Enhanced Site Security - Now Upgraded to SSL

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Bob

Forum Host
Staff member
The site has now been upgraded to SSL. That means it is more secure. Even though we really don't collect any personal info, so there's not much of anything for anyone to hack, we felt it was time to make the change anyway.

You should now see a padlock next to the URL in your browser.

If you get any "mixed" content warnings, please post the URL you were at, and I'll have a look. You don't need to know anything other than what page you were on. I'll take it from there.
 
I had to log in again, but other than that, it seems deceptively normal.

Yes, everyone will have to log in again, it's essentially a brand new site, and everything's encrypted.

But, once you do, it should look totally normal. Nothing changed and aside from logging in again, there's nothing you need to do on your end. You'll now see a padlock in your browser, rather than the ominous sounding "not secure". But, since we don't ask for any credit card info or anything nothing has really changed. So why bother? Google has started penalizing sites for not having it, and we need good search rankings.

It also flagged the site as "not secure" which made some members nervous, even though we don't keep confidential data.
 
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Logged in again, got the padllock, and everything is working. Good time to upgrade the website with everyone sheltering at home.
 
Bill, the timing is good, but coincidental. I lease the server for two years at a time. I wasn’t happy with the old one, too many slowdowns and connection errors lately. So I moved to Bluehost, faster server and more features including enhanced security. Seems a lot more responsive too.
That made it easier to upgrade. I’m hoping we’ll see some more activity now. Definitely more folks reading the forum, hoping they join in the conversation.
 
Bill, the timing is good, but coincidental. I lease the server for two years at a time. I wasn’t happy with the old one, too many slowdowns and connection errors lately. So I moved to Bluehost, faster server and more features including enhanced security. Seems a lot more responsive too.
That made it easier to upgrade. I’m hoping we’ll see some more activity now. Definitely more folks reading the forum, hoping they join in the conversation.
We can do without all the Russian brides from the Ukraine, though. Especially since they won't send us any free samples for testing... :)
 
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We can do without all the Russian brides from the Ukraine, though. Especially since they won't send us any free samples for testing... :)


I'm guessing that if you did test any samples, you'd find one of two things.
1) It's actually a Russian hacker, probably male.
2) If it is a female, STD tests would come back positive.
 
Still getting spammers, but I suppose that cannot be avoided.
It just comes with the territory. When I see a spammer, I'll check their IP address. If there are a half dozen spammers and no real users at that IP, I'll block it. There's always the chance I'd block a legit user, so I keep the IP blocking to a minimum.
 
Still getting spammers, but I suppose that cannot be avoided.

Correct, it can't be avoided. If the site is open to the public for posting, spammers will find a way in. It's just part of the deal, and the moderators put in a lot of time and effort watching things and deleting spam and spammer accounts. Most of their work goes totally un-noticed.
 




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