{"id":735,"date":"2017-01-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.hostinger.io\/hostinger-tutorials\/uncategorized\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress\/"},"modified":"2024-09-16T09:55:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T09:55:08","slug":"setup-cloudflare-on-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Up Cloudflare CDN on WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every second counts when it comes to a website&rsquo;s loading time. Fast page speed improves user experience and rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).<\/p><p>Luckily, WordPress is an extremely flexible CMS that lets you apply different improvements, including speed optimization plugins such as Cloudflare.<\/p><p>This tutorial will explain the steps to set up the WordPress Cloudflare plugin. We will also share the best practices when using this service for website optimization.<\/p><p>By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to speed up and secure your WordPress site using Cloudflare.<\/p><p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.hostinger.com\/content\/tutorials\/pdf\/Mega-WordPress-Cheat-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download all in one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p><p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-cloudflare-cdn\">What Is the Cloudflare CDN<\/h2><p>Cloudflare is a popular <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/what-is-cdn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">content delivery network (CDN)<\/a>. A CDN uses a group of servers worldwide to deliver websites&rsquo; content faster.<\/p><p>Cloudflare works by making copies of a website on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/proxy-server\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proxy servers<\/a>. Any request to access the website&rsquo;s content will go to the server closest to the visitor&rsquo;s location for faster processing.<\/p><p>In addition, this content delivery network service also protects your website against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/ddos\/what-is-a-ddos-attack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks<\/a> by monitoring all incoming traffic and blocking suspicious users.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-cloudflare-help-your-wordpress-website\">How Does Cloudflare Help Your WordPress Website<\/h2><p>Cloudflare mainly optimizes WordPress sites&rsquo; speed and security.<\/p><p>It can <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/speed-up-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speed up your WordPress site<\/a> by minimizing the distance between the visitor&rsquo;s device and Cloudflare&rsquo;s servers.<\/p><p>In addition, this <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/improving-website-performance-using-a-cdn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDN improves your website&rsquo;s performance<\/a> with features like image resizing and auto minification.<\/p><p>Cloudflare can also ensure your site&rsquo;s data privacy by hiding your nameservers on <a href=\"\/ph\/whois\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">domain registration lookup<\/a> tools (WHOIS). Additionally, Cloudflare web analytics ensures security by showing the number of threats it detects and stops.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-setting-up-cloudflare-on-wordpress\">Setting up Cloudflare on WordPress<\/h2><p>Follow these steps to set up this <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wordpress-cdn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress CDN<\/a> on your site:<\/p><p>\n\n\n<div><p class=\"important\"><strong>Important!<\/strong> Make sure to have access to your domain name registrar before setting up Cloudflare.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-creating-a-cloudflare-account\">1. Creating a Cloudflare Account<\/h3><p>Head to the <a href=\"http:\/\/cloudflare.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cloudflare website<\/a> and click <strong>Sign Up<\/strong> to create a new account. Verify your email address before continuing to the next step.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"593\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page-1024x593.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's sign up page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page-1024x593.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page-300x174.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page-150x87.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page-768x445.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-sign-up-page.png 1143w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-adding-a-domain-name-to-cloudflare\">2. Adding a Domain Name to Cloudflare<\/h3><p>Log in to your Cloudflare account and follow these steps to add your domain name:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Click <strong>Add site<\/strong> at the top right of the Cloudflare dashboard.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"460\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button-1024x460.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's add site button\n\" class=\"wp-image-70509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button-1024x460.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button-150x67.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button-768x345.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-site-button.png 1290w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li>Enter your WordPress site&rsquo;s URL and click <strong>Add site<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><p>\n\n\n<div><p class=\"important\"><strong>Important!<\/strong> To add multiple WordPress sites, click Learn how.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"460\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL-1024x460.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's add a new website URL\n\" class=\"wp-image-70510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL-1024x460.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL-150x67.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL-768x345.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-add-a-new-website-URL.png 1292w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Select a plan<\/strong> for your Cloudflare account. The <strong>free<\/strong> plan is suitable for small to medium WordPress websites. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/plans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">premium plans<\/a> have additional features for websites that handle more traffic:<\/li>\n<\/ol><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pro<\/strong> &ndash; offers additional optimization features and cache analytics for <strong>$20\/month<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business<\/strong> &ndash; comes with dedicated customer support and more advanced security features for <strong>$200\/month<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enterprise<\/strong> &ndash; provides complete features for caching, security, and optimization. Contact Cloudflare&rsquo;s customer service to get the exact pricing.