Title: General and Permalink Settings
Last modified: April 22, 2026

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# General and Permalink Settings

 *  [fhithich](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fhithich/)
 * (@fhithich)
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/general-and-permalink-settings/)
 * I have been running a single installation of WordPress on a site hosted by a 
   third party for eleven years. On the Settings -> General screen there are two
   fields named “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)”, both are set,
   and have always been since day one, to “http://www.fhithich.uk” — without the‘
   s’ in http. 
 * My posts have been shared to Facebook and Bluesky using Jetpack, and to Mastodon
   using the Mastodon Autopost. Recently I’ve been told by users that they have 
   been getting a security warning saying that it’s an unsafe site when clicking
   on the links in the social media posts. I noticed that these posts have been 
   shared as “https://…”
 * Trying to get to the bottom of this I’ve discovered that the Permalink Settings
   are set to “https://www.fhithich.uk/…” and there doesn’t seem to be a way of 
   correcting this.
 * I am aware that getting an SSL certificate from my hosting provider might cure
   the problem but 
    1. I don’t ask for any data from my users, it is purely a read-only blog, and it’s
       worked fine for the last eleven years,
    2. It is a non-commercial blog and I am reluctant to increase my costs,
    3. I have been told that if I change to ‘https’, all previous links containing ‘
       http’ will no longer work.
 * Any help greatly appreciated.
 * PS I have very limited knowledge of the workings of WordPress, SSL certification,
   etc. etc.
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fgeneral-and-permalink-settings%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/)
 * (@sterndata)
 * Volunteer Forum Moderator
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/general-and-permalink-settings/#post-18887959)
 * If your hosts supports LetsEncrypt certificates, they’re free. WordPress really
   doesn’t care if you’re http or https, but as you’ve seen, browsers do. If you
   want the site visible, you really need to add an SSL cert.
 * Uh oh, you’re hosted at GoDaddy. [They charge for certs](https://www.godaddy.com/web-security/ssl-certificate).
   Please contact their support.
 * With respect to #3, above, the plugin “better search replace” is an easy way 
   to replace all internal http links with https links.
    -  This reply was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/).
 *  Thread Starter [fhithich](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fhithich/)
 * (@fhithich)
 * [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/general-and-permalink-settings/#post-18888138)
 * Thanks I’m not with GoDaddy but 123 Reg. However they do supply LetsEncrypt. 
   I’ll look into trying to figure out our this works tomorrow.
    -  This reply was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by [fhithich](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fhithich/).

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

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 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [fhithich](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fhithich/)
 * Last activity: [3 weeks, 4 days ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/general-and-permalink-settings/#post-18888138)
 * Status: not resolved

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