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Abbie Shores

3 Years Ago

Remake Of How To Get An Ssl On Your Premium

If a premium member on pixels.com, you have the opportunity to use your own domain pointing to your shop

However, if you just point it then you will not see a lock and you may get a warning that the site is not secure. Here is a workaround.

To create a secure site on our own domain when pointing to a premium site using custom domains

First of all create a new free account on https://cloudflare.com
----------*****----------
Click Add site



It will say

We're querying your DNS records

Press Next

Click on the FREE plan



Then, Confirm Plan

A popup will ask if you are sure.

Confirm

You are taken to a page of details about your site. You need to change the A and CNAME areas
----------*****----------
First create new ones





A:
Yourname.com
3.232.178.98
Automatic


CNAME:
 www
pixels.com
Automatic



Use your own domain where mine is, obviously
When you have added those two, delete the other A and CNAME fields that were there previously
----------*****----------
Log into your domain host

Under DNS go to NAMESERVERS and change the nameservers to the ones they show you on CloudFlares DNS page

That may be different for different people do not add what I have in the image.  You must copy what they give you




Now all you have to do is enable your free SSL on Cloudflare
----------*****----------
Go to your new site on Cloudflare (under Account Home)

Then go to the SSL/TLS settings

Make sure it is on FULL

See the tab EDGE CERTIFICATES

Always Use HTTPS ON
Minimum TLS Version TLS 1.2
Opportunistic Encryption ON
Onion Routing ON
TLS 1.3 Enabled
Automatic HTTPS Rewrites On
Certificate Transparency Monitoring Disabled

----------*****----------

Log into your premium site on pixels.com and go to CUSTOM DOMAINS and add your domain

Mine is added like this

abbie-shores.com

do not add www or https://

This now can take up to 72 hours to populate but, to be honest, I have never known it even take an hour

Once it has, you can go to your domain using https:// in the address.... like mine is https://abbie-shores.com and you are now at a secure server showing your premium site
----------*****----------
đŸ™‚

Do you like our site?  Why not join! REGISTER WITH US TODAY

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James Overesch

3 Years Ago

Hi Abbie,
I have followed all these steps by using cloudflare and Godaddy for my domain and when I type in my domain www.jamesovereschphotos.com, it still says that the connection is unsecure and wont allow people to make orders by using that domain. I've been having to give them the pixels address... I guess I don't know what I'm doing. Please help.

 

Bill Swartwout

3 Years Ago

n/a Sorry - wrong thread.

But, hey, James - I just tired your custom domain (www.jamesovereschphotos.com) and it appears to be working properly now.

 

James Overesch

3 Years Ago

Yeah, I guess it just took a bit. Thanks, Bill. And thanks, Abbie!

 

Christopher Maxum

3 Years Ago

This issue can destroy referrals from other social media links, it can make getting domain name forwarding really crap. How come this issue is possible though when the forwarding is sold legitimately in good faith to enhance your sales not mess em up, it should be made right by default

 

Nathan Sullum

3 Years Ago

I've contacted tech support 3X about the SSL issue with no response. Now if I try to go to my site at sullum.com I not only get an error message, but the entire text of the security certificate shows up on the homepage (with the Chrome and Silk browsers). I've run a retail art web site for 24 yrs. and I've never encountered this. Isn't Fine Art America's host AWS? Shouldn't they just contact them to resolve the issue?

I'm hesitant to follow your workaround instructions, since I believe changing the name servers at my domain host will render my email accounts at sullum.com inoperable. My domain host was unable to give me a simple yes or no answer on this. If I don't hear back from tech support after another day, I will try your instructions and may have to choose between my pixels.com web site and my email address.

 

Bill Swartwout

3 Years Ago

@ Nathan - you can just "forward" your domain to your premium site, https://nathan-sullum.pixels.com. That way your email should remain intact.


~ Bill
---------------
~ Bill Swartwout Photography at US Pictures.

 

Nathan Sullum

3 Years Ago

Thanks Bill. I have thought about doing that, it's just nice to see sullum.com as the URL instead of nathan-sullum.pixels.com

 

Wagaman Art

3 Years Ago

Hi Abbie,
Thanks for posting this. How about also updating the instructions in Behind the Scenes > Custom Domain Name so members know how to use a secure, https:// custom URL?

