To make a seamless transition from HTTP to HTTPS with or without www, I explained the All-In-One Redirection plugin that performs an SSL redirect on the website and its usage, please read carefully!!. As I mentioned earlier, the name of the plugin is All-In-One Redirection. I also use this plugin on my website. As you know, there used to be web addresses that were HTTP. Now, HTTPS is used instead. So why?
The use of HTTPS is essential for all websites. Because our websites with this security protocol are not sufficient to protect our visitors’ personal data. Especially since the introduction of the cookie policy banner in Europe, which later spread to the USA, Canada, and other countries, protecting personal data has become almost a necessity. Therefore, websites that still have HTTP in their URL need to transition to HTTPS as soon as possible. However, there is an important point we need to pay attention to while doing this. If we make this transition incorrectly, all our listed pages on search engines will lose their ranking, and they might even be treated as copied content. Therefore, if you read and follow the information I provide carefully, you won’t encounter any problems.
First, you need to search for and install the plugin from the WordPress panel then, call your hosting company to request an SSL installation and inform them that you want to convert HTTP connections to HTTPS. The SSL installation is paid. ! And the installation is carried out by the hosting authorities. Therefore, act knowing what you are doing. Still, some hosting companies can provide free SSL. For example, Hostgator is free and is provided by default. If you already have your SSL certificate, skip this step. Once the installation is complete, support will be provided.
Then, log into the WordPress admin panel and open the “Settings > General” tab. Add an “s” to the end of the HTTP expressions in the “WordPress Address” and “Site Address” text boxes, and save the settings. Thus, all HTTP links will be changed to HTTPS.
When you complete this step, your website may not be accessible for a short period (approximately 1 hour). Don’t worry! Because your DNS records have not been updated yet. However, your site, which does not open on your computer, is accessible to new visitors. So, you need to wait a little. If it still doesn’t open, you can call your hosting company and explain the situation; they will quickly resolve the issue.
These kinds of disruptions are actually more common in the hosting companies of countries on the Asian continent. You do not experience such problems in the USA. I don’t want to advertize by naming them one by one, but I’ll keep it short by saying, “If you have a strong hosting provider like HostGator, you definitely won’t have any issues.”
You have configured your website’s HTTPS settings, and if it is working, finally do a check. If you enter your site’s URL as HTTP or HTTPS in your web browser, your pages will be displayed in both cases. However, we do not want this to happen. Because our goal is to redirect a URL that starts with HTTP to its HTTPS address. Thus, we completely close off HTTP entries. Unfortunately, the WordPress panel does not do this automatically. We are installing this plugin precisely for this reason. The plugin performs the natural redirection that WordPress does not. So when you activate it, it will always open as https.
Other settings of the extension:
Redirection:
You can use this tool to redirect pages that return a 404 error. This is an additional feature. To set up the redirection, you should select “301” from the “Redirection Type” box (it is selected by default). In the “Source URL” section, add the old and non-working URL that will be redirected. In the “Destination URL” box, enter the new URL (the page that will open after the redirect). You can leave the “Regular Expression” box empty. After making all the settings, complete the process by clicking the “Add Redirection” button.
This is where the basic settings of this plugin are configured. Activate the “Enable Host and WWW Settings” option, so the settings become active. Your existing options will be automatically corrected, but I still recommend checking them. Select “HTTPS” from the “Host Setting” section. In the “WWW Settings” section, if your domain contains www, select “WWW.” If it doesn’t contain it, check the “Non-WWW” option.
404 Pages List:
This tab shows a list of pages that are not found on your site or have been deleted. So, all the problematic links on your website are listed here. You can fix the faulty URLs in the list by creating a “301 Redirect.” If you click the plus sign in the “Action” column, enter the new URL, and press the “OK” button, the process will be complete.
Tools:
You can back up your extension settings and redirect lists from here. You can also restore the data you previously backed up from here. When you configure all the settings of the All-In-One Redirection plugin, your site will be redirected to HTTPS even if accessed via HTTP.