Using your .htaccess to remove duplicate content isues with HTTP and HTTPS Drupal 7 links is easily fixed with this technique.
If you are using an SSL certificate on your Drupal 7 website you may have an issue whereby you can access your site via both the HTTP and HTTPS url. This can cause problems for your website with search engines as it is creating duplicates of your pages. You will need to redirect your HTTP url to HTTPS.
Why should your website use HTTPS? HTTPS is most commonly used where sensitive information is sent to a website and if that information were to be intercepted it would be a problem for the user. This information is typically one of the following:
- Credit cards
- Cookies such as PHP session cookies
- Passwords and usernames
- Identifiable information (name, address, email address, passport number, driving license, national insurance number etc.)
- Confidential content
To avoid compromising your web site and protecting the sensitive information it is recommended that your website uses HTTPS. To do this you will need to install an SSL certificate on your website.
Most users will not be able to tell the difference between an HTTP and HTTPS website. In fact, the only noticeable difference on the front end of the website is that the URL in the address bar will be https://yourwebsite.com instead of http://yourwebsite.com and a small padlock icon next to it.
To redirect your website from HTTP to HTTPS simply insert the following code in your .htaccess file:
# Redirect to HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
That’s it! Test it and you’re good to go.
