How Free And Automatic SSL Works At NameHero
All of our Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and VPS/[Cloud Dedicated](https://www.namehero.com/cloud-dedicated.php) servers come with free and automatic SSL certificates. This means all domains and subdomains will have complete SSL coverage (i.e. https).
Having a valid SSL certificate means all data between your visitor and website is encrypted, giving your visitors peace of mind. Without a valid SSL certificate, some web browsers, such as Google Chrome, will have a "not secure" warning beside your domain. This doesn't create trust between you and your audience and can also negatively impact your search engine rankings.
When you signup for a web hosting account, your welcome email will contain a unique set of nameservers, which allows you to make the connection from your domain to your hosting account. If you registered your domain new with NameHero, these are automatically set. If you transferred your existing domain or are using a third-party domain registrar (such as GoDaddy) you will need to make sure your nameservers are manually set.
Your nameservers can also be found in our Client Area as in this screenshot when managing your hosting services:
You should then check your domain under, which if registered at NameHero, looks like this:
If your domain is not registered with NameHero, you'll need to either transfer the domain to us, or change these in your domain registrar's control panel.
You can then verify these by using our free DNSHero tool:
Please note: If you recently updated your nameservers, they can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate across the Internet.
If you are using a third-party to manage your DNS, such as Cloudflare, and you're using their name servers, AutoSSL may not function properly.
With your nameservers properly set, the SSL module will automatically verify your domain, generate the SSL certificate, and install it on your web hosting package; requiring no further action on your end.
You can verify this by logging into cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status:
You should then see a green lock beside each of your domains/subdomains:
If you don't and you're positive your nameservers are set properly, you may select the check all box beside the domain column and manually run AutoSSL.
This may take a couple of minutes to complete, so just leave the browser window open.
With your SSL certificate generated and installed, you must make sure your website is only making calls from https and not http.
If you're using WordPress to publish your website, you can easily set this by logging into wp-admin -> Settings -> General and changing the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to include https:
If you're using plugins and/or third-party themes, you may also wish to install the Really Simple SSL plugin (for free):
This plugin will safely run through your database to ensure everything is set properly and will fix most all SSL errors.
If you're manually coding your website, make sure all your CSS, JavaScript and other on-page elements are being called from https.
Additionally, you may manually modify your .htaccess file to force all pages to use https by adding this line of code to it:
AutoSSL automatically renews certificates, as long as your nameservers remain intact, so no further action is necessary. Once again, this is 100% free on all web hosting services at NameHero!
Domain has been excluded from AutoSSL - Some websites migrated from other providers or setup years before the evolution of the AutoSSL integration, may have some domains/subdomains excluded from AutoSSL. You can identify this inside of cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status. To correct this, select the checkmark beside the effected domain and click Include Domains During AutoSSL:
You see red locks in cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status - Most often this happens when AutoSSL is unable to verify your domain, mostly because you're using third-party nameservers (such as Cloudflare). AutoSSL will attempt to verify via your public-facing website, but if you've modified your URL structure (i.e. certain SEO plugins in WordPress), this may fail causing the AutoSSL module to revert to DNS verification. Since we do not have access to your Cloudflare account, the proper verification records cannot be added, hence the failure. Consider switching your nameservers to NameHero and activating Cloudflare through a CNAME (cPanel -> Cloudflare). If this is not possible, you can purchase a Wildcard SSL certificate from us.
Your website is not showing a lock in the web browser or says "not secure" - If you can verify an active SSL certificate exists in cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status, but your website URL is not reflecting this, you most likely have code still calling resources from a non-secure (http) URL. If you're using WordPress, follow the steps above to resolve. If not, you may use Chrome Dev Tools (right click -> Inspect Element) to view the console and track down the failure. Use this to modify your code accordingly.
Nameservers are set properly, SSL hasn't generated - If you recently signed up for an account or setup a new domain/subdomain, it may take up to 24 hours for your nameservers to propagate. Give it a few hours and try to manually run, or check it again in 24 hours.