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"732\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2-1024x732.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare plans\n\" class=\"wp-image-70511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2-1024x732.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2-768x549.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-plans-2.png 1274w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-checking-your-domain-s-dns-records\">3. Checking Your Domain&rsquo;s DNS Records<\/h3><p>After adding your WordPress site, Cloudflare will automatically scan for common <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/dns\/dns-records\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DNS records<\/a> and add them to your account.<\/p><p>Sometimes, Cloudflare doesn&rsquo;t necessarily find all records in the <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/what-is-dns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">domain name system (DNS)<\/a>. Therefore, it will ask you to <strong>Review your DNS records<\/strong>.<\/p><p>First, make sure that the <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-check-if-domain-a-record-is-pointed-correctly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">domain is pointed correctly<\/a> by checking your A records. While checking your records, we also recommend enabling Cloudflare for <strong>www<\/strong> and <strong>non-www<\/strong> versions of your site.<\/p><p>To enable or disable Cloudflare for specific subdomains, toggle the button under <strong>Proxy status<\/strong>. Once you are done, press <strong>Continue<\/strong> to proceed to the next step.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"664\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records-1024x664.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare review DNS records\n\" class=\"wp-image-70512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records-1024x664.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records-150x97.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records-768x498.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-review-DNS-records.png 1275w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>\n\n\n<div><p class=\"important\"><strong>Important!<\/strong> We don&rsquo;t recommend enabling Cloudflare for cPanel, mail, or FTP, as doing so can cause DNS issues.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-pointing-your-domain-name-to-cloudflare-nameservers\">4. Pointing Your Domain Name to Cloudflare Nameservers<\/h3><p>Cloudflare will direct you to <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-change-domain-nameservers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">change your nameservers<\/a>. Copy both Cloudflare nameservers and head to your domain name registrar.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"733\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction-1024x733.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's change nameservers instruction\n\" class=\"wp-image-70513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction-1024x733.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction-768x550.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-change-nameservers-instruction.png 1271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Depending on your domain name registrar, the steps of changing the nameservers may slightly differ. Here is how to change your nameservers with Hostinger:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Log in to your Hostinger account and head to the <strong>Domains<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select the <strong>DNS\/Nameservers<\/strong> section and click <strong>Change nameservers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copy and paste Cloudflare&rsquo;s nameservers in the first two fields and click <strong>Save<\/strong> to finalize the process.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"532\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example-1024x532.png\" alt=\"Hostinger change nameservers example\n\" class=\"wp-image-70514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example-1024x532.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example-150x78.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example-768x399.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Hostinger-change-nameservers-example.png 1272w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Head back to the Cloudflare website and click <strong>Done, check nameservers<\/strong>.<\/p><p>\n\n\n<div><p class=\"important\"><strong>Important!<\/strong> The domain might take up to 24 hours to propagate the new nameservers. You will receive a confirmation email from Cloudflare once the propagation is complete.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-configure-the-https-settings\">5. Configure the HTTPS Settings<\/h3><p>Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an internet communication protocol that secures the data exchanged over a computer network.<\/p><p>A WordPress site with a <a href=\"\/ph\/free-ssl-certificate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate<\/a> will show a padlock and <strong>https:\/\/ <\/strong>instead of <strong>http:\/\/ <\/strong>before its URL.<\/p><p>Cloudflare&rsquo;s SSL\/TLS encryption mode helps determine how to validate the SSL certificate in your origin server.<\/p><p>Follow these steps to configure Cloudflare&rsquo;s HTTPS settings page and protect your WordPress site against potential data breaches:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On your Cloudflare dashboard, go to <strong>SSL\/TLS &rarr; Overview <\/strong>and choose one of the <strong>SSL\/TLS <\/strong>encryption modes:<\/li>\n<\/ol><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Flexible<\/strong> &ndash; encrypts traffic between visitors&rsquo; browsers and Cloudflare. This option is suitable for WordPress sites that do not have an SSL certificate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Full <\/strong>&ndash; provides end-to-end protection from your site to the visitor&rsquo;s server. This option works best for WordPress sites with a self-signed SSL certificate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Full (strict)<\/strong> &ndash; enforces stricter requirements for origin certificates than the <strong>Full <\/strong>mode. We recommend choosing this option for WordPress sites with valid SSL certificates.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>\n\n\n<div><p class=\"important\"><strong>Important!