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Maybe you’ve been hearing and/or reading about “GDPR” and “HTTPS” lately … ominous warnings that you’ll need to comply by such-and-such a date, or else.
While we can’t wave a digital wand and get your site completely up-to-speed with every new regulation or rule that appears, we’re working hard to at least make it easier for you to do so, so you can get on with running your business.
With that goal in mind, we’ve released Rainmaker Platform Version 2.17.6 into the world, with a focus on new GDPR-related privacy settings, as well as ready-to-use HTTPS for your site.
Let’s take a quick look at each …
HTTPS for Everyone!
TL;DR … You’re all set, you don’t need to do anything, HTTPS has already been applied to your live Rainmaker site and is totally free. If you have any questions about it, just shoot us an email.
Now, why is this a big deal? Two big reasons …
- “Google has announced Chrome will begin explicitly warning users if a site is insecure.”
- Facebook will soon start requiring secure connections in order to use their API.
OK, maybe #2 isn’t such a problem for most people, but #1 up there needs to be addressed by anyone serious about doing business online.
Google’s Chrome browser is by far the most used web browser on both desktop and mobile devices. If your site is marked as not secured in that environment, that’s a lot of missed opportunity from potential readers who just won’t bother to click through.
But, from this day forward, you don’t have to worry about that. Your Rainmaker site is already secure and won’t be marked otherwise. We’ve got you covered. No hassle, no charge.
GDPR-Related Privacy Settings
We’ve just finished building a very nice set of tools to help you get further down the road toward GDPR compliance.
As we’ve said before, we’re not attorneys, and RMDS does not offer legal advice on any topic, including GDPR. These basic privacy settings are aimed at making compliance with these new rules and requirements easier for you. Much as we’d like to be able do all of this for you, in order to fully comply with GDPR, you’ll need to research and implement your own legal decisions in this matter.
The next time you login to your site, navigate to Settings > Privacy and you’ll see a brand new page of options. If you so desire, you can …
- Set a specific page as your Privacy Policy page and it will be automatically added to your site’s footer.
- Add a requirement to your site for the acceptance of cookies (if applied, your site will not fully load unless cookies are accepted).
- Add a checkbox to your comments and forum post forms that require active consent of your Privacy Policy and data collection practices.
- Add a checkbox to your membership registration forms to require active consent of your Privacy Policy and data collection practices.
- Add a checkbox to Rainmaker Platform native opt-in forms to require active consent of your Privacy Policy and data collection practices.
- Enable a GDPR consent template field that can then be manually added to all of your Rainmaker Platform forms.
There’s a lot to take in here and a bit of writing to get those settings in shape (and in your voice), but we hope this makes your job of compliance on this issue that much easier.
If you want to go a little deeper into GDPR before working on your settings, we put together a basic curated overview of this EU regulation for you last month, it’s worth a look.
Got Questions?
We’re here for you. Whether you need some help with what you’ve read above or want to develop a content marketing strategy that works, please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime.
Best regards,
Cody Haney
Director of Support
Rainmaker Digital Services
P.S. In case you haven’t heard, StudioPress has just been acquired by WP Engine! Rest assured, this deal will have no impact on The Rainmaker Platform or you, our customers. If you’re interested, you can read more about it on StudioPress, Copyblogger, or WP Engine.