CMS Development Guide 2026
πŸ” Security & Legal

SSL, privacy & legal basics

SSL certificate

Every site must have HTTPS. Most hosting providers include free SSL via Let's Encrypt. Without it, browsers show a "Not Secure" warning and Google penalizes the site.

Privacy policy & terms

If the site collects any user data β€” including email addresses from a form β€” it legally needs a Privacy Policy. Use a generator (Termly, Iubenda) or write one. Same with Terms of Service if selling anything.

operator note

you wouldn't go into a restaurant and see it's dirty and unkempt and still trust them with your money. A site without proper legal pages sends the same signal.