<\/strong> If you aren&rsquo;t sure which encryption mode to choose, use the <strong>SSL\/TLS Recommender<\/strong> feature to get a suggestion.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"730\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page-1024x730.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's SSL or TLS Overview page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page-1024x730.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page-768x547.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Overview-page.png 1271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li>Go to <strong>SSL\/TLS &rarr; Edge Certificates<\/strong> and turn on <strong>Always Use HTTPS <\/strong>to direct all HTTP requests to HTTPS. This feature might take a while to work, but you will see a padlock icon next to the site&rsquo;s URL once it is active.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page-1024x720.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's SSL or TLS Edge Certificates page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page-1024x720.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page-150x105.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page-768x540.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-SSL-or-TLS-Edge-Certificates-page.png 1287w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Check if your web hosting provider offers free SSL certificates before purchasing. For instance, Hostinger&rsquo;s <a href=\"\/ph\/web-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">web hosting<\/a> plans include an unlimited free SSL certificate.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-installing-and-configuring-the-cloudflare-wordpress-plugin\">6. Installing and Configuring the Cloudflare WordPress Plugin<\/h3><p>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/cloudflare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cloudflare plugin<\/a>, you can easily change its settings directly from the WordPress dashboard. First, head to your Cloudflare account to get the Application Programming Interface (API) key:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Look for <strong>API<\/strong> at the bottom right corner of your Cloudflare dashboard. Click <strong>Get your API token<\/strong> to continue.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"805\" height=\"446\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare API section\n\" class=\"wp-image-70517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section.png 805w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section-150x83.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-API-section-768x426.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 805px) 100vw, 805px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li>Insert your Cloudflare account&rsquo;s <strong>Password<\/strong> and click <strong>View<\/strong>. Copy the <strong>Global API key <\/strong>and head to your WordPress dashboard.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"588\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key-1024x588.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare to get global API key\n\" class=\"wp-image-70518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key-1024x588.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key-150x86.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key-768x441.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-to-get-global-API-key.png 1273w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Head to your WordPress dashboard to continue configuring Cloudflare:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <strong>Plugins &rarr; Add New <\/strong>and search for the Cloudflare WordPress plugin. Click <strong>Install Now<\/strong> and <strong>Activate <\/strong>Cloudflare.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"556\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin-1024x556.png\" alt=\"WordPress Cloudflare plugin\n\" class=\"wp-image-70519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin-150x81.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin.png 1391w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li>Go to <strong>Settings &rarr; Cloudflare<\/strong> and click on <strong>Sign in here<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"605\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in-1024x605.png\" alt=\"WordPress Cloudflare account creation page, highlighting the Sign in here button\" class=\"wp-image-70522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in-1024x605.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in-150x89.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in-768x453.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-sign-in.png 1277w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li>Enter your Cloudflare account <strong>Email <\/strong>and paste the previously copied <strong>Global API key<\/strong>. Click <strong>Save API Credentials<\/strong> to continue.<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"532\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key-1024x532.png\" alt=\"WordPress Cloudflare settings, featuring the Enter Cloudflare API credentials window\" class=\"wp-image-70523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key-1024x532.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key-150x78.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key-768x399.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-add-API-key.png 1294w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><p>Now, you can configure important Cloudflare settings on your WordPress dashboard.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"515\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard-1024x515.png\" alt=\"WordPress Cloudflare plugin dashboard\n\" class=\"wp-image-70524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard-1536x773.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard-300x151.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard-150x75.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard-768x386.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/WordPress-Cloudflare-plugin_s-dashboard.png 1900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Some of the main features available on the Cloudflare WordPress plugin include:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Recommended Cloudflare settings<\/strong> &ndash; automatically apply recommended Cloudflare settings to boost site performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cloudflare Automatic Platform Optimization (APO)<\/strong> &ndash; keeps copies of your WordPress site data to improve loading time. With APO, Cloudflare&rsquo;s edge network stores <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/cdn\/caching-static-and-dynamic-content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">static and dynamic content<\/a> better than a traditional CDN service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Purge cache <\/strong>&ndash; deletes all previously stored information to fetch the newest versions from your server. With an automatic cache purge, you can cache updated content without slowing your loading time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Speed and security settings<\/strong> &ndash; configure features to boost performance, including the <strong>Development Mode<\/strong>,<strong> Security Level<\/strong>, and <strong>Automatic HTTPS Rewrites<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Analytics <\/strong>&ndash; provides rich data powered by <a href=\"https:\/\/graphql.