Few questions about SSL

21 Apr 2010, 20:51

#1

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Few questions about SSL

HELLO and thanks for reading...
few questions really...
a) how do i get my site to show as being secured all the time?
what i mean is when you are browsing my site address still shows as http://www...blah blah blah
when you go to checkout if changes to https://www.... and shows the padlock icon.
if you then continue to browse it stays as https:// for every page.
how do i get it so as soon as you come to the site its secure straight away?

question 2) how do i incorporate a ssl certificate logo jpg on the bottom right hand corner of the page?

question 3) how do i incorporate a ssl ceertificate logo jpg anywhere on the site?

many many thanks
reece
x

21 Apr 2010, 21:05

#2

schoolboy

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Re: Few questions about SSL

1. Trust ZC to work with SSL in the most efficient manner possible. The behaviour you describe is normal. There is no need to have a site PERMANENTLY on SSL.

2. This depends on the CERT, and the API to incorporate it into the site. Certain COMODO certs will have this feature and the issuer will give instructions as to how to embed it.

3. The most practical place (I think) to put a site seal is in a sidebox. Some modules are there for some certs (free add-ons), others can be configured by using the BLANK SIDEBOX module.

21 Apr 2010, 21:13

#3

grrb

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Re: Few questions about SSL

schoolboy:
1. Trust ZC to work with SSL in the most efficient manner possible. The behaviour you describe is normal. There is no need to have a site PERMANENTLY on SSL.

2. This depends on the CERT, and the API to incorporate it into the site. Certain COMODO certs will have this feature and the issuer will give instructions as to how to embed it.

3. The most practical place (I think) to put a site seal is in a sidebox. Some modules are there for some certs (free add-ons), others can be configured by using the BLANK SIDEBOX module.

Thank you very much for your response i do appreciate it.

I will contact my cert provider and see if they have a logo for me in that case, and come back with results when i do.

With regard to the permanent ssl.....if i wanted it is it possible?
the reason im after a permanent one is because i get a lot of feedback from amateur online shoppers (for want of a better expression) and they say they do not trust the site as it does not display a padlock. So they never even get to the checkout page.

Thank you very much x

21 Apr 2010, 21:19

#4

kim

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Re: Few questions about SSL

With regard to the permanent ssl.....if i wanted it is it possible?
the reason im after a permanent one is because i get a lot of feedback from amateur online shoppers (for want of a better expression) and they say they do not trust the site as it does not display a padlock. So they never even get to the checkout page.

... Look at all of the major shopping sites- NONE of them show a padlock until you go to the checkout ...

21 Apr 2010, 22:44

#5

frank18

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Re: Few questions about SSL

GRRB:
With regard to the permanent ssl.....if i wanted it is it possible? the reason im after a permanent one is because i get a lot of feedback from amateur online shoppers (for want of a better expression) and they say they do not trust the site as it does not display a padlock. So they never even get to the checkout page. Thank you very much x

Permanent (and site-wide) SSL also slows down your site significantly

22 Apr 2010, 15:16

#6

schoolboy

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Re: Few questions about SSL

GRRB:
i get a lot of feedback from amateur online shoppers (for want of a better expression) and they say they do not trust the site as it does not display a padlock.

This is not my experience. 4 years ago I built a site for a client that is showcase mode only - she does not even take online orders, and there is no SSL. Orders have to be telephoned in.

She does about £350,000 annually from the site and has a huge number of customers.

Put in your site seal, and tell people the site is SSL. That's all you need to do.

23 Apr 2010, 17:39

#7

grrb

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Re: Few questions about SSL

schoolboy:
This is not my experience. 4 years ago I built a site for a client that is showcase mode only - she does not even take online orders, and there is no SSL. Orders have to be telephoned in.

She does about £350,000 annually from the site and has a huge number of customers.

Put in your site seal, and tell people the site is SSL. That's all you need to do.

How does this justify your argument exactly?
If she doesn't even accept orders online (and therefore does not take customers personal information online) why would it matter to a customer if she had ssl or not?
No sense in that statement.
I appreciate your help, it is much appreciated in these final stages of my build
Regards
Reece

23 Apr 2010, 17:44

#8

kuroi

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Re: Few questions about SSL

Schoolboy is making the point that people will trust sites even when there is no padlock at all.

He's recommending that you simply add your SSL seal so that people know that security will kick in when needed and not try to make the whole site SSL.

If you really must make the whole site SSL (I too wouldn't recommend that), then just edit the configure file to give the HTTP_SERVER define an https URL.

Also worth adding that advice is given freely in this forum, but you don't have to agree with it or take it. However, turning on the person giving it is a quick way to get the sort of reputation that causes answers to further requests to dry up.

23 Apr 2010, 18:10

#9

grrb

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Re: Few questions about SSL

kuroi:
Schoolboy is making the point that people will trust sites even when there is no padlock at all.

He's recommending that you simply add your SSL seal so that people know that security will kick in when needed and not try to make the whole site SSL.

If you really must make the whole site SSL (I too wouldn't recommend that), then just edit the configure file to give the HTTP_SERVER define an https URL.

Also worth adding that advice is given freely in this forum, but you don't have to agree with it or take it. However, turning on the person giving it is a quick way to get the sort of reputation that causes answers to further requests to dry up.

Thank you very much for your reply, any help or advice is very much appreciated at this point.

I am really really sorry to both of you if my reply came across badly, I wasn't trying to be obtuse or difficult, but I was just confused by what point was being made.

I appreciate the reasons for not having ssl through out the site, but if it doesnt affect the performance too much then I am under the impression that it must be worth doing.

Again I genuinely appreciate all of your help. I wouldnt have got this far without help from you guys.

Sorry if I offended

Regards
Reece

23 Apr 2010, 18:18

#10

schoolboy

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Re: Few questions about SSL

No offence taken...

Some people do invoke ssl throughout their site, and if it is really what you want, then you can set the configure.php HTTP to indicate your HTTPS server.

But is known to slow sites down - by how much is largely dependant on the site content and the strain on the server. (Many shared servers host LOTS of sites).

The downside is that pages take longer to load and you risk having your (bored) customers moving elsewhere. Now, as the search Engines are considering page load speed as a criteria for SERP, you could also be compromising your SEO.

There is really no need to do this. As I say, just display your SSL site seal and let ZC do its job the way it is supposed to.

23 Apr 2010, 18:34

#11

grrb

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Re: Few questions about SSL

schoolboy:
No offence taken...

Some people do invoke ssl throughout their site, and if it is really what you want, then you can set the configure.php HTTP to indicate your HTTPS server.

But is known to slow sites down - by how much is largely dependant on the site content and the strain on the server. (Many shared servers host LOTS of sites).

The downside is that pages take longer to load and you risk having your (bored) customers moving elsewhere. Now, as the search Engines are considering page load speed as a criteria for SERP, you could also be compromising your SEO.

There is really no need to do this. As I say, just display your SSL site seal and let ZC do its job the way it is supposed to.

Thank you, this information makes more sense to me :)
Would you mind taking a look at the site and telling me what you think?

www.GwyneddGadgets.co.uk

Kind Regards
Reece ( the man who will flip a coin to decide if he makes all pages ssl ;) )