Learn how to navigate your SSL.com Customer Portal and manage your digital certificates with confidence. This guide walks you through the Dashboard, Orders, and Validations pages, explaining how to track certificate orders, complete validation requirements, download issued certificates, manage renewals, and configure your account. Whether you’re new to SSL.com or deploying SSL/TLS, code signing, document signing, email signing, or PKI certificates, this guide provides the essential first steps for efficient certificate lifecycle management.
After purchasing a digital certificate, many customers wonder what comes next. Whether you’re securing a website, signing software, protecting email communications, or implementing a public key infrastructure (PKI) solution, successful certificate deployment depends on more than completing a purchase. You must manage orders, complete required validations, monitor certificate status, and retrieve issued certificates.
The SSL.com Customer Portal serves as the central hub for these activities. From a single interface, you can track certificate orders, complete validation requirements, manage account settings, download issued certificates, and monitor your organization’s certificate lifecycle.
This guide provides a complete onboarding overview of the three most important areas of the SSL.com Customer Portal:
- Dashboard – Your account overview and management center
- Orders – Certificate order tracking and lifecycle management
- Validations – Identity, organization, and domain validation workflows
Together, these areas form the foundation of certificate management within SSL.com.
Understanding the SSL.com Customer Portal
The SSL.com Customer Portal is designed to help customers manage certificates from initial purchase through issuance, deployment, renewal, and reissuance.
Depending on the certificate type you purchase, you may need to complete validation requirements before SSL.com can issue the certificate. The portal guides you through each step and provides visibility into the current status of every certificate request.
Typical Certificate Lifecycle
Most SSL.com customers follow a workflow similar to the following:
- Purchase a certificate.
- Review the order in the Orders page.
- Complete required validation tasks.
- Monitor validation progress.
- Download and install the issued certificate.
- Manage renewals, reissuance, and expiration reminders.
The Dashboard, Orders, and Validations pages work together to support this process.
First Stop: The Dashboard
The Dashboard is the first page displayed after signing in to your SSL.com account. Think of it as your command center, providing a high-level view of your account activity and certificate status.
For step by step instructions to all the functions of the Dashboard, refer to this guide: Your SSL.com Account – the Dashboard
Accessing the Dashboard
To access the Dashboard:
- Visit the SSL.com website.
- Select Login from the navigation menu.
- Sign in with your SSL.com account credentials.
After successful authentication, you will be redirected to the Dashboard.
What You’ll Find on the Dashboard
The Dashboard provides a summary of your account and certificate activity, including:
- Pending certificate requests
- Orders currently under validation
- Shopping cart items
- Available account funds
- Team selection and management
- Recent account activity
- Account administration tools
The status indicators at the top of the page help you quickly understand where action may be required.
Status Overview
The Dashboard header includes several useful counters:
|
Status |
Description |
|
Incomplete |
Certificate requests that still require information before validation can begin |
|
Processing |
Orders currently undergoing validation |
|
Cart Items |
Certificates added to your cart but not yet purchased |
|
Available Funds |
Account credit available for purchases |
If you manage multiple organizations or environments, you can also select or switch between SSL.com Teams from the Dashboard.
Managing Your Account
The Dashboard provides access to essential account management functions, including:
- Updating your email address
- Changing your password
- Managing notification preferences
- Configuring Teams
- Viewing billing information
- Managing contacts and validated identities
These settings help ensure the correct individuals receive certificate notifications, validation requests, and expiration reminders.
Managing Contacts and Identities
Two important account resources are available from the Dashboard:
Contacts
Contacts are individuals who receive notifications related to certificate orders and lifecycle events.
Typical contacts include:
- Administrators
- Technical contacts
- Billing contacts
- Validation contacts
Creating contacts in advance simplifies certificate ordering and validation.
Validated Identities
Validated identities can significantly streamline future certificate requests.
Depending on your certificate requirements, identities may represent:
- An individual
- A business or organization
Once validated, these identities can be reused for future Organization Validation (OV), Extended Validation (EV), code signing, document signing, and other certificate orders.
Managing Certificate Orders
After purchasing a certificate, the Orders page becomes your primary workspace.
For step by step instructions to all the functions of the Orders page, refer to this guide: Your SSL.com Account – Orders
Accessing the Orders Page
Select Orders from the Customer Portal navigation menu.
The Orders page provides a centralized view of all certificate requests associated with your account.
Understanding Order Status
Each certificate order displays important information, including:
- Certificate type
- Order date
- Expiration date
- Validation status
- Issuance status
- Available actions
This allows you to quickly determine whether a certificate:
- Requires validation
- Is awaiting issuance
- Has already been issued
- Needs renewal or reprocessing
Searching and Filtering Orders
Organizations often manage dozens or even hundreds of certificates.
The Orders page includes search and filtering tools that allow you to locate orders using criteria such as:
- Domain name
- Organization name
- Order status
- Order date
- Tags
- Organizational unit
These tools simplify certificate inventory management and reporting.
