HTTPS, sometimes referred to as "SSL" or "TLS," is a crucial security feature we provide for every community website—whether free or paid. Don't let others fool you into believing HTTPS is optional, a personal preference, or should cost extra. Without HTTPS, your members' personal details, passwords, and private information are not safe. It's why website browsers issue prominent warnings for websites that don't use HTTPS.
Many years ago, we pioneered security in our industry by being the first to protect every one of the community websites on our platform with 100% HTTPS coverage, completely free of charge, because we believe security is a necessity that shouldn't cost extra. We remained one of the only community website providers to offer HTTPS free of charge for years afterward, and today, we're still one of the only community website providers to take the additional step of employing HSTS—something we've also been doing for years because of our commitment to industry-leading security.
What HTTPS does
HTTPS encrypts all data traveling between a website visitor and the website itself, and ensures the visitor is connecting to the website they think they're connecting to. This prevents others from viewing your private data while it's in transit, something even a novice attacker could easily do.
What HSTS does
HSTS instructs browsers to never access the website without HTTPS. This protects against more sophisticated attacks designed to bypass the protection offered by HTTPS.