Here are the steps to move a website to CloudFlare.

  • Document your current DNS records
  • Sign up for CloudFlare account
  • Add Site
  • enter domain name and Begin Scan
  • compare scanned DNS records to live records
  • select Free plan
  • Change DNS name servers
    • Performance Profile – CDN+Full Optimization
    • Security Profile – Medium
  • Go to the Overview screen and Recheck Nameservers
    • Confirm Security Level is Medium
    • Confirm SSL is Full
    • Confirm Caching Level is Aggressive

Here are some additional configuration steps:

  • Speed
    • If you hosted on Media Temple, set Railgun to On and Test
    • Rocket Loader – Automatic
  • Page Rules
    • Add new rule
      • *domain.com/wp-admin/*
      • Custom caching – bypass cache
      • Performance – off
      • Railgun – off
    • Add new rule
      • *domain.com/wp-login/*
      • Custom caching – bypass cache
      • Performance – off
      • Railgun – off

If the website using WordPress, here are some additional settings related to the W3TC plug-in:

  • first pass at configuration
    • if using Avada theme, import their settings
  • General Settings
    • Minify
      • uncheck Enable
    • Database Cache
      • check Enable
      • Database Cache Method – Disk
    • Object Cache
      • check enable
      • Object Cache Method – Disk
    • Save all settings
  • Extension
    • Click Activate for CloudFlare
    • Click Settings
      • Check Enable
      • Enter Cloudflare account email
      • Enter API Key
        • This can be found
      • enter domain
      • Security Level – Medium
      • Rocket Loader – Automatic
      • Minification – CSS, JavaScript and HTML
    • Save all Settings
    • Empty the page cache