GC HTTPS fully implemented. (GC HTTPS is ready for testing.)(GC soon going to HTTPS.)
 

I think HTTPS is what I'll start off with working on today for GreekChat.

HTTP is Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It's the main type of data communication that powers the web.

HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. The type of security, encryption & trust used by probably all ecommerce providers, financial sites, etc.

Back in the day the vast majority of websites used HTTP. Partly because it was expensive back then both in terms of money and computer server resource usage.

Now, HTTPS is much lower cost with free SSL/TLS certificates available and computer hardware that can better handle it.

So we will be trying out HTTPS with GreekChat.

Chances are that it may not even be noticeable when I switch GC over from HTTP to HTTPS. You may or may not see a new security icon in your web browser and/or maybe different security notifications while viewing GC. But if you notice any changes like that in your browser while using the site and are wondering why that happened, GC switching to HTTPS is probably the reason.

Thank you for the update, John. So now, this site will be more secure?

Yes, definitely a plus+ on the security side of things. There are other things that I've already done and more coming. All various layers that each help improve security.

Thank you for continuing your GreekChat upgrades, John. Looking forward to the disappearance of the red privacy warning icon, next to GreekChat's name, on the website title line.

Getting rid of any notifications like that will also be a nice added benefit.

The notices are probably somewhat misleading, in a way, for a site like GC. It's a public site anyhow, so the vast majority of messages here can be viewed by anyone whether or not HTTPS is used. And encryption is used where needed... HTTPS just encrypts everything between the server and each site visitor. Like the GC logo, no real reason to send that in an encrypted way, but over HTTPS it will be encrypted. The big push for HTTPS everywhere on the web, as far as I can tell, was after all the Edward Snowden stuff came out. But still good reasons in general to get on to HTTPS.

Looks like we are ready for testing HTTPS on GC.

https://greekchat.com

The other main non-HTTPS url that we've been using for GC is still available: http://www.greekchat.com After a bit of testing, the non-HTTPS version will eventually be redirected to the HTTPS version.

If anyone decides to test out https://greekchat.com please post here to let me know how it's working for you and if you notice any issues with it. Thanks.

Testing- once I remember my password (grin), no problems at all!

Just wanted to mention to everyone reading this that it's probably a good idea to test this new GC HTTPS before that becomes the only way to access GC.

Don't just type in greekchat.com or www.greekchat.com as that will get you the HTTP / non-HTTPS version of GC.

You need to have the https:// part before the "greekchat.com" domain. Also, do not use the "www." part in front of the domain as HTTPS is not setup on that. The "www." will eventually redirect to the HTTPS version.

Easiest way to do this is to click on this link: https://greekchat.com

At the very least, click that link even just to make sure you get to GC's homepage and use your browser's back button to back out and return to the non-HTTPS version if you need to.

If anyone has errors or issues with accessing HTTPS on GC ( https://greekchat.com ) it would be better / easier to sort out any problems now before GC goes fully to HTTPS (maybe in a week or so).

Awesome. Just got through on HTTPS. Thank you, John!

:)

GC HTTPS is now fully implemented.

All GC domain links ( http://www.greekchat.com , http://greekchat.com & https://www.greekchat.com ) now redirect to the HTTPS non-www version: https://greekchat.com

Yay!