Advice please on SSL & transferring Prestashop

[Peeps]

Hi,

This is my first post and I hope some kind person(s) can supply answers to my questions.

 

OK, here goes..

 

I have a basic HTML website that is "live" at the moment and I want to build a new version of it using Prestashop.

I uploaded Prestahop to the same directory in a folder named /prestashop/

 

The Prestashop is disabled until I am ready to replace the existing site.

 

I know that I will need an SSL certificate and a dedicated IP address for my site.

 

My questions are as follows.....

 

1. Do I need to have the SSL certificate & dedicated IP address in place BEFORE I start to build the Prestashop site or can I add them later without any issues?

 

2. If I do have to add them before I go any further, do I need to change the shop URL to https in the Back Office > Configuration and if so how?

My URL is currently stored as - Shop URL: http://www.mydomain.co.uk/prestashop/

 

3. Once I have completed my Prestashop and am ready to overwrite the old site, is it a simple case of deleting the existing site files, extracting the files from the server folder currently named prestashop to public_html and then renaming the PS Directory file in prestahop?

 

I have to keep the existing site live until I have completed the new Prestashop build so I would appreciate any thoughts/help on making the move as easy as possible.

 

Basically, I just need to know this before I start building the site. It would be a waste of time and effort if I built it and then found out that I have to start again.

 

Just need an experienced voice to help me on my first Prestashop site please. :-)

 

My configuration details are below and thanks in advance

 

 

Server information

 

Prestashop version: 1.4.7.0

Server information: Linux #1 SMP Tue Jun 7 16:46:50 EEST 2011 x86_64

Server software version: LiteSpeed

PHP version: 5.3.8

MySQL version: 5.1.61-cll

Store information

 

Shop URL: http://www.mydomain.co.uk/prestashop/

Current theme in use: prestashop

 

Mail configuration

 

Mail method: You are using the PHP mail() function.

 

Your information

 

Your web browser: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8) AppleWebKit/535.11 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/17.0.963.83 Safari/535.11

 

Check your configuration

Required parameters: OK

Optional parameters: OK

 

Back Office> Preferences> SEO & URLs

 

PS Directory > /prestashop/

 

Shop Domain Name > www.mydomain.co.uk

 

Shop Domain Name for SSL > www.mydomain.co.uk

[tomerg3]

1) You can add them at any point, they are certainly not required.

 

2) Yes, you only turn it on in the backoffice.

 

3) I believe the Prestashop team release a new document detailing exactly how to do that copy, and I know there are threads in the forum with that question answered.

 

You would need to copy it to the main folder and modify the /config/setting.inc.php file as well as rebuild your .htaccess file.

[Peeps]

Hi tomerg3,

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and for your advice.

Regarding 2) How/where do I change this in the back office?

Regarding 3) I don't suppose you know where the documentation is do you?

I am not sure what you mean when you say You would need to copy it to the main folder and modify the /config/setting.inc.php file as well as rebuild your .htaccess file.

I am a novice so please stick with me, one day I may be able to help others like you do :-)

 

Thanks again

[tomerg3]

2) In the Preferences tab there is an option to turn on SSL

 

3) No, not off the top of my head, have you looked in the guide? http://doc.prestashop.com

Between that, and doing a search in the forum (as I mentioned, this was asked before), you should be able to find all the answers you need.

[Peeps]

Thank you tomerg3, I will have a look in the guide and search the forum as you suggest.

You have been a star.

On another point..

I was a bit concerned that my shop would always have the URL mydomain.co.uk/prestashop/ as this was my shop URL when I downloaded Prestashop and I wouldn't be able to change it to mydomain/index.php etc when I moved the files once the site was finished.

Hopefully I will find out this information in the guide.

Thanks again, very much appreciated advice from a Prestashop Superstar :-)

[tomerg3]

You will be able to change it, don't worry.

 

Just make sure to keep the shop in maintenance mode, so search engines will not start to index it, and go through the documentation, it will help you understand a lot about Prestashop, as well as read old posts on the forum (people have been asking similar or identical questions for the last few years

[Peeps]

Thanks for putting my mind at rest, it's a weight off and now I can get on with building the site.

The shop is disabled apart from when I make changes to see how it looks so that should be OK shouldn't it?

I will certainly look through the forum for advice and once I get the hang of it I may be able to help others as well.

Until we meet again, take care and thank you for your help.