An SSL certificate is what puts the padlock next to your site's address in the browser. It encrypts the connection between your visitors and your site, and these days browsers warn people away from sites that do not have one. The good news: with Platform Manager, certificates are free and installing one is a single click.
We use Let's Encrypt, a nonprofit service that issues free certificates trusted by every major browser. There is nothing to buy and nothing to renew by hand.
New sites get SSL automatically
When you create a site, we request and install a certificate for its temporary address as part of setup. Most of the time you never have to think about it.
Occasionally that automatic step does not succeed. If that happens, the activity feed on your site's page will say so. There is no harm done, just click Install SSL yourself once things are ready and you are back on track.
Installing and removing a certificate
The SSL buttons live on your site's Settings tab, right next to the Domain field. You will see one of two buttons:
- Install SSL when the site does not have a certificate
- Uninstall SSL when it does
📷 Screenshot: The Domain field on the Settings tab with the Install SSL button visible next to it.
Installation normally takes under a minute. Once it finishes, your site is served over a secure connection and visitors see the padlock.
Installing SSL on your own domain
If you have added a custom domain, there is one thing to check first: your domain's CNAME record needs to be in place and pointing at your site before a certificate can be issued. Our guide on using your own domain walks through that setup.
If something goes wrong
If an installation fails, you will see a red notification in your dashboard. By far the most common cause is DNS: your domain is not pointing at your site yet, or the change you made has not finished spreading across the internet. That can take a few hours, so waiting and clicking Install SSL again often does the trick.
If it still will not install, our troubleshooting guide SSL won't install covers the usual culprits, and you can always reach out to support.