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CloudFlare Settings Documentation

Menu Location: Tools > CloudFlare Settings

Access Level: Kiva Admin only

Last Updated: 2026-03-01

Overview

The CloudFlare Settings page provides tools to manage your website's CloudFlare CDN (Content Delivery Network) configuration, cache settings, and performance optimization features. CloudFlare accelerates website delivery globally, protects against security threats, and provides analytics on traffic and performance.

Primary Functions:

  • Clear website cache for immediate content updates
  • Configure caching rules and policies
  • Manage CDN settings for optimal performance
  • Whitelist IP addresses for CDN access
  • Monitor traffic and security events
  • Optimize image and asset delivery
  • Configure SSL/security settings
  • View and manage DNS records

Page Layout

Header Section

  • Clear Cache button: Purge all cached content immediately
  • CloudFlare Status indicator: Shows connection status
  • Account Info: Connected CloudFlare account details

Main Content Area

Cache Management Section:

  • Clear entire cache button
  • Clear cache by URL
  • Cache statistics (hit rate, bandwidth saved)

Performance Settings:

  • Auto-minify settings (HTML, CSS, JS)
  • Image optimization toggles
  • Brotli compression
  • HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 support

Security Settings:

  • SSL/TLS mode
  • Security level
  • Challenge passage settings
  • Firewall rules summary

DNS Management:

  • View DNS records
  • DNS propagation status
  • DNSSEC status

Analytics Dashboard:

  • Traffic overview
  • Bandwidth usage
  • Cache performance
  • Security threats blocked

Cache Management

Understanding CloudFlare Cache

What is Caching: CloudFlare stores copies of your website files in data centers worldwide. When visitors access your site, files are served from the nearest data center instead of your origin server, resulting in faster loading times.

What Gets Cached:

  • Automatic: Images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, videos
  • Customizable: HTML pages, API responses
  • Never Cached: Dynamic content (login pages, checkout, admin)

Cache Benefits:

  • Faster page loads (50-80% improvement)
  • Reduced server load
  • Better handling of traffic spikes
  • Lower bandwidth costs
  • Improved SEO (page speed ranking factor)

Clearing the Cache

When to Clear Cache:

  • Updated website design/styling
  • Changed product images or prices
  • Published new blog posts/recipes
  • Fixed website bugs
  • Updated menu or navigation
  • Content not updating for visitors

Clear Entire Cache:

  1. Click "Clear Cache" button
  2. Confirm action
  3. Cache purges globally (takes 2-5 minutes)
  4. Visitors see fresh content immediately after purge

Clear Specific Files:

  1. Click "Purge by URL" link
  2. Enter specific URL(s) to clear
  3. One URL per line
  4. Click "Purge URLs"
  5. Only those specific files cleared

Clear Cache by Tag:

  1. Enter cache tag (e.g., "products", "recipes")
  2. Click "Purge by Tag"
  3. All files with that tag cleared
  4. More targeted than full purge

Important Notes:

  • Don't clear cache excessively (impacts performance)
  • Cache rebuilds automatically as visitors access site
  • First visitor after purge may see slower load time
  • Subsequent visitors get fast cached version

Cache TTL (Time To Live)

TTL Settings: Controls how long files stay cached before CloudFlare checks for updates.

Common TTL Values:

  • Static assets (images, CSS, JS): 1 month (2592000 seconds)
  • Product pages: 1 day (86400 seconds)
  • Homepage: 4 hours (14400 seconds)
  • Blog/News: 1 week (604800 seconds)

Adjusting TTL:

  1. Go to Cache Settings
  2. Select content type
  3. Choose TTL from dropdown
  4. Save changes

Best Practices:

  • Longer TTL for rarely-changing content
  • Shorter TTL for frequently-updated content
  • Balance between freshness and performance

Performance Optimization

Auto-Minify

What is Minification: Removes unnecessary characters from code (spaces, line breaks, comments) without changing functionality, reducing file sizes by 20-40%.