Having a valid SSL certificate means all data between your visitor and website is encrypted, giving your visitors peace of mind. Without a valid SSL certificate, some web browsers, such as Google Chrome, will have a "not secure" warning beside your domain. This doesn't create trust between you and your audience and can also negatively impact your search engine rankings.
How To Setup Auto SSL
1) Ensure proper nameservers
When you signup for a web hosting account, your welcome email will contain a unique set of nameservers, which allows you to make the connection from your domain to your hosting account. If you registered your domain new with NameHero, these are automatically set. If you transferred your existing domain or are using a third-party domain registrar (such as GoDaddy) you will need to make sure your nameservers are manually set.
Your nameservers can also be found in our Client Area as in this screenshot when managing your hosting services:
You should then check your domain under, which if registered at NameHero, looks like this:
If your domain is not registered with NameHero, you'll need to either transfer the domain to us, or change these in your domain registrar's control panel.
You can then verify these by using our free DNSHero tool:
Please note: If you recently updated your nameservers, they can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate across the Internet.
If you are using a third-party to manage your DNS, such as Cloudflare, and you're using their name servers, AutoSSL may not function properly.
2) View the SSL Certificate in cPanel
With your nameservers properly set, the SSL module will automatically verify your domain, generate the SSL certificate, and install it on your web hosting package; requiring no further action on your end.
You can verify this by logging into cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status:
You should then see a green lock beside each of your domains/subdomains:
If you don't and you're positive your nameservers are set properly, you may select the check all box beside the domain column and manually run AutoSSL.
This may take a couple of minutes to complete, so just leave the browser window open.
3) Ensure your website is configured properly
With your SSL certificate generated and installed, you must make sure your website is only making calls from https and not http.
If you're using WordPress to publish your website, you can easily set this by logging into wp-admin -> Settings -> General and changing the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to include https:
If you're using plugins and/or third-party themes, you may also wish to install the Really Simple SSL plugin (for free):
This plugin will safely run through your database to ensure everything is set properly and will fix most all SSL errors.
If you're manually coding your website, make sure all your CSS, JavaScript and other on-page elements are being called from https.
Additionally, you may manually modify your .htaccess file to force all pages to use https by adding this line of code to it:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]AutoSSL automatically renews certificates, as long as your nameservers remain intact, so no further action is necessary. Once again, this is 100% free on all web hosting services at NameHero!
Common Problems
Domain has been excluded from AutoSSL - Some websites migrated from other providers or setup years before the evolution of the AutoSSL integration, may have some domains/subdomains excluded from AutoSSL. You can identify this inside of cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status. To correct this, select the checkmark beside the effected domain and click Include Domains During AutoSSL:
You see red locks in cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status - Most often this happens when AutoSSL is unable to verify your domain, mostly because you're using third-party nameservers (such as Cloudflare). AutoSSL will attempt to verify via your public-facing website, but if you've modified your URL structure (i.e. certain SEO plugins in WordPress), this may fail causing the AutoSSL module to revert to DNS verification. Since we do not have access to your Cloudflare account, the proper verification records cannot be added, hence the failure. Consider switching your nameservers to NameHero and activating Cloudflare through a CNAME (cPanel -> Cloudflare). If this is not possible, you can purchase a Wildcard SSL certificate from us.
Your website is not showing a lock in the web browser or says "not secure" - If you can verify an active SSL certificate exists in cPanel -> SSL/TLS Status, but your website URL is not reflecting this, you most likely have code still calling resources from a non-secure (http) URL. If you're using WordPress, follow the steps above to resolve. If not, you may use Chrome Dev Tools (right click -> Inspect Element) to view the console and track down the failure. Use this to modify your code accordingly.
Nameservers are set properly, SSL hasn't generated - If you recently signed up for an account or setup a new domain/subdomain, it may take up to 24 hours for your nameservers to propagate. Give it a few hours and try to manually run, or check it again in 24 hours.
Updated on: 11/10/2024
Thank you!