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GraphQL<\/a>. The WordPress Cloudflare plugin also gives the ability to filter data across multiple dimensions.<\/li>\n<\/ul><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/wordpress-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1024x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1024x300.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-300x88.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-150x44.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-768x225.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1536x450.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-other-cloudflare-features-an-in-depth-look\">Other Cloudflare Features: An In-Depth Look<\/h2><p>Here are ten key Cloudflare configurations for your WordPress site:<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-auto-minify\">1. Auto Minify<\/h3><p>The Auto Minify feature <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/website\/improving-website-performance-minifying-css-html-and-javascript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">minifies JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files<\/a> by removing unnecessary characters to improve page load times.<\/p><p>Cloudflare removes comments and empty lines from HTML files. For JavaScript and CSS, Cloudflare will only minify the cached files. Therefore, make sure to purge cache to see the changes on your WordPress website.<\/p><p>This optimization feature is available on all Cloudflare plans. To enable it, head to <strong>Speed &rarr; Optimization &rarr; Auto Minify<\/strong> and select the type of file you want to minify.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"531\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature-1024x531.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Auto Minify feature\n\" class=\"wp-image-70525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature-1536x796.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature-150x78.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature-768x398.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Auto-Minify-feature.png 1754w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-brotli\">2. Brotli<\/h3><p>Brotli is a compression feature that ensures quick data transfers between servers and browsers. It uses a dictionary to send keys instead of the full keywords.<\/p><p>Using the keys, Brotli compresses images, texts, and fonts to speed up page load times. On average, it has a much faster transfer time than <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/enable-gzip-compression\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GZIP compression<\/a>.<\/p><p>Cloudflare uses Brotli compression as the preferred content-encoding method for all plans. If your server does not support this feature, this CDN will apply <strong>GZIP <\/strong>compression instead.<\/p><p>This feature is also available on all Cloudflare plans. To turn on this feature on your Cloudflare dashboard, head to <strong>Speed &rarr; Optimization &rarr; Brotli<\/strong>.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"530\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature-1024x530.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Brotli feature\n\" class=\"wp-image-70526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature-1536x796.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature-150x78.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature-768x398.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Brotli-feature.png 1755w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-rocket-loader\">3. Rocket Loader<\/h3><p>Rocket Loader shows content faster by deferring JavaScript code loading until after rendering your other content, such as texts, images, and fonts.<\/p><p>Cloudflare&rsquo;s Rocket Loader feature mainly improves the following performance metrics for pages that use JavaScript:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.dev\/fcp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Time to First Contentful Paint (TTFCP)<\/a> &ndash; marks the first point where a user can see something on the screen during the loading time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.dev\/first-meaningful-paint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Time to First Meaningful Paint (TTFMP)<\/a> &ndash; measures the time it takes to show the page&rsquo;s primary content.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>Cloudflare offers this feature for all users. To enable this optimization feature, head to <strong>Speed &rarr; Optimization &rarr; Rocket Loader<\/strong>.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"529\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature-1024x529.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Rocket Loader feature\n\" class=\"wp-image-70527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature-1536x794.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature-150x78.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature-768x397.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Rocket-Loader-feature.png 1756w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-firewall\">4. Firewall<\/h3><p>The <strong>Web Application Firewall (WAF)<\/strong> is one of Cloudflare&rsquo;s security features that helps block potential online attacks and provide DDoS protection.<\/p><p>With machine learning, the WAF protects your WordPress site by preventing account takeover, stopping data leaks, and blocking logins with stolen credentials.<\/p><p>With this feature, WordPress users can create custom rules to control incoming traffic, such as filtering requests based on location and IP address.<\/p><p>To configure these Cloudflare settings, head to <strong>Security &rarr; WAF, <\/strong>and you will see four tabs:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Firewall rules <\/strong>&ndash; create custom rules to control incoming traffic based on location, IP address, and user agent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rate limiting rules<\/strong> &ndash; protect your WordPress site from malicious traffic by blocking client IP addresses that exceed your defined threshold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Manage rules <\/strong>&ndash; identify and remove any suspicious activity, such as common keywords in spam comments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tools <\/strong>&ndash; create IP access rules and block specific users.