Setting up a custom SSL Certificate for Soapbox Engage

By default, any secure Soapbox Engage pages (i.e. any page with payment options on it) will utilize our SSL certificate and as a result will have a URL with the following syntax:

https://{siteprefix}.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com

Setting up a custom security certificate for your organization would provide you with a couple of benefits:

1. It would enable you to customize your secure URL (i.e. using your own domain https://secure.myorg.org) for the secure pages of your Soapbox Engage site.
2. It would ensure that your users’ logged in state can be maintained even on secure pages. This is needed so that when individuals are logged into your site, they don’t get bumped off / logged out when they go to these secure pages. (This applies to Soapbox Engage sites with Portals enabled only).
3. It would ensure that when your users’ go to register for an event or make a donation they do not have to fill in their information again. (This applies to Soapbox Engage sites with Portals enabled only).

Here are the steps required to get an SSL certificate:

1. Notify PICnet the you wish to purchase a SSL certificate so that you can use your organization’s own domain for secure transactions
2. Provide PICnet with the follow information so that we may generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR):
• Email address of the certificate owner:
• Certificate password (choose a random, secure password containing only numbers and letters, 8-16 characters long. (e.g. "85HqImqvyDrD" meets the requirements, but "Star6060" does not):
• The exact domain (CN) the certificate is for (e.g. www.domain.com):
• City:
• State / Province / Territory:
• 2 Letter Country Abbreviation (using ISO 3166-1 Format):
• Organization Name:
3. PICnet will provide you with a CSR to be used in the purchase process
4. Purchase an SSL Certificate using the CSR that PICnet provides. You can choose to purchase a standard single domain certificates or single domain EV certificates. We typically use Rapid SSL: http://www.rapidssl.com, however, you can feel free to use whichever company you would like. The typical cost for this is about $10 a month. This amount will be paid directly to the company you choose to purchase the certificate from.
5. PICnet will then install the certificate and notify you when it is done. This can take up to 48 hours to complete. When it is complete, we will provide you with a new IP address for your domain.
6. Update the A records for your domain to point to the new IP address that we provide. Please note that we recommend completing this update after hours to ensure that you do not experience any downtime.
7. Once that is complete, the monthly fee that your team pays to PICnet will increase by $29.99 as that is the increased cost incurred on our end for this additional service.

Summary of Additional Charges

• Approximately $10.00 per month charge to company where you purchase your SSL Certificate
• $30 charge from PICnet for additional hosting configurations

Total Additional Monthly Charges: $40

To move forward with this configuration simply open up a ticket now »

Please note that if you choose not to set up a custom SSL Certificate, your members can still make donations and register for events. However, if you have Portals enabled and your members are logged into the site, they will get logged out of the site when they go to make donations or register for events and will be required to fill in their contact information each time (rather than having it auto-populated based on their member account when they are logged in).