Connecting Cloudflare
Follow our step-by-step guide to add your site to Cloudflare and connect it with DropInBlog.
Start by visiting Cloudflare.com, then click the Sign up button in the upper-right corner of the homepage.
In the window that opens, you’ll be presented with Cloudflare’s pricing plans. Under Application Services, select the Free plan by clicking the Add a Website button underneath it.
Next, you’ll be taken to a new page, where you need to enter your email and password. Once you add this information, click on Sign up.
You’ll receive a verification email. Click on the link in the email to verify your Cloudflare account.
After verifying your email address, you’ll be taken to your Cloudflare dashboard.
Here, you’ll see a text box where you need to enter your website’s domain name.
Enter your website’s domain name without https:// or www, e.g., company49.com.
Leave the recommended option Quick scan for DNS records selected, and click Continue.
Note: If you add your domain name with https:// or www, you’ll get the following error: Please ensure you are providing the root domain and not any subdomains (e.g., example.com, not subdomain.example.com).
After adding your domain name, you will be taken to the pricing plans page again. Scroll to the bottom of the page, select the free plan, then Continue.
On the next page, you’ll see a message that your site is not active on Cloudflare, along with the instructions on how to update your nameservers at your registrar.
Before you can move on to the next step, Cloudflare will ask you to confirm the accuracy of the records it found on your domain. Remember, we selected the option to let Cloudflare run a quick scan for DNS records, and that’s what you’ll see on this page – the results of the scan.
In the image below, you’ll notice that in the quick scan results, Cloudflare found the primary A records and the MX records. These records tell the domain where the website is hosted and, in this case, show the domain uses Google Workspace for hosting email. All these DNS records will be moved automatically.
You can review all the DNS records Cloudflare retrieved, ensuring they were imported correctly, as well as manually add any records that weren’t imported. You can review and edit your DNS records at any time.
Any changes you make to your DNS records at Cloudflare will show almost instantly. So even if you make an error, you can fix it in less than 5 minutes — not 4 hours.
The one thing you should pay attention to is the Proxy status. It should be enabled for your main DNS record to connect your DropInBlog account with Cloudflare successfully.
Usually, your main DNS record will be an A record, but, in some cases, it will be a CNAME record. The easiest way to identify your main DNS record is to look for the * in the name field.
If the proxy status for the DNS records with * or www in the field name is off, switch the toggle to turn it on.
Once you complete this step, click the Continue to activation button at the bottom of the page.
You’ll be directed to the page where, once you scroll down a bit, you’ll see the Update your nameservers section.
The next step is to go to your domain registrar and replace the nameservers you have there with the ones you got from Cloudflare.
Before you can do that, you should have the following information:
Who is your registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Network Solutions)?
Where are your nameservers located in your domain name account?
To identify your domain name provider, you can use ICANN Lookup. Just enter your website address, and wait for the results. You’ll find the information you need in the Registrar Information or Reseller section.
Once you know the name of your registrar, you can move on to the next step – locating your existing nameservers.
The simplest way to do this is to look this information up on Google.
Suggested searches: how to change nameservers followed by the name of your registrar.
Suggested reading:
How to Change Nameservers GoDaddy
How to Change Nameservers Hover
How to Change Nameservers at Namecheap
Now, you can actually change the nameservers.
Login to your registrar account and locate your nameservers.
Find the option to edit nameservers, replace the existing ones with the ones you have in Cloudflare, and save your changes.
The only thing left is to wait for Cloudflare to detect the nameserver changes.
You’ll receive an email once your nameservers have been updated. And once you visit your dashboard, you’ll see a message like the one in the image below.
After this step is complete, you can move on to our guide on how you can create an API token in Cloudflare.
Creating a Cloudflare account
Start by visiting Cloudflare.com, then click the Sign up button in the upper-right corner of the homepage.
In the window that opens, you’ll be presented with Cloudflare’s pricing plans. Under Application Services, select the Free plan by clicking the Add a Website button underneath it.
Next, you’ll be taken to a new page, where you need to enter your email and password. Once you add this information, click on Sign up.
You’ll receive a verification email. Click on the link in the email to verify your Cloudflare account.
Adding a website
After verifying your email address, you’ll be taken to your Cloudflare dashboard.
Here, you’ll see a text box where you need to enter your website’s domain name.
Enter your website’s domain name without https:// or www, e.g., company49.com.
Leave the recommended option Quick scan for DNS records selected, and click Continue.
Note: If you add your domain name with https:// or www, you’ll get the following error: Please ensure you are providing the root domain and not any subdomains (e.g., example.com, not subdomain.example.com).
After adding your domain name, you will be taken to the pricing plans page again. Scroll to the bottom of the page, select the free plan, then Continue.
On the next page, you’ll see a message that your site is not active on Cloudflare, along with the instructions on how to update your nameservers at your registrar.Quick Scan Results
Before you can move on to the next step, Cloudflare will ask you to confirm the accuracy of the records it found on your domain. Remember, we selected the option to let Cloudflare run a quick scan for DNS records, and that’s what you’ll see on this page – the results of the scan.
In the image below, you’ll notice that in the quick scan results, Cloudflare found the primary A records and the MX records. These records tell the domain where the website is hosted and, in this case, show the domain uses Google Workspace for hosting email. All these DNS records will be moved automatically.
You can review all the DNS records Cloudflare retrieved, ensuring they were imported correctly, as well as manually add any records that weren’t imported. You can review and edit your DNS records at any time.
Any changes you make to your DNS records at Cloudflare will show almost instantly. So even if you make an error, you can fix it in less than 5 minutes — not 4 hours.
Proxy Status
The one thing you should pay attention to is the Proxy status. It should be enabled for your main DNS record to connect your DropInBlog account with Cloudflare successfully.
Usually, your main DNS record will be an A record, but, in some cases, it will be a CNAME record. The easiest way to identify your main DNS record is to look for the * in the name field.
If the proxy status for the DNS records with * or www in the field name is off, switch the toggle to turn it on.
Once you complete this step, click the Continue to activation button at the bottom of the page.
You’ll be directed to the page where, once you scroll down a bit, you’ll see the Update your nameservers section.
Changing nameservers
The next step is to go to your domain registrar and replace the nameservers you have there with the ones you got from Cloudflare.
Before you can do that, you should have the following information:
Who is your registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Network Solutions)?
Where are your nameservers located in your domain name account?
To identify your domain name provider, you can use ICANN Lookup. Just enter your website address, and wait for the results. You’ll find the information you need in the Registrar Information or Reseller section.
Once you know the name of your registrar, you can move on to the next step – locating your existing nameservers.
The simplest way to do this is to look this information up on Google.
Suggested searches: how to change nameservers followed by the name of your registrar.
Suggested reading:
How to Change Nameservers GoDaddy
How to Change Nameservers Hover
How to Change Nameservers at Namecheap
Now, you can actually change the nameservers.
Login to your registrar account and locate your nameservers.
Find the option to edit nameservers, replace the existing ones with the ones you have in Cloudflare, and save your changes.The only thing left is to wait for Cloudflare to detect the nameserver changes.
You’ll receive an email once your nameservers have been updated. And once you visit your dashboard, you’ll see a message like the one in the image below.
After this step is complete, you can move on to our guide on how you can create an API token in Cloudflare.
Updated on: 20/11/2024
Thank you!