On a related note…I just received cards that I had printed through FAA. Under my name on the back was my custom domain address, although I didn’t request that to be printed - and it didn’t show on the preview when I ordered the cards. So now I’m getting ready to jump through the hoops with Cloudflare just in case people try using that address. I’ve been using the default domain name since I wasn’t aware of the new steps for SSL. Anyway, I’m glad you found a workaround.

 

Wagaman Art

3 Years Ago

Another question, if I manage to set up using a custom domain name, will the Default URL still work as well?
Meanwhile, I'm trying to remember all the places I've used the default URL as a link. :-/

 

Nathan Sullum

3 Years Ago

Hi Julie. My insecure site (sullum.com) does load on 2 browser versions (with a security warning) while my nathan-sullum.pixels.com URL still works fine.

 

Wagaman Art

3 Years Ago

Thanks Nathan, one less thing to worry about.

 

Abbie Shores

3 Years Ago

This works for everybody.

So if you're not seeing an SSL after following directions line by line

1. Make sure you're now adding the s in your address

So it's https and not http

2. (For people just forwarding) I see many people put https://www.subdomain.domain.com

If you're using a subdomain, you never a www. www is only used if you're not in a subdomain. So without forwarding or pointing, your link is not (eg) https://www.isabella-shores.pixels.com it's just (eg) https://isabella-shores.pixels.com

3. Some people miss out a section, or leave whole chunks of unnecessary data in their cloudflare DNS area.

Finally, if you double check everything, especially the fact you should now use https and not http, you can message me and I'll go into your cloudflare as a last resort

 

David Manlove

3 Years Ago

I am finally attempting to do this but I can't log into my premium site under administrator/artist. I'm pretty sure I have my log-in information correct. However, I tried to create a free account at Cloudflare first and was required to fill out an information form and agree to be contacted by a representative? Is this normal?

UPDATE: Never mind I guess I got it

 

Jason Fink

3 Years Ago

Thanks again Abbie. I used your original instructions a while ago and it worked perfectly.

https://www.finkophotos.com

 

Abbie Shores

3 Years Ago

No that is not normal. I have never been contacted by a representative

Just say no

 

Ellen Eschwege

3 Years Ago

Hi, I have done everything according to instructions that I can tell, but my website spiritualvisionaryart.com and my friend's website artbymaryann.com (which I administer for her) are still unsecure and therefore cart is unfunctional/can't login. I have invited you to the members in cloudflare, per email from you. I am hoping you can see what is wrong.

 

Bruce Bodden

3 Years Ago

I have a website of my own not related to Fine Art America at all, brucebodden.com

I have noticed rather recently that on that website, at the top it says "NOT SECURE" next to the box with my website address in it. I have no idea how to fix that.

Years ago I put the Fine Art America shopping widget link onto that website, among other links. Not until just now did I notice that when people link to the other links, they are secure, but when I click on the Fine Art America shopping widget, it say "NOT SECURE" How long has this been an issue, because this makes me kind of mad thinking about all of my possible lost sales.

I am not very tech savvy and have no idea what a SSL is...but I have printed out the above directions from Abbie, and will try to figure it out if that is going to help my situation, but I am not sure if this problem is the same thing and I do not want to mess anything up because I might not have a recourse if I do...again, not tech savvy.

 

Wagaman Art

3 Years Ago

Apparently for the SSL to work, the URL address must include https://

https://spiritualvisionaryart.com and https://artbymaryann.com

 

Lise Winne

3 Years Ago

I never got mine to work. I'll try this. Hope there is not a way to screw it up. I don't want to be invisible.

 

Bruce Bodden

3 Years Ago

I just went to my own website builder for my other website that has the Sopping cart widget link on it, and there was a simple toggle thingy switched off for enabling SSL, so I switched it on. Now mine no longer says "NOT SECURE."...and I luckily didn't have to go through all that list of things to do like above. And before it didn't say https, and now it does.

 

Greg Kerns

3 Years Ago

I was having the exact same problems. My custom site was coming up "not secure" on most browsers and blocked on Chrome. I followed the instructions above and now I am 'in like Flynn'. Thank you!!