Viewing Order Details
Each order includes a detailed information page containing:
- Certificate information
- Validation requirements
- Contact assignments
- Serial numbers
- Download options
- Order history
This is often the first place to check when troubleshooting issuance delays.
Downloading Issued Certificates
Once validation is complete and a certificate is issued, the Orders page provides access to certificate downloads.
SSL.com offers platform-specific certificate bundles for many common environments, including:
- Apache
- NGINX
- Microsoft IIS
- Other supported server platforms
These bundles help simplify installation and reduce configuration errors.
Renewing Certificates
Certificates have expiration dates and should be renewed before expiration to avoid service interruptions.
From the Orders page, you can:
- Locate the certificate.
- Select Renew.
- Choose the desired renewal term.
- Complete checkout.
Proactive renewal helps prevent browser warnings, service disruptions, and loss of customer trust.
Reissuing or Rekeying Certificates
Sometimes a certificate must be replaced before it expires.
Common reasons include:
- Domain changes
- Subject Alternative Name (SAN) updates
- Private key compromise
- Cryptographic key rotation
The Orders page allows you to reissue certificates using:
- A previously used CSR
- A managed CSR stored in the portal
- A newly generated CSR
- An externally generated CSR
This flexibility simplifies certificate lifecycle management while maintaining security best practices.
Completing Validation Requirements
Many SSL.com certificates require validation before issuance.
For step by step instructions to all the functions of the Orders page, refer to this guide: Your SSL.com Account – Validations
Accessing the Validations Page
Select Validations from the Customer Portal navigation menu.
This page displays all outstanding validation tasks associated with your certificate orders.
How the Validation Workflow Works
The Validations page acts as a task manager for certificate issuance.
Instead of requiring you to navigate multiple screens, SSL.com presents only the next required action for each certificate order.
Examples include:
- Completing Domain Control Validation (DCV)
- Uploading identity documents
- Providing organization information
- Completing phone verification
- Performing validation callbacks
This guided workflow helps reduce delays and ensures validation requirements are completed in the correct order.
Understanding Validation Levels
Validation requirements vary depending on the certificate type.
Domain Validation (DV)
DV certificates require verification that you control the domain name being secured.
Common validation methods include:
- DNS validation
- Email validation
- HTTP file validation
DV certificates are commonly used for websites and basic TLS encryption.
Organization Validation (OV)
OV certificates require:
- Domain validation
- Organization identity verification
SSL.com verifies information about the requesting organization using independent and authoritative sources.
Extended Validation (EV)
EV certificates require the most extensive verification process.
Requirements generally include:
- Domain validation
- Organization validation
- Additional business verification
- Authorized representative verification
These requirements are governed by industry standards established by the CA/Browser Forum.
Uploading Validation Documents
For OV, EV, code signing, document signing, and certain other certificate types, supporting documentation may be required.
When documentation is needed:
- Open the validation task.
- Select Upload Documents.
- Upload the requested files.
- Submit the documents for review.
The portal supports both individual file uploads and multi-file submissions.
Providing complete and accurate documentation helps reduce validation delays.
Validation Callbacks
Certain certificate types require telephone verification.
When phone verification is required:
- Confirm your contact information.
- Verify your validation contact.
- Request a callback link.
- Complete the callback process.
Once verification is completed, SSL.com can proceed with the remaining validation steps.
How Dashboard, Orders, and Validations Work Together
Although each page serves a different purpose, they are designed to support a single certificate management workflow.
|
Portal Area |
Primary Purpose |
|
Dashboard |
Account overview and management |
|
Orders |
Certificate lifecycle management |
|
Validations |
Completion of issuance requirements |
A typical workflow looks like this:
- Purchase a certificate.
- Monitor status on the Dashboard.
- Open the order from the Orders page.
- Complete required actions in the Validations page.
- Return to Orders to download the issued certificate.
- Use the Dashboard to manage ongoing account activity.
Understanding this relationship helps new SSL.com customers navigate the portal more efficiently.
Recommended First Steps for New SSL.com Customers
After creating your SSL.com account, consider completing the following setup tasks:
- Review your Dashboard and account settings.
- Add administrative, technical, and billing contacts.
- Create validated identities for future certificate requests.
- Configure notification preferences.
- Configure certificate expiration reminders.
- Review any active certificate orders.
- Complete outstanding validation requirements.
- Familiarize yourself with certificate download and renewal options.
Completing these tasks early can reduce issuance delays and simplify future certificate management.
Conclusion
The SSL.com Customer Portal provides a centralized platform for managing every stage of the certificate lifecycle. The Dashboard gives you visibility into account activity, the Orders page helps you manage certificate requests and issued certificates, and the Validations page guides you through any verification requirements needed for issuance.
By understanding how these three areas work together, you can issue certificates more efficiently, maintain compliance with industry validation requirements, reduce operational delays, and ensure your websites, applications, software, and communications remain protected with trusted digital certificates.