I'm happy to announce that I have just rolled out an awesome and long-awaited feature: SSL certificates for Podcasts with custom domains.
SSL certificates are what makes a website secure, ensuring that your visit is encrypted. You know you're visiting a secure site because the URL will contain https:// and your browser will display a little lock icon (🔒) in the URL field.
Although all Fireside Podcast websites are secured by default when using the built-in subdomain (e.g. mypodcast.fireside.fm), and RSS feeds and MP3 downloads are always encrypted via SSL, Podcasts with custom domains were delivered via the standard http:// protocol, meaning they were not encrypted. Now every Fireside Podcast with a custom domain can have its own secure SSL certificate.
And did I mention that they're free? It's true! Instead of having to pay for a certificate from a registrar, or having to use a third-party to generate one, all you need to do is toggle a switch, and Fireside will automatically request, generate, and install one for you while you sit back and drink your coffee, tea, or Saurian Brandy.
To enable SSL for your custom domain once you've added and verified your domain, just visit Settings → Domains and toggle the SSL switch from Off to On. Note that it can take up to an hour for this change to take effect. You’ll then be able to visit your domain with https:// instead of http:// and you’ll see the lock in the URL field in your browser.
If you run into any unexpected issues, please file a support ticket and I’ll get it sorted out for you.
Thanks for trying out this new feature, and happy podcasting!
Dan Benjamin
Founder, Fireside.fm
