This is probably a redundant question but will SSL be supported for our website? I understand there are many variations of sites; CC controls domain name and SSL, Class controls domain name and SSL, etc.

It probably will take some time but I'd like to see what can be done. If you need a beta tester, let me know.

Thx
George '71

Hi George,

We're going to work through a few tweaks and growing pains from the system migration this week and then we will be in touch with the admins about options and possible beta testers. We are very close we just need to get any tweaks out of the way from the migration first.

Jessica
Class Creator Support

Jessica

Great! Good to hear and so far, the migration effort I think has paid off as I've noticed faster response on the site overall.

Thx
George

Jessica-

Seems like the SSL for the sites have rolled out. I don't have an issue with the exception that I don't really want to move my domains from GoDaddy. It appears the domains need to be migrated elsewhere. Is that correct or is there a GoDaddy solution also?

Thx
George

You don't need to move your domain name. That is part of the reason we selected the type of certificates we choose. We know some of our customers have domains at external providers and we made sure we could still verify those domains using an alternative method. If you are seeing the option to purchase a secure certificate under your Manage Domain page then your domain will work with our configuration.

Jessica
Class Creator Support

I'm basic on this, but what level of SSL is ClassCreator offering for $49 per year? And who is the issuer?

Brad and Jessica,
Please post a clear breakdown of the prices for the SSL Certificate and does this require owning a domain name, which I know is another charge?.
The email that came from Brad had no pricing information at all and it is just a link to set up a domain name. I know there is a difference.
We need to know the whole story to be able to get approval to spend more money from our class fund.

Your site is already secure (https) since it doesn't use a Domain name. Only sites that have a domain name have to spend more to get SSL. Strange but true.

This is your site now - notice it is https (secure)

https://www.classcreator.com/Santa-Monica-California-St-Monicas-1972/

Thank you for helping out with this. It was confusing because we got Brad's email today about all of this. Now that we know it does not apply to us, it is a relief.
Cathie

Jessica, piggybacking on this general thread and Brad's email re adding a 'secure certificate', I want to see if I understand.

Brad's email starts with "Because you own a domain name...", then says "You currently do not (own a domain name)". I'm guessing we don't, since one of the admin functions I have available on our site is to 'Register a Domain'.

Jack, in this thread somewhare, says "Only sites that have a domain name have to spend more to get SSL".

I know for sure that when I go to our site, the address bar says "Not secure | classcreator.com/troy-ny-1968/"

So, I think A) we don't have a domain registered, B)we are not showing as Secure and C) we would need an SSL (secure certificate) to rectify that.

So, is there a cost for that (I saw something about $49/year)? And if we forego that, is there any downside other than the 'Not Secure' message showing up?

I know Brad indicated he was going to explain more in upcoming emails, but perhaps you can help me get a head start on understanding all this.

Much thanks.

Chris

Christopher Miller,

I just went to your site using the Google Chrome browser on a desttop PC, and clicked on every page. They are all the same --- there is a lock symbol before the URL in every case, meaning your site is secure. For example, your home page has a lock symbol followed by "classcreator.com/Troy-NY-1968/class_index.cfm."

When I double click on the URL it changes to:

"https://www.classcreator.com/Troy-NY-1968/class_index.cfm."

"https" means secure.

Christopher, you are seeing cached OLD pages. Press CTRL+F5 and you'll see the "secure" version of your pages.

It looks like the email went out to a few users who do not have domain names. It was definitely intended for domain name owners. Thanks for responding to them guys - we had a lot of questions today and we are working our way through to get back to everyone.

Jessica

Scott, thanks for the info. I definitely see the lock symbol once I'm logged in and then on all subsequent pages.

What was confusing was that when I used a bookmark on my Chrome browser to get to the sign-in page, I was (and still am) seeing a Not Secure indicator, as I indicated: "Not secure | classcreator.com/troy-ny-1968/". In fact, when I click on the link in your reply ( "classcreator.com/Troy-NY-1968/class_index.cfm.") I also see Not Secure.

Perhaps this is a cache issue as Jack indicated.

In any event, it appears our site is secure and thus there would be no need to acquire a Secure Certificate.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Chris

Christopher Miller wrote:

Your bookmark has the old http link, that's why it's "not secure" when you use it. Update the bookmark with a new one and that fixes that problem.

