How to Set Up Cloudflare

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Cloudflare provides security and performance for websites with features such as DDoS protection and content distribution.

You can integrate it with Convertri to take advantage of these services. To begin, you’ll need your own domain (e.g. example.com). You can purchase a domain at any domain registry such as GoDaddy or Bluehost.

IMPORTANT: You’ll also need to have your domain set up in Convertri. Click here to find out how do this first. If you already have your domain set up in Convertri, proceed to the following steps.

Here’s how to integrate Cloudflare:

1. Log into your domain registrar and navigate to your DNS settings. You can find instructions for your specific registrar here.
2. In a new tab, log into Cloudflare. Click on Add Site.
3. Enter your domain, e.g. example.com. Select your plan (the free one will still work), and click Confirm Plan.
4. Cloudflare will display your current DNS records. These should match the ones you have in your domain registrar in the earlier tab you opened. Click Continue.
5. In the next screen, Cloudflare will assign nameservers for your specific domain. Click to copy nameserver 1.
6. In your domain registrar’s tab, delete your first nameserver and replace it with the first Cloudflare nameserver.
7. In the Cloudflare tab, click to copy nameserver 2.
8. In your domain registrar’s tab, delete your second nameserver and replace it with the second Cloudflare nameserver.
9. Remove all other nameserver records so that the two Cloudflare nameservers are the only ones that remain. Save your progress.

Your DNS settings may take up to 48 hours to propagate. When it’s done, you’ll see a confirmation message in Cloudflare and also receive a confirmation email. But before everything gets up and running, you need to complete a few more steps.

Next, you’ll add a CNAME record in Cloudflare so that your Convertri site shows up when you type the URL into your address bar.

1. In Cloudflare, click DNS in the top toolbar to navigate to your DNS settings.
2. Click Add record with the following settings:
   
   Type – CNAME
   Name – This needs to either be www. if you’re just using the root domain or the name of the subdomain. So for example I had set up the website mywebsite.com in Cloudflare and I had a subdomain called blog.mywebsite.com, then the name will be ‘blog’.
   Target - This needs to be custom.convertri.com
3. Make sure the orange cloud icon is set to Proxied. Then click Save.

An orange cloud icon proxies traffic for the subdomain through Cloudflare. A grey cloud icon does not proxy traffic for the subdomain through Cloudflare. The above steps will work if you just want grey cloud settings, but if you want to turn that cloud orange you need to configure your SSL:

1. In Cloudflare, click SSL/TTS in the top toolbar to navigate to your SSL settings.
2. Click the Flexible option. This will save automatically.

When everything has been set up correctly, you will be able to control your domain’s settings in Cloudflare.