 

Patricia Strand

3 Years Ago

following

 

Gina Cinardo

3 Years Ago

Thank you for the instructions, that was very easy.

 

Kim Lockman

3 Years Ago

I am not able to do all this! I've had a site with FAA (Pixels) for years but the frustration level is getting to be too much. There is no reason why it should be so hard to add an SSL to a custom domain. I talked extensively with GoDaddy (where I get my domain from) and even they said it shouldn't be this hard. I tried to purchase an SSL through them but we couldn't get it activated because of the FAA/Pixels side.
I need help. Can someone from the tech support please give me contact info so we can talk and figure this out?

 

Abbie Shores

3 Years Ago

If you follow the post above line by line it is easier than looking at it all in one go.

Not having a secure site will stop you being able to do security concerned things, like logging in, or purchasing.

Unfortunately we cannot make your pointed domain secure although, of course, Pixels itself is secure.

If you log into Cloudflare after you have verified your email with them, you can see a tab at the top called MEMBERS

Create a member account for abbieshores@pixels.com

But you do have to do some of this yourself unfortunately.

 

Nancy Strahinic

3 Years Ago

I am now following your instructions to modify my new free account on cloudflare. I have a question for you under "See the tab EDGE CERTIFICATES". . . it has an option: HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), Enforce web security policy for your website.
?Should this be enabled? Thank you.

 

Amanda Amend

2 Years Ago

Thanks Abbie! It worked. Setting options seem to have changed a bit since you wrote this, because the "onion routing" setting wasn't there (or I didn't see it if it was), but it works!!!! I am so grateful for your help.

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Hi, yes, a couple of things have moved and changed but, if anything there is actually less to check now, thankfully. I will get time soon to make a few of the changes

 

Winchawa Art

2 Years Ago

Thank you so much Abbie for taking the time to post this.. It worked after about 2 hours i`ve set it up. :)

For folks who are looking for the Onion routing in Cloudflare its under the tab Network.

Thanks again and good luck,

Kind Regards,

Charles.

(p.s. I found it a bit misleading that they offer you your own website but don`t tell you the shopping cart isn`t functional without SSL)

 

Pontus Jansson

2 Years Ago

I think i got it, going to wait a few hours and see if it works. I could not find custom domain though on pixels but do i need to change it if it was already linked to my domain pontusjansson.com?

 

Heajung Czapla

2 Years Ago

So, I added my new domain on CloudFlare and it took me a page of details about my site. You said I need to change the A and CNAME areas, but they are already correct. Do I still need to change them? Or create new ones?? I am lost. Please help!

 

Catrin OHara

2 Years Ago

Hi, Abbie
I've been directed to this post by your IT guys. I followed the instructions to link to a domain I own on Squarespace:
https://catrin-ohara.pixels.com/controlpanel/updatedomainname.html

When I can access it I'm getting 'NOT SECURE' in front of the URL. It doesn't work at all in some browsers. It just reverts to the homepage of pixels.com not even to my profile page.

Your post looks helpful, but complicated and detailed work to do it all. Before I spend energy on these steps can I check that they are truly needed?

I signed up for the Premium service primarily for the website. I have no technical abilities and had not got around to setting up the domain I had bought for my artwork. It's very frustrating to find it is so complicated when it didn't sound that difficult.
Thanks in advance!
Catrin

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Yes this is needed. It's quite easy once you get in there

 

Catrin OHara

2 Years Ago

Thanks for the encouragement. I agree that if you go step by step that works fine. It looked more daunting than it turned out to be.
Could you / someone make this process more up front in the instructions on the dashboard page about domains? I spent two days trying to figure it out.
Thanks,
Catrin

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

I think he may be hoping something happens where we can do this inhouse.... but I don't know

 

Holton Media

2 Years Ago

So what steps do I need to do for a subdomain? I have my full website that is already secured by an SSL cert. I have my subdomain of "store." pointing to the pixels site.

 

Debra Banks

2 Years Ago

Hi all,

I have done all the steps correctly... I think.

Just waiting now to see if it works.

my go daddy domain is debrabanksphotography.com... should that replace the pixels domain name for my AW when activated properly?
thanks for any help

the go daddy did already point to my pixels aw.

cloud fare still says pending name server update

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

It can take up to 48 hours

 

Caroline Frank

2 Years Ago

Followed the instructions and got it working yesterday. This morning it didn't work again and the website is unsecured. Lasted for half a day. Anyone else with this problem?

