This tutorial walks you through copying your Web Linguist SSL certificate into your WP Engine site's Custom SSL configuration. The process takes about two minutes. You'll need to repeat it every ~60 days when your certificate renews — we'll email you each time.

Not sure why you're doing this or what it actually changes? Read our explanation of how SSL works with managed hosting providers first — this tutorial assumes you've decided to upload the certificate and just want the steps.

Before you start

Make sure your DNS records are fully verified in your Web Linguist dashboard — every record should show a green check mark. If any row is still red or pending, the certificate hasn't been issued yet and the next step won't work.

Step 1 — Find your certificate in the Web Linguist dashboard

1. Log in to your Web Linguist dashboard.
2. Open the website whose certificate you want to upload.
3. Go to the Installation tab.
4. Scroll down past the DNS records section. You'll see a collapsible section labelled SSL Certificate with an Action needed badge.
5. Click Show on the right side of that section to expand it.

You'll now see two boxes: Certificate (full chain) and Private Key, along with the certificate's issue date and expiration date.

Step 2 — Copy the certificate

1. Next to the Certificate (full chain) box, click the Copy button. You should see a brief "Copied!" confirmation.
2. Keep the dashboard tab open — you'll come back to it.

Step 3 — Paste the certificate into WP Engine

1. In a new browser tab, log in to the WP Engine User Portal.
2. Click the environment for the site you want to update.
3. Click Manage.
4. Click SSL in the left sidebar.
5. Click Add Certificate.
6. Choose Import Certificate.
7. Paste the certificate you just copied into the Certificate field.
8. Don't submit yet — you still need the private key.

Step 4 — Copy and paste the private key

1. Switch back to your Web Linguist dashboard tab.
2. In the Private Key box, click Show to reveal it (hidden by default so it doesn't appear on-screen unnecessarily).
3. Click the Copy button next to the private key.
4. Switch back to the WP Engine tab and paste it into the Private Key field.
5. Submit the form.

WP Engine will validate that the certificate and private key match, then activate the custom SSL on your site. This usually takes a few seconds.

Step 5 — Mark it as uploaded in your dashboard

1. Return to your Web Linguist dashboard.
2. In the SSL Certificate section, tick the checkbox labelled I have uploaded these to my hosting provider.

The badge in the section header will change from Action needed to Uploaded. This is just a confirmation for your own tracking — we use it to know whether to remind you the next time your certificate renews.

That's it — what to expect from here

WP Engine is now serving your certificate. Their renewal-failure emails will stop within a day or two, and their internal monitoring will show your SSL as valid.

About every 60 days we'll automatically issue a fresh certificate (Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days, so we renew with about a month to spare). When that happens:

• We'll send you an email letting you know the certificate has been renewed.
• Your dashboard's SSL section will show Action needed again.
• You'll repeat Steps 1–5 above with the new certificate values.

The new certificate will be valid the moment we issue it (your visitors are unaffected), so there's no urgency on the upload — you have the full ~90-day window to get to it.

Something went wrong?

If WP Engine rejects the certificate or key with an error like "Key is not in PEM format" or "Certificate and key do not match," double-check that you copied the entire contents of each box (including the -----BEGIN…----- and -----END…----- lines). If you're still stuck, reach out to our support team with a copy of WP Engine's exact error message and we'll help you sort it out.