Minify Settings:

  • HTML: ☑ Enabled (recommended)
  • CSS: ☑ Enabled (recommended)
  • JavaScript: ☐ Disabled (can break some scripts)

Enabling Minification:

  1. Find Auto-Minify section
  2. Check boxes for HTML and CSS
  3. Test JavaScript minification on staging first
  4. Save settings

If JavaScript Breaks:

  • Disable JS minification
  • Or exclude specific scripts from minification
  • Report issue to developer for manual minification

Image Optimization

CloudFlare Polish: Automatically compresses images to reduce file size without visible quality loss.

Polish Settings:

  • Off: No image optimization
  • Lossless: Compress without quality loss (5-10% reduction)
  • Lossy: Aggressive compression (20-40% reduction, slight quality impact)

Recommended Setting: Lossless (good balance)

WebP Conversion: CloudFlare converts images to WebP format for supported browsers (20-30% smaller than JPG/PNG).

Enable WebP:

  1. Go to Image Optimization
  2. Enable WebP toggle
  3. Save changes
  4. Browsers automatically receive WebP when supported

Brotli Compression

What is Brotli: Advanced compression algorithm (better than gzip) that reduces HTML, CSS, JS file sizes by up to 30%.

Enable Brotli:

  1. Find Compression Settings
  2. Enable Brotli toggle
  3. Save changes
  4. Supported browsers automatically use Brotli

Browser Support: All modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

HTTP/2 and HTTP/3

HTTP/2 Benefits:

  • Faster page loads (parallel file loading)
  • Better mobile performance
  • Enabled by default on CloudFlare

HTTP/3 (QUIC):

  • Newest protocol, even faster than HTTP/2
  • Better on unreliable connections (mobile)
  • Reduced latency

Enable HTTP/3:

  1. Go to Network Settings
  2. Enable HTTP/3 (with QUIC)
  3. Save changes

Recommended: Enable both HTTP/2 and HTTP/3

Security Settings

SSL/TLS Configuration

SSL Modes:

Off: ⚠ Not recommended

  • No encryption
  • Insecure, bad for SEO

Flexible: ⚠ Limited security

  • CloudFlare to visitor: Encrypted
  • CloudFlare to origin server: Unencrypted
  • Use only if server doesn't support SSL

Full: ✓ Recommended

  • End-to-end encryption
  • Self-signed certificate acceptable on origin

Full (Strict): ✓ Most secure

  • End-to-end encryption
  • Valid SSL certificate required on origin
  • Best practice

Current Setting: Check with developer/Kiva admin

Changing SSL Mode: Requires Kiva Admin - contact support

Security Level

Controls challenge level for suspicious visitors:

Essentially Off:

  • No challenges
  • All traffic allowed
  • Use only for testing

Low:

  • Challenges only known threats
  • Minimal friction for visitors

Medium: ✓ Recommended

  • Balanced security and accessibility
  • Default setting

High:

  • Aggressive challenges
  • May frustrate legitimate visitors

I'm Under Attack:

  • Maximum protection during DDoS attack
  • All visitors challenged before access
  • Use only during active attack

Adjusting Security Level: Requires Kiva Admin - contact if under attack

Firewall Rules

View Active Rules:

  1. Go to Firewall section
  2. See list of active rules
  3. Rules show: condition, action, hits

Common Rules:

  • Block traffic from specific countries
  • Block known bad bots
  • Rate limit API endpoints
  • Allow only from specific IPs (admin access)

Managing Rules: Requires Kiva Admin knowledge - contact for changes

Imgix IP Whitelisting

Understanding Imgix Integration

What is Imgix: Image optimization and CDN service used for recipe and product images.

Why Whitelist: CloudFlare must allow Imgix servers to access your media library for image optimization.

How It Works:

  1. Imgix requests images from your server
  2. CloudFlare checks IP against whitelist
  3. If whitelisted, access granted
  4. Imgix optimizes and delivers images

Whitelisting Imgix IPs

Adding IP Addresses:

  1. Obtain current Imgix IP list (changes periodically)
  2. Go to Imgix Whitelist section
  3. Paste IP addresses (bullet-pointed list format)
  4. Click "Save"
  5. IPs added to CloudFlare whitelist

IP List Format: 

• 52.0.12.34
• 52.0.45.67
• 52.0.78.90

When to Update:

  • Imgix images not loading
  • Notification from Imgix about IP changes
  • Quarterly review (IPs may change)

Testing: After adding IPs, verify images load correctly on website.