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Make sure to add https at the front, not http

It can take awhile

Check in cloudflare that you've got that correct and turned on

 

Caroline Frank

2 Years Ago

The only thing I did was to set up a Google analytics account but I assume that shouldn't affect it. Edge certificate https ON is switched on and when I search my website I now tried using https as suggested but it is still insecure. Really strange, since it worked perfectly yesterday.

 

Caroline Frank

2 Years Ago

I noticed now that an error code appears in the browser:
NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

 

Tommy Farnsworth

2 Years Ago

Sadly, I just discovered that my visitors/clients have been running away when they see the warning that this may be a fake site trying to steal their info.
I have followed the instructions and believe I have them correct, but still no change, still get the warning. I am not 20 hours into this and it still hasn't changed. I realize it can take up to 72 hours to change, but never have I ever had a domain change take more than an hour, so just want to have a double-check if you don't mind. I added abbieshores@pixels.com as a member on Cloudfare. Thanks.

Nameservers have changed correctly and the A and CNAME records. A simple ping still goes to the old IP.

Thanks,


~ Tommy

 

Tommy Farnsworth

2 Years Ago

Ok. It kicked in last night, 30+ hours after.
Ping is giving me a Cloudfare IP, to be expected I guess.


~ Tommy

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Caroline

add abbieshores@pixels.com as a member on Cloudflare

 

William Selander

2 Years Ago

Often times the delay in seeing the changes is a result of one's own local dns cache. Windows, MacOS and browsers typically cache dns entries these days and can take a while to updae. Flushing the local cache can help see the changes sooner.

https://infusiongroup.com/knowledgebase/how-to-clear-your-dns-cache-mac-chrome-windows/

Caroline, I see your site as secure.


 

Robert Bociaga

2 Years Ago

i am stuck here


>>>>>>
Log in to your Namecheap account
Remove the following nameservers
pdns1.registrar-servers.com

pdns2.registrar-servers.com

Add Cloudflare's nameservers
cloe.ns.cloudflare.com
Click to copy
rudy.ns.cloudflare.co


>>>

I open the namecheap and cannot find it

 

Robert Bociaga

2 Years Ago

also i am unable to CNAME

(this instruction:
CNAME: www pixels.com Auto Proxied)

the following pops out

An A, AAAA, or CNAME record with that host already exists. (Code: 81053)

 

M G Whittingham

2 Years Ago

Thanks for the tip!

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Robert, please contact your domain host direct

 

Just to say Thank You for your help Abbie ! It took me some time, tech savvy is not my thing ! I got stuck with the CNAME thing, I kept getting error notices, like DNS validation code 1004, or name is invalid....but finally I can see the padlock, plus I can Login as Buyer or Admin safely.
For others on here, this is how my CNAME finally succeeded........
CNAME www.pixels.com photosecosse.co.uk

All the other stuff was relatively easy to do.

PHEW !!!

EDIT..........suddenly my site has returned to unsafe ! Back to the drawing board.....

 

Tangled Art Boutique

2 Years Ago

Abbie, I am finally getting around to trying to make my premium site secure...unfortunately any of the pictures/screenshots you included in your instructions are not showing up and when I tried a various things to see them or load them, I got 404 Not Found error messages. Since I don't have your pics to guide me (and I'm not very tech savvy), I am guessing when it comes to creating a new CNAME:

Your instructions read:

"CNAME: www pixels.com Auto Proxied
Use your own domain where mine is, obviously"

Since I can't see your image, I'm unsure...does "www pixels.com" get filled in as the 'Name' and my custom domain as the 'Target' (which shows up in the 'Content' column after I saved it)?

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Go here

https://ourartsmagazine.com/blog/2019/03/01/ssl-domains-on-pixels-com/


That's working

I'll fix this asap

 

Tanya Owens

2 Years Ago

Hi, my domain is hosted by name cheap. I want to point my shop to a subdomain https://fineart.tanyaowens.com - however, I am running into the same issue others have described. It could be that it takes a day or so to authenticate (I've created subdomains on Blogger and it does take a lil time, a few hours to populate).