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"433\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page-1024x433.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Security Web Application Firewall page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70528\" style=\"width:831px;height:351px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page-1536x650.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page-150x63.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Security-Web-Application-Firewall-page.png 1887w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Some firewall features are available with the free Cloudflare account. However, most of them require at least the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/plans\/pro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pro plan<\/a>.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-network\">5. Network<\/h3><p>Cloudflare&rsquo;s network settings help manage where to direct visitors and what they can do on your site. The proper configuration can improve your performance significantly. Here are some of the primary network features to consider:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/web\/fundamentals\/performance\/http2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HTTP\/2<\/a> &ndash; improves how Cloudflare sends HTTP requests and responses for faster page load times.<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>HTTP\/3 <\/strong>&ndash; uses <a href=\"https:\/\/cloudflare-quic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">QUIC<\/a>, a new transport protocol that offers better security and reliability for your WordPress site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IPv6 compatibility <\/strong>&ndash; enables <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/ipv4-vs-ipv6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IPv6<\/a> on all subdomains. If your origin server has IPv6 records, enable Cloudflare for your <strong>AAAA <\/strong>records on the DNS settings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.cloudflare.com\/workers\/learning\/using-websockets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WebSockets<\/a><strong> <\/strong>&ndash; speeds up data exchanges within the open connection. Useful for real-time applications like live chats and online games.<\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ipwhois.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IP geolocation<\/a> <\/strong>&ndash; includes your visitors&rsquo; country codes and maps IP addresses to countries. This feature is great for global websites with different localized content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maximum upload size <\/strong>&ndash; sets the maximum data visitors can upload to your Cloudflare website in a single request. The free plan gets a <strong>100 MB<\/strong> limit for each visitor, but you can get more with the Business plan or above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Response buffering <\/strong>&ndash; enables buffering responses from the origin server. Cloudflare will wait until the entire file is ready before forwarding it to the visitors.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"986\" height=\"860\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Network page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page.png 986w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page-300x262.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page-150x131.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Network-page-768x670.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 986px) 100vw, 986px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>Most Network features are free except for <strong>Response<\/strong> <strong>buffering<\/strong> and <strong>True-Client-IP-Header<\/strong>, which are available only for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/plans\/enterprise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Enterprise plan<\/a> users.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-wordpress-page-rules-configuration\">6. WordPress Page Rules Configuration<\/h3><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/support.cloudflare.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/218411427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">page rules<\/a> feature enables specific Cloudflare settings on your WordPress site. Cloudflare offers around<strong> 37<\/strong> page rules &ndash; some are not available with the free plan.<\/p><p>Here are the steps to set up <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/cloudflare-page-rules\">Cloudflare page rules<\/a>:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Head to <strong>Rules &rarr; Page Rules<\/strong> and click on the <strong>Create Page Rule<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"992\" height=\"604\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare create page rules\n\" class=\"wp-image-70530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules.png 992w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules-150x91.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-create-page-rules-768x468.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\">\n<li>Insert the<strong> URL<\/strong> for your page rule. If you want to add more than one rule for a specific page, click the <strong>Add a Setting<\/strong> button. Then, you can either <strong>Save as Draft<\/strong> to leave the rule disabled or <strong>Save and Deploy<\/strong> to enable it immediately.<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"998\" height=\"869\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare page rules, highlighting the Add a setting button\" class=\"wp-image-70531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting.png 998w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting-300x261.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting-150x131.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-add-a-setting-768x669.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 998px) 100vw, 998px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li>Under<strong> Page Rules<\/strong>, you can reorder the <strong>Position<\/strong> and use the <strong>Settings <\/strong>icon to change the rule. If you choose to remove the rule, click the<strong> X <\/strong>button.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"496\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position-1024x496.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare page rules page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position-300x145.