Cloudflare is an organization which provides content delivery network (CDN), DNS Service, DDoS mitigation, Internet security, and other security threats Preventive Solutions.
It is very popular and widely used by millions of websites all across the world.
Here at Fixwebnode, as part of our Website Support Services, we regularly help our customers to Set up Cloudflare on their Website and Server.
Today, we shall look into how to install and configure Cloudflare on a WordPress Site.

More information about Cloudflare?

Cloudflare provides a free CDN service which protects your website against threats such as identity theft, SQL injections and many more. It also enhances the overall performance of your website by speeding up loading times through its robust data centers across the world.
You can say that Cloudflare is a giant VPN Service for Websites.

How to install Cloudflare?

To begin, start by registering a cloudflare account via their Official Cloudflare Website .
After registering an account successfully, follow the steps below to install Cloudflare on your WordPress website.

i. First, log into your Cloudflare dashboard with your account information and click on the "+ Add Site" button on the top right side of your account page. Here, you should enter your WordPress domain followed by clicking on "Begin Scan" to start the process of adding your site.
Then this will take you to the next page where you should click on "Continue Setup".

ii. With Cloudflare, you have two options. You can choose to use their "DNS" service or their "CDN and Protection" . The CDN and protection option helps to boost the speed of your website and also give protection to your sites.
Ensure that the added domain is enable which you can see as "orange" colour if so. You can also add additionally records for your domain such as MX records.
If you are comfortable with the settings, click on "Continue" button to proceed.

iii. On the new page, select a cloudflare plan. You can start with their free plan to see how they work before upgrading to a paid one. You can learn more about the other Cloudflare plans.
Next click on "Continue" to proceed.

iv. The next step will allow you to modify the nameservers of your domain to point it to that of Cloudflare. Since Cloudflare is a complete proxy service, their service helps to point your domain to Cloudflare and then Cloudflare points your domain to your Host.
It could take about 48 hours or earlier to get the nameservers to Resolve.
Next, click on "Continue" to proceed.

v. Now update the "A" record for your domain to point to your host from within your Cloudflare dashboard. Next click on "DNS" where you can modify the IPv4 address as per your case.
Now, Cloudflare has now been configured for your WordPress Website!

Alternative method of Setting up Cloudflare for your WordPress Website

You can also use a Cloudflare plugin to set up cloudflare for your WordPress site. To do this, you have to install Cloudflare's official plugin  .
This plugin has the following features;
1. It helps to fix WordPress comments appearing from the same IP address
Automatic cache purging.
2. With the Header rewrite feature, it helps to prevent a redirect loop when Cloudflare’s Universal SSL is enabled.
3. It has the ability to change settings on Cloudflare account from within the plugin itself (cache purge, security level, image optimization, etc.).
4. View analytics such as total visitors, bandwidth saved, and threats blocked.
5. Support for HTTP2/Server Push https://blog.cloudflare.com/announcing-support-for-http-2-server-push-2/ .

Now Log into your WordPress Dashboard and navigate to the "Plugins" tab where you can upload the downloaded Cloudflare plugin.
After installing the plugin, you have to enter your cloudflare email address as well as the API key which is available in your Cloudflare account settings page. The "Global API Key" is sufficient.
Then after imputing the API key, click on "Save API Credentials" button to continue.
Now, in the Cloudflare's "Home" tab, you can either apply the default settings or update it as per your needs.
In the "Settings" tab, you can set image optimization if you have a paid cloudflare plan. Other settings such as to turn on development mode, modify the security level and enabling automatic HTTPS rewrites is also possible.
In the "Analytics" tab, you can view the amount of requests, bandwidth, visitors as well as threats received in your WordPress site.

How to fix common Cloudflare issues?

Most cloudflare users experience error "ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS" in Google Chrome when trying to install Cloudflare on their WordPress Website. Other error such as "The page isn’t redirecting properly" in Firefox is also evident.

Need to fix WordPress issues? We can help you today.

These errors are due to the fact that you already have an SSL configured on your Web server and now it is conflicting with Cloudflare. You can fix this issue by switching the SSL mode to full from your website control panel if you are using cPanel.

You also create an SSL redirect rule to solve this issue.

How to clear Cloudflare Cache?

Do you keep getting issues while using Cloudflare? You might need to purge Cloudflare cache.

This can be implemented via two ways.

i. Clearing Cloudflare Cache in WordPress Plugin

To do this, simply purge the cache by navigating to the "Settings" tab in your WordPress Dashboard. Here Click on "Cloudflare" and then you will see an option to "Purge Cache".

ii. Clearing Cache from Cloudflare Control Panel

Another option to enable you clear cache is to do it from Cloudflare control panel . Here you can click on the "Caching" tab where you can click on "Purge Everything".

Now your website will be running smoothly again.

Need to redesign or Optimize your WordPress website? We are available to help you today.