Actually, this is a DNN issue, but I've identified that it is also an IIS issue. The latest version of DNN defaults to https for administrative pages; and my IIS installation has NO https bindings because there is no digital certificate on my laptop! The friend who suggested I look into this also directed me to this external site
http://www.dylanbeattie.net/docs/openssl_iis_ssl_howto.html
for instructions on creating a self-signed certificate using open ssl, for use with IIS 5. I, of course, am using IIS 7, and the Microsoft knowledge base article the site refers to bears zero resemblance to my IIS Manager interface. I have successfully executed everything in the list down to this line:
"This will create our CA certificate and store it as c:\ssl\certs\ca.cer"
I next opened the KB on generating a certificate request - and I'm hosed. How do I tell IIS 7 to use the certificate I have stored?? When I edit the Bindings and try to add https, the SSL Certificate option only says "Not Selected," and a "View" button is grayed out. I'm way out of my depth here; but I'm morally certain this is my problem with my web site. If you can suggest a more current KB I'd be very grateful.