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position-150x73.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare-page-rules-position-768x372.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>You can create up to <strong>three<\/strong> page rules with a free Cloudflare account. Upgrade to the Pro version to get <strong>20 <\/strong>rules. If you need more, the Business and Enterprise plans offer <strong>50 <\/strong>and <strong>125 <\/strong>rules, respectively.<\/p><p>Here are some tips to take advantage of this feature for your WordPress sites:<\/p><p><strong>Always Use HTTPS<\/strong><\/p><p>Use this rule to secure visitors&rsquo; connections by redirecting all variations of your website to the <strong>https:\/\/<\/strong> version. Enter your WordPress site&rsquo;s domain name in between two asterisks:<\/p><pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">http:\/\/*example.com\/*<\/pre><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"990\" height=\"706\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's rules, adding the Always Use HTTPS setting\n\" class=\"wp-image-70533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS.png 990w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Use-HTTPS-768x548.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>WordPress Admin Security and Cache Levels<\/strong><\/p><p>Protect and speed up your WordPress admin by setting the <strong>Security Level <\/strong>to <strong>High<\/strong> and <strong>Cache Level<\/strong> to <strong>Bypass<\/strong>.<\/p><p>In addition, disabling <strong>Cloudflare Apps <\/strong>and <strong>Performance<\/strong> helps fix errors, as these features only speed up your site&rsquo;s front-end.<\/p><p>Enter your WordPress login URL with an additional asterisk:<\/p><pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">example.com\/wp-admin*<\/pre><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"997\" height=\"896\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's page rules for WordPress admin\n\" class=\"wp-image-70534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin.png 997w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin-300x270.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin-150x135.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-page-rules-for-WordPress-admin-768x690.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>Bandwidth Control for WordPress Uploads<\/strong><\/p><p>If you rarely change the files you upload to WordPress, save bandwidth by setting <strong>Edge Cache TTL<\/strong> to <strong>a month<\/strong>.<\/p><p>Then, change the<strong> Cache Level <\/strong>to <strong>Cache Everything<\/strong> to optimize the speed and the <strong>Browser Cache TTL<\/strong> to <strong>a day<\/strong> to show the most recent content of your site.<\/p><p>Here is what to use for the URL:<\/p><pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">example.com\/wp-content\/uploads*<\/pre><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"903\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's bandwidth page rules\n\" class=\"wp-image-70535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules-300x271.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules-150x135.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-bandwidth-page-rules-768x694.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>Always Online<\/strong><\/p><p>This feature keeps your pages online if your server is experiencing downtime. Enable the <strong>Always Online<\/strong> feature for your most important URLs.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"643\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules-1024x643.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Always Online page rules\n\" class=\"wp-image-70536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules-1024x643.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules-150x94.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules-768x482.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Always-Online-page-rules.png 1129w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>Email Obfuscation<\/strong><\/p><p>Use the <strong>Email Obfuscation<\/strong> rule on your contact page or any page with contact information to hide your email address and prevent spam.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"996\" height=\"713\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Email Obfuscation page rule\n\" class=\"wp-image-70537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule.png 996w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Email-Obfuscation-page-rule-768x550.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 996px) 100vw, 996px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-image-resizing\">7. Image Resizing<\/h3><p>The image resizing feature caches image files and minimizes their dimensions to boost your WordPress site&rsquo;s performance.<\/p><p>This feature also automatically adjusts your images for mobile optimization. By enabling this Cloudflare feature, you can maintain a consistent website appearance.<\/p><p>To take advantage of this image optimization feature, subscribe to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/plans\/business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Business plan<\/a>. It comes with up to<strong> 100,000<\/strong> image requests per month.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-mirage\">8. Mirage<\/h3><p>Mirage helps websites load images based on the network connection and device type without altering the original resolution. For example, devices with smaller screens will show smaller images.<\/p><p>This Cloudflare feature speeds up loading time using the following methods:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Image virtualizing <\/strong>&ndash; replaces images with low-resolution placeholders to render pages faster, allowing visitors to see content immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Request streamlining <\/strong>&ndash; combines multiple individual network requests for images into a single request.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>To use this feature, you must at least have the Pro plan. Note that this feature might cause issues when displaying images with specific JavaScript code, such as for carousels and photo viewers.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-polish\">9. Polish<\/h3><p>This feature is only available with the Pro plan and above. The Polish feature improves your image load time by decreasing your file size using the following options:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lossless <\/strong>&ndash; reduces the size of image files without impacting their visual quality. This option removes unnecessary metadata from <strong>PNG <\/strong>and <strong>GIF <\/strong>files, such as their date, time, and camera manufacturer information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lossy <\/strong>&ndash; compresses the file size of <strong>JPEG <\/strong>images by reducing their visual quality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Serve WebP images <\/strong>&ndash; shows the <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/speed\/webp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WebP<\/a> version of the image, providing better performance over the original image format.