How to setup Cloudflare flexible SSL Certificate for WordPress

Security of websites has been the hot potato in the industry. Indeed, this is most serious and top ranked issue amongst all people related to online world. Security is the first and foremost requirement to be satisfied from the development phase till the end. In the later stages, one has to be more and more careful and proactive towards it. From the day Google has declared that it will be including websites with an SSL certificate on higher ranks, each and every website is trying to get a one. Getting an SSL certificate does not costs an arm and a leg rather Cloudflare offers free SSL certificates for premium as well as free WordPress themes. It not only beefs up the performance but strengthens the security as well. it is like a blessing in disguise. It will increase your page load speeds, your SEO and reduces bandwidth consumption. But before diving into how you can setup Cloudflare’s flexible SSL certificate for free WordPress themes responsive with Slider, let me throw some light on what is SSL and its importance.

SSL and its importanceSecure Socket Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic protocol which ensures the data protection along with secures transferring of data in a computer network. The information transfer occurs between an online application / website and a visitor/ user. In case the website is collecting sensitive information like credit cards or other payment gateways, it is mandatory for the website to have an SSL authorization for it. WorkingFor a website that has SSL enabled, during the information transfer phase, data gets encrypted, till its final destination. This ensures that there is no breaching, snooping or hijacking of the data getting transferred (generally the server). At the server, a key is used to decrypt the data and is shared too. They follow a handshake which is based n shared key cryptographic algorithm. ImportanceIt is important even if your website is not going for any kind of monetary transactions. Reasons are explained below.? HTTPS and green lock imbibes a sense of trust and credibility among the visitors and users.? It ensures the data security? Boosts SEO rankings? Increases performance? Reduces bandwidth consumption? 100% PCI compliance? Increases page loading speed? Overall optimization

How can a user determine the website is holding an SSL certificate or not?There are two identification methods:1. A green lock is present on the left side of the URL bar in the browser.2. The URL begins with HTTPS instead of HTTP.

Enabling Free SSL certificate to your websiteMake sure you do not change your website’s URL from HTTP to HTPPs before making any changes to WordPress dashboard, else it will crash. For SSL activation, you need to install two additional plugins namely Cloudflare Flexible SSL plugin and WordPress HTTPS (SSL).1. Cloudflare Flexible SSL pluginThis plugin does not require any changes to be made in the setting or configuring it up. Just download it and install. It helps to fix the infinite redirect loops.

2. WordPress SSL Plugin? Now visit the official website of Cloudflare and Signup for an account there. Select the free plan and follow all the steps accordingly to add your domain name. After adding your domain, now click on it and select Crypto. Select Flexible here. Cloudflare will take around 15 minutes to issue you a SSL certificate.? Install this plugin from WordPress’s official plugin repository or from admin Panel‘s Dashboard>Plugins>Add New.? Now go to HTTPS of the dashboard and select yes for the radio buttons for proxy settings and click save.? Now visit Cloudflare again and select your domain again. Now select Page Rule and Enable "Always use ‘HTTPs’"? Now it’s time to add the domain name between two asterisk (**) and then click on add rule.? Go back to your WordPress site and change your site address from "http://" to http://.

Wrapping up:Make sure you do not under any case make changes to your website’s URL before installing and activating the Cloud flare plugin. It will crash.

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