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Updated: 01/14/2020
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SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a security technology that enables an encrypted connection between a web server and the visitor’s web browser. Thanks to the SSL connection all the data transmitted between the server and the browser remains private since it has been encrypted. This type of connection is used in a lot of cases and one of the most common ones is when online payments are made because this way all the sensitive personal data like bank accounts, card numbers and so on are encrypted. Indicator for SSL connection is when the URL in your web browsers begin with “https://” and typically shows a green padlock. Two very important features are coming along with the SSL connection:
Most browsers, that use SSL connection, display a padlock icon in the address bar, right before the “https://” string. When you click on that padlock icon, it will display the SSL Certificate of the visited website and the details about it.
Usually what an SSL Certificate will contain is your domain name, your company name, your address, city, state (if available) and country. It should also contain the expiration date of the Certificate and details of the Certification Authority responsible for creating the Certificate. Once a browser connects to a secure website it will retrieve the site’s SSL, but if any of the checks fail then the browser will display a warning letting the user know that the site is either not secured by valid certificate or that the certificate might have expired.
To be able to set an SSL for your own Online Store, you should first install an SSL certificate for your domain. It is recommended to use a recognized Certificate Authority when setting up an SSL for PrestaShop. For example, “Let’s Encrypt” is an open certificate authority, which is free, automated and also recognized by the majority of the modern browsers. Also, it is fully integrated with our Control Panel just so you can easily install an SSL certificate.
Once you have the SSL certificate installed for your domain name, you should then go ahead and enable the SSL support in the back office of Prestashop. In the next lines of this tutorial, we will show you precisely that!
In order to enable an SSL connection for your Online Store, you will first have to access the page where the feature can be enabled. To do that you have to first login into your PrestaShop admin account and from the left vertical navigation menu look for “Shop Parameters” link.
When you find it, please, click on it. You will see a drop-down menu to appear with the following options:
Out of these options, please, click the “General” option to reach the desired destination.
You will be redirected to a page called “Preferences”.
You will notice that the page has two tabs. The first one is called “General” and the second one - “Maintenance”.
In order to enable an SSL connection for your website, you have to remain on the “General” tab. There you will see a handful list of specific settings.
Like you probably noticed already, the very first three settings on that table are “Enable SSL”, “Enable SSL on all pages” and “Increase front office security”.
To be able to activate SSL encryption for your Online Store, you need to own an SSL certificate for your shop’s domain name. Please, bear in mind, that you can always activate PrestaShop’s SSL support if your hosting provider supports SSL. You can do that by clicking “Yes” on the “Enable SSL” setting.
That action will enable an SSL encryption on all checkout and account pages.
The next option “Enable SSL on all pages” is only available if you have enabled the “Enable SSL” setting.
When you click “Yes” on “Enable SSL on all pages” option, after that all the pages of your store will be SSL-secured. That means that not only the checkout and account pages will be secured.
The third setting “Increase front office security” adds security tokens to your shop.
The purpose for that is to improve its security. That means each URL is specific to a customer’s session and the same one can not be used on another browser. That is also another guarantee that the information stored during the session will be protected.
Congratulations! Today you learned what SSL means and why it is important to configure SSL connections for your Online Store.
Sebahat is a young and bright woman who has become an invaluable part of our team. She started as a Customer Care Representative, mastering that role and, along the way, growing into a tech-savvy individual who is well acquainted with every support layer of the company. Driven by her aim to improve our customers’ experience constantly, she is committed to enhancing the extraordinary support we deliver.
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