Set up redirects and force HTTPS

Redirects send visitors from one address to another automatically. This guide covers the three you're most likely to need: forcing your site to use HTTPS, choosing between the www and non-www version of your domain, and redirecting old pages or extra domains to the right place.

Before you start

• To force HTTPS, your domain needs a working SSL certificate. Our free AutoSSL handles this for domains using our nameservers. If your site shows "Not secure", sort that first. See AutoSSL: install or fix your free SSL.
• Use a permanent (301) redirect for anything that has moved for good. Search engines pass your rankings on to the new address. Use a temporary (302) redirect only for short-term changes, such as a holding page.

Force HTTPS

1. Log in to cPanel from your service page under Services → My Services (https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/clientarea.php?action=services).
2. Open Domains (type it in the cPanel search bar).
3. Turn on the Force HTTPS Redirect switch next to your domain.

Everyone who visits http:// is now sent to https://. If the switch is greyed out, the domain doesn't have a valid certificate yet.

WordPress: also check that both addresses under Settings → General in your WordPress dashboard start with https://. If you see "Not secure" or a broken padlock after switching, some images or scripts are still loading over http://. A search-and-replace plugin such as Better Search Replace can update old http://yourdomain.co.nz links in your content. Take a backup before running it.

Redirect a page or a whole domain

1. In cPanel, open Redirects.
2. Type: choose Permanent (301) or Temporary (302).
3. https?://(www.)?: choose the domain to redirect from, or ** All Public Domains **.
4. Path (the box after the slash): leave it empty to redirect the whole domain, or enter a page, for example old-page.html or services/old.
5. Redirects to: enter the full new address, for example https://yourdomain.co.nz/new-page/.
6. www. redirection: leave it on Redirect with or without www. unless you have a reason not to.
7. Tick Wild Card Redirect if you're redirecting a whole domain and want olddomain.co.nz/any-page to go to the same page on the new domain.
8. Click Add.

To remove a redirect, find it in the Current Redirects list at the bottom and click Delete.

WordPress sites: for redirecting individual pages within WordPress, a plugin such as Redirection is easier to manage than cPanel, and avoids clashing with WordPress's own address rules.

Choose www or non-www

Your site works on both yourdomain.co.nz and www.yourdomain.co.nz, but it's best to pick one and redirect the other to it.

• WordPress does this automatically, based on the address set under Settings → General.
• Other sites: add these lines near the top of the .htaccess file in your site's folder (for example public_html). In File Manager, click Settings and tick Show Hidden Files to see it. If the file doesn't exist, create it.

To always use non-www:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

To always use www:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Download a copy of .htaccess before editing it, so you can put it back if something goes wrong.

Troubleshooting

• "Too many redirects" error: two redirects are sending visitors back and forth. Common causes are a cPanel redirect fighting a WordPress setting or plugin, or Cloudflare's SSL mode set to Flexible. If you use Cloudflare, set SSL/TLS to Full (strict). Then remove one of the redirects and clear your browser cache.
• The redirect doesn't seem to work: browsers remember 301 redirects. Test in a private or incognito window.
• 500 Internal Server Error after editing .htaccess: there's a typo in the file. Restore your copy, or remove the lines you added.

Need help?

If you get stuck, open a support ticket and we'll help.