Done! Thanks.

Jessica, I just requested/purchased the SSL for my site. However, the term will not match my renewal date for the URL. I had sent an email request what can be done for the few months not covered. Any means to have the renewal dates at the same timeframe?

JohnB,

Your question was addressed by Jessica on the General Discussion Forum, topic New "Secure Certificate," Response #14:

"Domains and secure certificates are annual products - unfortunately they don't offer ways to purchase them for a specific number of months or to prorate them as they renew for a year or multi-year long duration."

Jessica/Brad -- last Friday when I receive the email from Brad, I had sort of anticipated this (when you went cloud-based last year) -- so went ahead and purchased (in sequence): (1) a Domain name; then learned about and agreed to purchase (2) an 'ID Protect'; and then learned about and agreed to purchase (3) a Security Certificate. These totaled out (for the 6 yrs I chose based on planning considerations) to about $370.... (and BTW, these were sequential purchases that popped up with no advance notice of what the entire 'recommended 'package' yrly cost for these three elements would be). Per prior entries -- that amount in total could be a little much for some folks in my role to have to pay for -- and its a new ongoing cost to have to account for (not one time).

Once the Sec Cert kicked in (48 hrs later) I notice that when users NOW click on the posting-notification email hyperlinks, they get dumped into the Home Page (whereas before they were taken directly to the posting they had sought from the email). Seems like a shortfall compared with the prior standard of landing them at the specific post that was sought.

Questions:

(1) Can this embedded hyperlink 'landing' change be reverted back to the original so that users end up on the sought posting and NOT on the Home Page?

(2) Based on what I am reading in this thread -- it sounds like I DID NOT REALLY NEED to follow Brad's advice (he provided no 'why'/benefit statement other than some vague idea that security would improve). I get the sense that (since we'd had no Domain name prior to this) there may, in fact, be NO practical benefit to my site for having gone through this set of changes AND spent not only $370 for a Domain name AND Sec Cert (for 6 yrs) now but locked us into an ongoing run-rate increase (after 6 yrs). In short - other than 'losing' the 'Not Secure' URL heading (which we were all used to)... we've in essence accepted a kick-up in our ongoing subscription feed and have a degraded 'link 'landing capability. Am I missing something?

(3) In CC's next round of subscription renewals -- will our price be decremented by the above add'l amounts (since it appears that we as clients are now picking up what HAD been CC's operational costs)?

(4) Based on your answers to the above -- do I have an opportunity to back out of these commitments and return to the prior state my site was in?

Obviously there is a good deal more explaining to be done here. Brad's email needed to be better thought-through and an honest Exec Summary been provided answering the 'Why' & 'What's in it for us customers' questions. Would appreciate a full response...

Jessica,

Before I purchase this, I want to be sure I know what I am doing. I read through all these answers and I don't think what I want to know is there.

I usually pay every five years for our domain, www.fairborn71.com. About $100. I'm in the middle of that. So if I buy this security product, am I doing something overlapping or do I (we all) have to purchase both items? Class Creator is paid until 2027 so not worried about that.

One reason I want to know is because I am retiring after this year, our 50th. I don't mind taking care of it, but I want to let those who are taking over know what the story is so they are not alarmed by it.

I hope you understand what I am asking.

Denise Derge

Denise D,

Under Admin Functions, click on the Manage Domain page. You'll see that "Renew Your Domain Name" and "Secure Your Domain Name" are separate entities, each with its own pricing. There is no overlap.

That makes perfect sense now. The only problem is having two different times. I'd like to just line them all up to 2027, but they will be different months. I guess I need to make sure someone knows. Thanks.

D.

Our domain name must be renewed in June, 4 months from now. I've been waiting quite a while for this certificate to be offered and would have jumped at the opportunity to get one. So, here is my question. What is the downside to waiting until the date we renew our domain name to get the secure certificate? I know it's not a tremendous amount of money, but in the real world, it'll be my money.

Mine is in November. I don't care as long as I am able to take care of it, but I'm 67 now and you never know!

Denise

Barry,

As stated on the Manage Domain page under Admin Functions, "Web browsers have recently started displaying each individual page of your web site as "secure" or "not secure." As a result, "non secure" pages may scare users into thinking something is wrong with the page (even if the page is not collecting any information)."

If you can live with that until June, then there is no downside that I can see.