPress and prevent infinite redirection loops when loading WordPress sites under CloudFlare’s flexible SSL system.

      CloudFlare’s flexible SSL Plugin

WordPress HTTPS plugin

If all plugins and links on your website are already HTTPS, this plugin is not needed. Most people don’t have links, so this plugin converts them all to https. How to install free SSL on a WordPress website-how to set up CloudFlare flexible SSL for WordPress.

WordPress HTTPS Plugin

Configure WordPress HTTPS plugin settings

1. Enter plug-in settings
2. Select Yes for proxy settings
3. save

Instruct CloudFlare to Delive our content via HTTPS

1. Go Back to Cloudflare
2. Choose your domain name
3. From the row of icons at the top, select Page Rules
4. Activate “Always use HTTPs”
5. Add your domain name as a paging rule between two strings
6. Click Add Rule

How to install free SSL on a WordPress website-how to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress

Change your WordPress site address (URL)

Finally, change your site address (URL) to “https://”, but make sure to leave the WordPress address (URL) as “http://”.

** Important ** If you change your WordPress address (URL) to “https://”, your website will be damaged. If you change your site address (URL) to “https://”, it will also be interrupted if you are working without the CloudFlare flexible plug-in.

Check if your CloudFlare Flexial SSL is working

This should be your setup with the new free Cloudflare flexible SSL certificate. Just visit your website in your browser and see if you can see the green lock in the upper left corner of the address bar. How to install free SSL on a WordPress website-how to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress.

Use Cloudflare to get free SSL for your website-easy setup guide

Google has been working hard to ensure network security and has now started to mark sites that do not have SSL certificates but are still exchanging user data as “unsecure.” Therefore, your website must now be hosted via HTTPS/SSL to protect the visitor’s data and show that security is important to your brand.How to install free SSL on a WordPress site-How to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress Chrome push notifications. Although it is not required, it is recommended that your primary domain use SSL. There are many benefits to adding an SSL certificate to your website, including improving your search ranking. This article details SSL certificates, their types, and how to install free SSL (Cloudflare) on your website.

What is an SSL certificate?

On most websites today, you will see that they start with “https://” in the URL and have a green padlock to indicate security. This is due to the use of an SSL certificate. But this is not just for instructions, there is still a lot to do behind the scenes. How to install free SSL in a WordPress website-how to set up CloudFlare flexible SSL for WordPress

SSL or Secure Sockets Layer helps to establish an encrypted link between your web server and website visitors. This ensures that all data passed between the two is private and no one in between can access it. Even if someone manages to eavesdrop on the connection, the data is of no use to them because it is encrypted end-to-end.

What are the different types of SSL certificates and which one should you buy?

SSL certificates are roughly divided into three types:

1. Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificate
2. Organization Validation (OV) SSL certificate
3. Domain Verification (DV) SSL certificate

These three are different in terms of the security and verification provided and the cost. Since this article is about a free SSL certificate, I don’t want to deviate from the advanced product, but here is a summary of the three products.

SSL certificate with extended verification

These will be issued to the organization when the CA verifies the organization’s exclusive right to use the specified domain name through the following:

1. The legal identity of the organization and the existence of entities and operations.
2. Authorized company to issue EV SSL certificate.

Organization verification SSL certificate

In the case of OV SSL certificates, the CA (Certificate Authority) assesses your organization’s right to use the domain name. You can also do some of the other checks mentioned for the EV SSL Certificate. Visitors to your website can see information about the organization.

SSL certificate for domain verification

This is the simplest form of an SSL certificate. Your authorization to use the domain name has been checked. Users/visitors can view information about encryption. No details about your organization will be shared.

How do you protect your website with a free SSL certificate?

The easiest way to get a free SSL certificate is to sign up for Cloudflare.

Step 1: Create Account on Cloudflare

Enter your details and click “Create Account”.

Step 2: Configure your website/domain

Start by adding your website to CloudFlare to scan DNS records

Add your full website URL and click Scan.

CloudFlare will now scan your website. 

click “continue”

Step 3: Configure your website DNS records

After the scan is complete, you will see an orange cloud next to the main domain. This means that the configuration is correct. 

Make sure there is an orange cloud next to your main domain.

When you see the main domain with an orange cloud, click Next.

Step 4: Choose a CloudFlare plan

Since we want to provide free SSL for our website, please select the free plan here.

For most websites, the free plan is sufficient. Just select it and click “continue”.

Step 5: Update your name servers

You need to point the Nameserver to Cloudflare. To do this, you need to log in to your domain registrar account and find the settings to change the name server.

Change the nameserver (DNS) of your domain to a server provided by Cloudflare

Delete the existing entry and add the DNS provided by CloudFlare..

How to install free SSL on a WordPress website-how to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress.

Add a new name server to your domain registrar

After changing the name server, return to CloudFlare and click Next. However, it can take up to 24 hours for the Nameserver to propagate.

Step 6 : website SSL set up

You can obtain SSL configuration when setting up the name server.

Scroll down to the setup summary and you will see SSL: Full. Click Finish and you will be redirected to the “crypto” page.

Change SSL to flexible-how to install free SSL in WordPress site-how to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress

Next, for SSL options, there is a drop-down list. Choose “flexible” from there. The SSL certificate will be issued in about an hour. After publishing, you can check the status from the “crypto” page.

Step 7: Redirect traffic via HTTPS-How to install free SSL on a WordPress site-How to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress

This is the final stage of configuration. We will set up a single page rule to redirect all your website traffic to HTTPS.

Changes rules of pages to redirect all traffic to HTTPS.
In the site view, click on page rules at the top of the page. Now we must add some rules here.

You need to add www.mywebsite.com/* and mywebsite.com/* separately and select “Always use HTTPS” for each URL pattern. Please note that this option is only available after the SSL certificate has been issued.

It will take a few minutes to complete the configuration. When you’re done, you can open any page on the website and it will open over HTTPS.

Set up PushAlert web push notifications for HTTPS

You can now register for PushAlert and select HTTPS for the website URL. Then you must upload the two files to your web server. These can be found in the “Integration” section of the dashboard. More information can be found in our documentation area.

How to install free SSL on a WordPress website-how to set up Cloudflare flexible SSL for WordPress.