You may have noticed that there’s a new look to the CLAS IT site, but there’s also a more important change that you might have missed: you should now see a little green padlock next to the web address. This indicates that the page uses HTTPS instead of HTTP.
We’ve started the process of bringing HTTPS to each website that we host, in part, to ensure that there will be a secure and encrypted connection whenever anyone visits one of our websites. HTTP transfers data in a way that makes it possible for people to view information passed between the server and the user, including passwords and sensitive information. Despite this added layer of security, we will still encourage site administrators to connect to the UF VPN before logging into the admin dashboard and editing their web pages.
Maintaining Search Engine Rankings
Another benefit is that search engines like Google have already started to factor in the presence of HTTPS encryption into their rankings. In web browsers like Chrome, there are plans to show a red ‘X’ next to web addresses of sites served over HTTP as potentially unsafe.
Easier Admin Dashboard Address
No more searching through bookmarks, email, or having to submit a ticket. It should be easier to remember the address of the admin dashboard because you’ll be able to use your domain name.
Return of the WordPress Admin Toolbar
For those of you who miss the toolbar at the top of pages or the ‘Edit Page’ links at the bottom of each one, this change to HTTPS will bring it back. To help find and edit pages in the meantime, try using the ‘Nested View’ or ‘Pagemash’ options under ‘Pages’ in the admin dashboard menu to see a quick list of all of the pages on your site.
Support for the WordPress Customizer
Another feature that will be available due to the switch to HTTPS is the Customizer. The customizer is a front-end editor that allows you to view changes to menus, widgets, and other options at the same time as viewing the page. You can find the link to the customizer under Appearance > Customizer in the admin dashboard menu.
The only downside is that this may add a delay creating new domains because they will now need both a Shibboleth approval and an SSL certificate.