I’d tried setting up SSL for digitortoise.com a few times in the past — through Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt. But for one reason or another, I’d always lose interest halfway through.
The documentation? Too scattered.
The YouTube tutorials? Never quite matched my setup.
The result? No padlock. Just an insecure site and a lingering to-do.
This time, I decided to do it differently — I asked ChatGPT to walk me through it. And honestly, I’d say after you’ve read the headline here, you can stop reading and head to ChatGPT and get it done.
TL;DR
Tried Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt before but always dropped off mid-way. This time I used ChatGPT to walk me through a clean SSL setup for digitortoise.com — no fluff, no plugin overload. Fixed Cloudflare errors, updated WordPress settings, and even caught a sneaky PHP issue along the way.
What This Post Covers:
- Why I ditched tutorials and used ChatGPT
- How I configured Cloudflare + GoDaddy for SSL
- Fixing Cloudflare error 526 and a PHP/MySQL error
- Cleaning up mixed content with Better Search Replace
- Final thoughts on how the whole thing came together
Here’s how it actually came together. Step by step (mostly):
1. Reconnected Cloudflare to My Domain
I had already used Cloudflare before, but I started fresh. Pointed my GoDaddy nameservers to Cloudflare, and within a few minutes, DNS was routing through it.
I’d forgotten how fast this part actually is when you’re not overthinking it. DNS propagation used to feel like a wait-and-pray situation, but it synced up pretty quickly this time. No errors, no downtime.
2. Set SSL Mode to Full (Not Full (Strict))
This is where ChatGPT saved me some serious time. It explained why Full (Strict) was throwing errors (my GoDaddy server didn’t have a valid cert), and how switching to just Full would let Cloudflare handle SSL externally — instantly fixed the 526 errors I was hitting.
The clarity here was key. I wasn’t in the mood to test random combinations of SSL settings, and it helped to know why “Strict” wasn’t the move. Once I flipped it to just
Full, the error was gone instantly. Probably saved me 2 hours of guessing.
3. Updated WordPress URLs to HTTPS
Switched both the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to https://digitortoise.com from the WP admin.
This is one of those changes that feels tiny but is super important. It ensures WordPress stops referencing the insecure HTTP version anywhere, especially when generating internal links. Simple fix, but crucial to get the whole SSL thing actually working end to end.
4. Flushed Caches (GoDaddy + Cloudflare)
Cleared caches in both GoDaddy and Cloudflare. One click each. Reloaded the site — halfway there.
I used to skip this thinking it wasn’t necessary unless you changed actual content. Turns out, cache can still serve an old version of your site that looks broken even when the fix is in place. Good reminder that cache-clearing is part of the workflow, not an optional step.
5. Ran Into a PHP Error — Fixed That Too
After the SSL fix, the site threw this wildcard error:
"Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension..."
ChatGPT guessed it immediately: likely a broken PHP config on GoDaddy’s side. I logged into the GoDaddy dashboard, changed the PHP version back and forth, and boom — site came back online.
Honestly, I thought I broke something major. But toggling the PHP version (from the same version to itself, even) forced GoDaddy to reinitialize the stack, and that brought everything back up. Would’ve taken me forever to debug this solo.
6. Cleaned Up Mixed Content With One Plugin
Even though the site was loading over HTTPS, the padlock still showed a warning. So I installed Better Search Replace, ran a dry test to spot http://digitortoise.com links, and replaced them with https://. That was it — clean padlock, no warnings.
This part felt like cleanup, but it’s the difference between technically secure and visibly secure. That little padlock is what tells visitors, “yes, this site is legit.” Took 5 minutes to fix with the plugin, but makes a big difference in how the site feels.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, the biggest unlock wasn’t a plugin or a magic setting — it was having someone (okay, something) that could guide me in real time, match my setup, and troubleshoot based on my stack, not a generic “how-to” video.
If you’ve got a lingering SSL issue or just want to clean up your site once and for all, I highly recommend doing what I did: skip the rabbit holes, and ask ChatGPT.
Want to swap notes?
If you’re stuck on SSL or cleaning up your own WordPress setup, feel free to drop comment here. Always happy to share what worked — and what didn’t.