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Cloudflare sits between your visitors and your server, acting as a CDN, firewall, and DNS manager all in one. Used correctly, it can dramatically improve your site's speed and security. Used incorrectly, it can break your SSL, your email, and your admin panel.

Getting started

Add your domain to Cloudflare and update your nameservers at your domain registrar. Cloudflare will import your existing DNS records automatically — but always verify them before switching over.

Which records to proxy (orange cloud) and which to DNS-only (grey cloud)

• Proxy (orange): A records for your main domain and www — this routes traffic through Cloudflare's network
• DNS-only (grey): MX records, mail subdomain, and any server management subdomains — proxying these will break your email

SSL settings

Set SSL/TLS mode to "Full (Strict)" if you have a valid SSL certificate on your origin server. Never use "Flexible" on a live site — it creates a security vulnerability and can cause redirect loops with WordPress.

Performance settings

Enable Auto Minify for HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Enable Brotli compression. Use Cloudflare's caching rules to cache static assets aggressively while keeping your WordPress admin and WooCommerce checkout uncached.

Security

Enable Bot Fight Mode, set Security Level to Medium, and create firewall rules to block traffic from countries you do not serve. The Web Application Firewall (WAF) on the free plan provides solid baseline protection.