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>Make sure to purge your cache when changing the polish settings to see the changes.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-caching\">10. Caching<\/h3><p>Caching stores copies of your static content in a temporary storage location so browsers can access them quicker.<\/p><p>Cloudflare can help cache web browsers to load sites faster. It also caches DNS servers to look for records more quickly.<\/p><p>To access this Cloudflare feature, head to <strong>Caching -&gt; Configuration<\/strong>. Some of the main features include:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Purge cache<\/strong> &ndash; clears cached files to get the newest version of your files from the server:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Custom purge <\/strong>&ndash; clears cache from a specific URL.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Purge everything <\/strong>&ndash; caches all the files on your website. We recommend purging individual pages to keep the site speed optimized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Caching level <\/strong>&ndash; determines the amount of static HTML content you want Cloudflare to cache. You can set Cloudflare CDN to cache static content according to these levels:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>No query string<\/strong> &ndash; delivers files from the cache when there is no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/whatis\/definition\/querystring\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">query string<\/a>, which is a part of a URL that assigns values to specific parameters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ignore query string <\/strong>&ndash; delivers the same resource to all URLs, no matter the query string.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standard<\/strong> &ndash; delivers a different resource when the query string changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Browser cache TTL <\/strong>&ndash; specifies how long cached files remain in your visitor&rsquo;s browser. Having a longer expiration time means faster load times for returning visitors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CSAM scanning tool <\/strong>&ndash; allows website owners to identify and take action on any potential<strong> Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Crawler hints<\/strong> &ndash; provides high-quality data to search engines after making any changes. This feature prevents wasteful crawls.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Always Online <\/strong>&ndash; shows limited copies of your web pages instead of errors whenever your server is unreachable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Development mode<\/strong> &ndash; temporarily bypasses Cloudflare cache to see real-time changes to your origin server.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"722\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page-1024x722.png\" alt=\"Cloudflare's Caching page\n\" class=\"wp-image-70538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page-1024x722.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page-150x106.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page-768x541.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Cloudflare_s-Caching-page.png 1285w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p>In addition, Cloudflare has a settings page for <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.cloudflare.com\/cache\/about\/cache-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cache Analytics<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.cloudflare.com\/cache\/about\/tiered-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tiered Cache<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.cloudflare.com\/cache\/about\/cache-reserve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cache Reserve<\/a>. Some of these settings are only available with the premium version.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-cloudflare-s-most-common-errors\">Cloudflare&rsquo;s Most Common Errors<\/h2><p>Sometimes, improper Cloudflare setup or incompatible features can cause errors to your WordPress site. Here are some of the most common Cloudflare errors:<\/p><p><strong>Error 520<\/strong><\/p><p>Cloudflare error 520 happens when a server receives an invalid request. As a result, the web browser will show a &ldquo;Web server is returning an unknown error&rdquo; message.<\/p><p>An issue with the origin server is the main reason behind this error. For example, the origin server might crash or not allow connections with Cloudflare IP addresses.<\/p><p>Some methods to fix this issue are:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensure that Cloudflare DNS records are correct.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disable your <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/locate-and-create-htaccess\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">.htaccess<\/a> file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investigate your <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/website\/how-to-check-your-website-error-log\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">error logs<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"964\" height=\"760\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example.png\" alt=\"Example of an error 520\n\" class=\"wp-image-70539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example.png 964w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example-300x237.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example-150x118.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-520-example-768x605.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>Error 521<\/strong><\/p><p><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/error-521\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cloudflare error 521<\/a> shows the message &ldquo;Web server is down&rdquo;. This error often happens due to incorrect Cloudflare configuration, such as the wrong encryption mode with the SSL certificate.<\/p><p>If your WordPress site is showing this Cloudflare error, here are some methods to fix it:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check whether the origin server is running.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Test your connection to the server.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check your Cloudflare encryption settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-521-example.