FAQ / KNOWLEDGE BASE
Looking for an answer to a question? Looking for a tutorial, walk-through, or how-to? You’ve come to the right place!
We are constantly updating this page; consider it a work-in-progress. If you have a question to which you need answers and don’t see it below, contact us and we’ll happily answer and add it to our FAQ!
SSL Certificates
Do I Need an SSL Certificate?
Yes! In September 2016, Google announced that by the end of January, when someone visits a websites without SSL certificates, they would see a “Not Secure” warning on pages that collect sensitive information. In January 2017, Chrome 56 was released. Those “Not Secure” warnings now show on pages that capture passwords and credit card information. This was just Phase 1. Coming up next: pages with comments that capture email address. The phase after that will probably be all pages. Also, since 2014, sites with SSL certificates are ranked higher in SERP (search engine results page).
Do Skookum Monkey Hosting Accounts Come With an SSL Certificate?
Yes, they do! All of our servers run the latest version of WHM/cPanel and have autoSSL turned on. As soon as your hosting account is added to our servers, an SSL certificate is installed. These certificates are issued by Comodo. You don’t have to do a thing for this to happen other than sign up for a Skookum Monkey hosting account.
How Do I Renew My SSL Certificate?
Because all of our servers run the latest version of WHM/cPanel and have autoSSL turned on, there is nothing you need to do. The SSL certificates are automatically renewed.
I Transferred my Hosting to Skookum Monkey. I Paid for an SSL Certificate. What Happens When my Transferred SSL Certificate Expires?
No worries! Nightly, autoSSL also checks the expiration dates for those certificates. When autoSSL sees the certificate is about to expire, it will reissue you one of the free SSL certificates. Everything is automated, leaving you free to worry about other things.
I Have a Skookum Monkey Hosting Account. I Installed WordPress Without HTTPS in the URL. How Do I Make the SSL Certificate Active With My WordPress Installation?
Step 1: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings -> General. Step 2: Change the WordPress and Site URLs from http: to https: Step 3: Save Changes. You will be logged out. Step 4: Log back in. Step 5: Go to Plugins -> Add New Step 6: Search for “Really Simple SSL”. Step 7: Install and Active it. Step 8: Click the “Go ahead, activate SSL!” button. That’s it! If you have Jetpack installed, you may have to deactivate and reactive it, then reconnect it. If you installed WordPress with Softaculous, you’ll also have to make some changes in cPanel. Read our longer tutorial about how to add an SSL certificate to your WordPress site for instructions.
I Just Got a Skookum Monkey Hosting Account. How Do I Install WordPress With SSL?
When you login into cPanel, scroll down to the very bottom where you’ll see a section called Softaculous. Click on the WordPress icon. Then follow our tutorial: “How To Install WordPress with Softaculous.” Make sure ‘https’ is the protocol chosen in Step 1. Because your domain already has the SSL certificate installed, Softaculous should detect that and automatically chose the correct protocol. But, sometimes, it misses that. So, just double check that first setting.
WPMU aka WordPress Multisite
What is WordPress Multisite?
The short answer: WordPress Multisite allows you to manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard. The longer answer is long and we recommend your read our post that answers many questions about WordPress Multisite.
Can I Install WordPress Multisite With My Hosting Account?
Yes, you can! When you login into cPanel, scroll down to the very bottom where you’ll see a section called Softaculous. Click on the WordPress icon. Then follow our tutorial: “How To Install WordPress with Softaculous.” Just be sure the field in Step 3 is empty, and click the checkbox in Step 6.
Will My SSL Certificate Work With WordPress Multisite?
That depends on if you’ve set up WordPress Multisite for subfolders or subdomains. For subfolders, you only need one SSL certificate for each site, because each of the sites in your network will be https://yourdomain.com/SITE/. Using WordPress Multisite with subfolders for the network is the easiest configuration. If you set up your WordPress Multisite network to use subdomain (site.yourdomain.com), there is a lot of extra configuration that needs to be done to both make it work and have SSL certificates issued for each domain. This walk-through will teach you how to set up WordPress Multisite with sub domains so that SSL certificates will be issued and the sites will resolve.
Can I Do Domain Mapping With My WordPress Multisite Installation?
In order to be able to do domain mapping, you need a dedicate IP address and some special WordPress Multisite plugins. Skookum Monkey has a special WordPress Multisite hosting package that includes a dedicated IP address, access to all WPMU plugins, extra storage, and more.
Hosting Account Information
Why Should I Host With Skookum Monkey?
There are a lot of reasons to choose Skookum Monkey Hosting and Design. Aside from following Google’s SSL guidelines by providing free SSL certificates, we follow WordPress’ hosting guidelines — which are PHP version 7.x and MariaDB 10.x. — and always running the latest versions of WHM/cPanel, there are five other reasons:
- Automatic updates to WordPress Core and WordPress Repository Plugins
- Help Transferring Your Website
- Extra WordPress Help
- Email Storage Only Limited by Hosting Package
- Personalized Services
For more information and to read some client testimonials, read Five Reasons to Host Your WordPress Site With Skookum Monkey.
I Lost my cPanel Login Information. What Do I Do?
Sign into your account. Click on the “Account Details” tab. You’ll find the information there.
I Lost my Webmail Login Information. What Do I Do?
Sign into your account. Click on the “Account Details” tab. You’ll find the information there.
I Lost my FTP Information. What Do I Do?
Sign into your account. Click on the “Account Details” tab. You’ll find the information there.
My Desktop Mail Client Is Having Issues Auto-Configuring . What Is my Mail Server Information?
Sign into your account. Click on the “Account Details” tab. You’ll find the information there. You can also find that information in cPanel in the Email section. Click on the “Email Accounts” button, then the “Set Up Mail Client” link.
How Do I Add a Domain to my Hosting Account?
Adding a domain to your hosting account is done through cPanel. Use this walk-through to add a domain in cPanel to your hosting account.
Hosting Environment
Do You Meet WordPress' Basic Hosting Requirements?
Yes, we do! WordPress’ hosting guidelines are:
- PHP version 7.2 or greater
- MySQL version 5.6 or greater OR MariaDB version 10.0 or greater
- HTTPS support
By default, your account has the following:
- PHP version 7.0.29
- MariaDB 10.1.33
- Apache 2.4.33
- Free SSL certificate installed during account creation
- mod_rewrite, mod_security, and more
In cPanel, you also have the ability to change to a different version of PHP, including PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2, but we recommend you continue to use PHP 7.0.x until you can run a PHP compatibility checker for your WordPress theme and plugins.
How Do I Upgrade to PHP 7.2?
Before upgrading to PHP 7.2 it is strongly recommended that you install and run the PHP compatibility checker. While WordPress recommends PHP 7.2, not all themes and plugins are compatible.
- Log into WordPress
- Install and run the PHP compatibility checker. If all checks out, proceed.
- Log into cPanel
- Scroll down to the “Software” section
- Click “MultiPHP Manager”
- Check the box beside the domain you wish to upgrade
- In the drop-down menu near the top-right, select “ea-php72”
- Click apply
- Check to see that your site is working. If it’s not, you can revert back to “inherit” by repeating steps 5-8, choosing “inherit” in step 7
- If it’s still not working, restore from backup in cPanel via JetBackups – Database Backups
WordPress
WordPress Multisite (formally WMPU)
cPanel
Want to learn more about our services or book your free consultation?