I've never had to go to cloudflare to get an HTTPS certificate. Since the pixels account is secure and I am just pointing my subdomain to the pixels domain I shouldn't need to install a certificate elsewhere. Anyone using a subdomain instead of www?

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

You have to go through cloudflare if pointing

You can just forward without masking and then you do not need one

Or use the shopping cart widget

 

Tanya Owens

2 Years Ago

Thanks Abbie. I admit I was quite confused and weary of this process. I actually chatted with my domain registrar who reassured me that registering with CloudFlare is safe and an extra level of security. I have not had to take these steps with other hosts. They simply provided the https ssl CName for me to populate in my DNS manager.

Appreciate your assistance. Fingers crossed

 

Tanya Owens

2 Years Ago

Ok, this isn't working. I followed your steps; except I pointed the subdomain to cloudflare's name servers. As I did not need to point the root domain and my other sub-domains that are hosted elsewhere with no issues.

Sadly, it did not fix the issue of https to http.

I looked at SSL Checker with my domain registrar and there are issues with the custom domain. If FAA/Pixels webmaster can fix the funky things going on, then no one would need the cloudflare workaround unless they want to protect their domain from DDoS attacks through Cloud Flare.

The SSL Checker for fineart.tanyaowens.com - There are 2 issues: 1. Hostname doesn't match common name or/and SANs & 2. chain issues: the order of certificates is invalid or certificates cannot build certification path.

However

This is the SSL Checker for tanya-owens.pixels.com - There are no issues
https://decoder.link/sslchecker/tanya-owens.pixels.com/443

When I posted the issue on Cloud Flare's forum they told me "Any site should be working with HTTPS before you add it to Cloudflare. If it’s a custom (sub)domain somewhere, they should be able to provision a certificate for that hostname."

So, not sure what to do next.

 

George Buxbaum

2 Years Ago

.

 

Thanks for the instructions Abbie. I bought a domain via Vistaprint recently, that is supposed to come as a secure site. They investigated and thought it was an issue on Pixel's end (which I doubt) so if they cannot resolve this for me, I will give your instructions a try!

 

Doug C Smith

2 Years Ago

I've been struggling with this for a couple of weeks now. I've followed the instructions step-by-step, to the extent possible (what I see on the Cloudflare site does not match what is described in your instructions. For example, there is no option for "Onion Routing" under the edge certificates tab. I'm able to enter the A and CName records as you describe Here's what it looks like:

A dougcsmithphotography.com. 3.232.178.98. Proxied. Auto
CName www pixels.com Proxied Auto

I've gone to my Network Solutions account and changed the Nameservers to the ones provided by Cloudflare.

When I try to access my account by typing dougcsmithphotography.com into the browser, I get a message that Safari is unable to find the server. (I get a similar result using another browser.) I've waited several days without making changes, thinking that maybe it just takes a while, but it still doesn't work. I've also gone back in and repeated all the steps, but I get the same result.

Previously, I had been able to point to the pixels.com site using a similar procedure from my Network Solutions admin page, using the nameservers originally assigned by Network Solutions. It would pull up my web page, but it was not secure. Since I've tried to implement the Cloudflare workaround, I can't get the site to pull up at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd use the address assigned by FineArtAmerica, but it's really lame :-).

 

Abbie Shores

2 Years Ago

Have you actually put the domain in the custom domain page here on your account?

 

Doug C Smith

2 Years Ago

Yes, I have, and as I said, it was working (unsecured) prior to trying to go through cloudflare.

EDIT: Cloudflare suggests using "@" in the CNAME rather than "www". When I tried that, it gave me a message that this CName was already in use.


 

John Twynam

2 Years Ago

Doug, I remember having that issue as well when trying to create a CNAME record with my DNS provider. I never did solve it, but it inexplicably started working on its own after a day or two. I realize that's not much help, but I wonder if that'd happen in your case as well.

 

Doug C Smith

2 Years Ago

John Twynam - Thanks for your feedback. I just spoke with someone else who said it took several days for things to start working. I think maybe I just haven't been waiting long enough before trying to tweak things. Probably resetting the clock every time I go back in?

I'll try to be patient.

 

This discussion is closed.