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"513\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-521-example.png\" alt=\"Example of an error 521\n\" class=\"wp-image-70540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-521-example.png 723w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-521-example-300x213.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-521-example-150x106.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><p><strong>Error 522<\/strong><\/p><p>Lastly, <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/error-522\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cloudflare error 522<\/a>, or &ldquo;Connection timed out&rdquo; happens when the server fails to respond to requests within a specified time.<\/p><p>This issue also means that the <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Glossary\/TCP_handshake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) handshake<\/a> between the server and Cloudflare has failed.<\/p><p>Here are some ways to fix error 522:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check if the server is working.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Review your Cloudflare DNS settings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enable the <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/improving-website-performance-enabling-keep-alive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Keep-Alive header<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"792\" src=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example.png\" alt=\"Example of an error 522\" class=\"wp-image-70541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example.png 1020w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example-300x233.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example-150x116.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/01\/Error-522-example-768x596.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2><p>Setting up Cloudflare on your WordPress site is pretty simple. We have shown the steps to configure Cloudflare on WordPress:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Create a <strong>Cloudflare account<\/strong> and verify your email address.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add your WordPress <strong>domain name<\/strong> to Cloudflare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check your domain&rsquo;s DNS records<\/strong> in Cloudflare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Point your domain name to <strong>Cloudflare&rsquo;s nameservers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Configure the <strong>HTTPS settings<\/strong> to secure your site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Install the <strong>Cloudflare plugin<\/strong> for easy configuration.<\/li>\n<\/ol><p>In addition, we have also explained how WordPress users can benefit from Cloudflare&rsquo;s key features, such as image resizing and caching.<\/p><p>Sometimes, the wrong configuration can cause errors on your WordPress site. We have also shared the most common Cloudflare errors and ways to fix them.<\/p><p>After setting up Cloudflare integration on WordPress, try running a <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/website-speed-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speed test<\/a> to check your loading time.<\/p><p>Hopefully, this article has helped you install and manage Cloudflare on your WordPress site. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave us a comment.<\/p><p>\n\n\n<div class=\"protip\">\n                    <h4 class=\"title\">Discover Other WordPress Plugins to Optimize Your Website<\/h4>\n                    <p><a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/best-wordpress-plugins\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">Best WordPress Plugins<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/best-seo-plugins-wordpress\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">Best WordPress SEO Plugins and Tools<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/google-analytics-wordpress-plugins\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">Top Google Analytics WordPress Plugins<\/a><\/p>\n                <\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every second counts when it comes to a website&rsquo;s loading time. Fast page speed improves user experience and rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Luckily, WordPress is an extremely flexible CMS that lets you apply different improvements, including speed optimization plugins such as Cloudflare. This tutorial will explain the steps to set up the [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":83872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"Configure WordPress Cloudflare CDN: Easy-to-Follow Guide","rank_math_description":"Check out our tutorial on installing Cloudflare on WordPress. The CDN service will quickly improve the speed of your website!","rank_math_focus_keyword":"wordpress cloudflare","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"pt-BR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/tutoriais\/cdn-cloudflare","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/tutoriels\/comment-integrer-cloudflare-a-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/tutoriales\/como-configurar-cloudflare-en-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"id-ID","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/id\/tutorial\/cara-setting-cloudflare","default":0},{"locale":"en-UK","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/uk\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-MY","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/my\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-PH","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"es-MX","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/mx\/tutoriales\/productos-para-vender-15","default":0},{"locale":"es-CO","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/co\/tutoriales\/como-usar-sftp-5","default":0},{"locale":"es-AR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ar\/tutoriales\/como-usar-sftp-5","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/pt\/tutoriais\/cdn-cloudflare","default":0},{"locale":"en-IN","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/in\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-CA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ca\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-AU","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/au\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-NG","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ng\/tutorials\/how-to-setup-cloudflare-for-wordpress","default":0}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115737,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions\/115737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}