Introduction

Joomla Force SSL is a Joomla feature to activate the SSL Certificate on your Joomla website. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, it is a security protocol that transmits private information over your Joomla site to the scrambled format. As needs be, connections with/inside your site will be on the protected https protocol rather than the standard http prefix.

Your site really needs SSL Certificate?

if you have an ecommerce or business site, SSL Certificate is about a must to ensure your important information is protected. See this Knowledge section for the definite examination.

How to set up SSL in your Joomla site?

Let’s consider if SSL Certificate is necessary for your site.

1. Checklist for your set up

To get SSL Certificate enabled for your Joomla site, you should have these followings in advance :

  • SSL Certificate, which has been installed successfully on your server.
  • Your dedicated IP Address, which is unique for one SSL Certificate.

2. Enable Force SSL in your Joomla site

Note: we used Joomla 3 in this tutorial, for Joomla 2.5, it’s the same.

Step 1: configure your configuration.php file

> Open your configuration.php file
> Find the following line:
var $live_site ='';
> Replace with:
var $live_site = 'https://www.your-domain.com';
> Next, open .htaccess file then add the following code to the bottom of the file.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} OFF
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}

Step 2: enable Force SSL in your Joomla site

> In the Admin Panel, navigate through System >> Global Configuration or simply click the Global Configuration button.

> Within the Server tab, in the Server Settings section, there are 3 Force SSL alternatives that you can select, namely:

  • None: SSL will not be enabled in your Joomla site.
  • Administrator Only: connections to your administrator will be on HTTPS.
  • Entire Site: connections all over your website will be on HTTPS.

> Hit the Apply/Save button. You are done now! So let's check your site now.

Tips: 

In the event that you need to enable Force SSL in some particular pages of your Joomla site. This alternative is really not available in Joomla back-end settings. More over, there are different Joomla extensions permitting you to redirect your chose pages into HTTPS. SSL Redirect could be an extraordinary pick, this extension is good with both Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3.