DNS Management

Viewing DNS Records

Access DNS Records:

  1. Go to DNS Management section
  2. View all DNS records for your domain
  3. See record type, name, content, TTL, proxy status

Common Record Types:

  • A Record: Points domain to IP address
  • CNAME: Points subdomain to another domain
  • MX: Email server records
  • TXT: Verification and configuration records

Proxy Status:

  • Proxied (Orange Cloud): Traffic through CloudFlare (recommended)
  • DNS Only (Gray Cloud): Direct to origin server

View Only: This page shows DNS records. Changes require Kiva Admin access.

DNS Propagation

What is DNS Propagation: Time it takes for DNS changes to spread across internet (typically 24-48 hours).

Check Propagation Status:

  1. Go to DNS Propagation section
  2. Enter domain or subdomain
  3. Click "Check Status"
  4. See propagation progress worldwide

During Migration: Some visitors see old site, some see new site during propagation.

Analytics & Monitoring

Traffic Analytics

Available Metrics:

  • Total Requests: All requests to your site
  • Cached Requests: Served from CloudFlare
  • Uncached Requests: Served from origin
  • Bandwidth Saved: Traffic saved by caching
  • Threats Blocked: Security events stopped

Viewing Analytics:

  1. Go to Analytics tab
  2. Select date range
  3. Review graphs and metrics
  4. Export data if needed

Understanding Cache Ratio:

  • Good: 80%+ cached
  • Fair: 60-80% cached
  • Poor: <60% cached (review cache settings)

Performance Insights

Page Load Times:

  • Average load time by location
  • Identify slow geographic regions
  • Compare before/after CloudFlare

Bandwidth Usage:

  • Total bandwidth delivered
  • Bandwidth saved by caching
  • Cost savings estimate

Top Content:

  • Most requested files
  • Largest files delivered
  • Cache hits by file type

Security Dashboard

Threats Blocked:

  • Number of threats stopped
  • Threat types (bots, scrapers, DDoS)
  • Top attacking countries
  • Firewall rule triggers

Use Analytics To:

  • Monitor site performance
  • Identify optimization opportunities
  • Detect traffic patterns
  • Respond to security events

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Clear Cache After Website Update

Scenario: Updated product photos, but old images still showing

Steps:

  1. Go to CloudFlare Settings
  2. Click "Clear Cache" button
  3. Confirm cache purge
  4. Wait 2-5 minutes for global purge
  5. Test website in incognito/private browsing
  6. Verify new images display

Result: All visitors see updated images immediately

Use Case 2: Optimize Website Performance

Goal: Improve page load speed

Steps:

  1. Enable Auto-Minify for HTML and CSS
  2. Enable Image Optimization (Lossless)
  3. Enable WebP conversion
  4. Enable Brotli compression
  5. Verify HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 enabled
  6. Test website speed (tools: PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix)
  7. Review analytics to confirm improvement

Expected Results:

  • 30-50% faster page loads
  • Better performance scores
  • Improved SEO rankings

Use Case 3: Update Imgix Whitelist

Scenario: Recipe images not loading, Imgix IPs changed

Steps:

  1. Contact Imgix support for current IP list
  2. Receive list of bullet-pointed IPs
  3. Go to CloudFlare Settings > Imgix Whitelist
  4. Paste updated IP list in text area
  5. Click "Save"
  6. Clear CloudFlare cache
  7. Test recipe pages to verify images load

Result: Recipe and product images load correctly

Use Case 4: Monitor Traffic Spike

Scenario: Unusual traffic surge, want to verify not under attack

Steps:

  1. Go to Analytics tab
  2. View Real-Time traffic
  3. Check Threats Blocked count
  4. Review traffic sources (geographic)
  5. If legitimate traffic: Enjoy! CloudFlare handles surge
  6. If attack: Consider increasing Security Level temporarily
  7. Contact Kiva Admin if sustained attack

CloudFlare Benefits: Handles traffic spikes automatically without server overload

Use Case 5: Troubleshoot Mixed Content Warnings

Scenario: Browser shows "insecure content" warnings

Steps:

  1. Verify SSL mode is "Full" or "Full (Strict)"
  2. Check all site resources use HTTPS:
    • Images: https://
    • CSS/JS: https://
    • External resources: https://
  3. Enable "Automatic HTTPS Rewrites" in CloudFlare
  4. Clear cache after enabling
  5. Test site in incognito mode
  6. Verify no warnings

Result: Site fully secure, no mixed content warnings

Troubleshooting

Website Not Updating

Symptoms: Made changes, but visitors still see old content

Solution:

  1. Clear CloudFlare cache
  2. Wait 5 minutes
  3. Test in incognito/private browsing
  4. Check cache settings (TTL may be too long)
  5. Verify changes actually deployed to server

Images Not Loading

Check:

  1. Imgix IPs whitelisted correctly
  2. Clear CloudFlare cache
  3. Verify images exist on server
  4. Check image URLs (HTTPS vs HTTP)
  5. Review firewall rules (not blocking image requests)

Site Loading Slowly

Investigate:

  1. Check cache hit ratio (should be 80%+)
  2. Verify performance features enabled
  3. Review Analytics for bottlenecks
  4. Check origin server performance
  5. Consider contacting developer for optimization

SSL Certificate Errors

Common Causes:

  • SSL mode mismatch
  • Certificate expired on origin
  • Mixed content (HTTP resources on HTTPS page)

Solutions:

  1. Verify SSL mode matches server capability
  2. Check certificate expiration
  3. Enable Automatic HTTPS Rewrites
  4. Contact Kiva Admin if persists
  • Media Library - Images served via CloudFlare CDN
  • Keywords - Site speed affects SEO rankings
  • Business Settings - Domain and SSL configuration
  • URL Redirects - Redirects cached by CloudFlare

Permissions & Access

Required Access Level: Kiva Admin only

Why Restricted:

  • Incorrect settings can break website
  • Security implications
  • Requires technical knowledge
  • Direct access to critical infrastructure

If You Need Changes: Contact Kiva Logic support or system administrator with specific request.

Best Practices

Cache Management

  1. Don't clear cache unnecessarily (degrades performance)
  2. Use targeted purge when possible (URL or tag)
  3. Clear cache after major updates
  4. Allow cache to rebuild naturally

Performance

  1. Enable all recommended optimizations
  2. Monitor cache hit ratio (target 80%+)
  3. Use longer TTL for static assets
  4. Regularly review performance analytics

Security

  1. Keep SSL on "Full (Strict)" mode
  2. Review firewall rules quarterly
  3. Monitor security dashboard for threats
  4. Update IP whitelists as needed
  5. Use strong security level during attacks

Monitoring

  1. Check analytics weekly
  2. Review bandwidth savings
  3. Investigate traffic anomalies
  4. Track performance trends over time

Things to Avoid

  • ❌ Clearing cache multiple times per day
  • ❌ Disabling security features for convenience
  • ❌ Ignoring security alerts
  • ❌ Setting TTL too short (defeats caching)
  • ❌ Making DNS changes without expert guidance

Quick Reference Card

Task Action
Clear all cache "Clear Cache" button > Confirm
Clear specific URL "Purge by URL" > Enter URL > Purge
Enable minification Auto-Minify section > Check boxes > Save
Enable image optimization Polish: Lossless > Enable WebP > Save
View analytics Analytics tab > Select date range
Update Imgix whitelist Imgix section > Paste IPs > Save
Check SSL mode SSL/TLS section > View current mode
Monitor security Security Dashboard > View threats

FAQs

What is CloudFlare and why do we use it?

CloudFlare is a CDN that makes your website faster globally, protects against attacks, and reduces server load. It's essential for performance and security.

How often should I clear the cache?

Only when necessary (major updates, bug fixes). Excessive clearing reduces performance benefits. Let cache work automatically.

Will clearing cache break the website?

No, it's safe. Cache rebuilds automatically. First few visitors after purge may see slightly slower loads.

Why are my changes not showing up?

CloudFlare caching. Clear cache and wait 5 minutes. Test in incognito mode to avoid browser cache.

Can I make DNS changes here?

View only. DNS changes require Kiva Admin expertise to avoid breaking website or email.

What does "Imgix whitelist" mean?

Allows Imgix servers to access your images for optimization. Without whitelist, images may not load.

Is CloudFlare the same as web hosting?

No. CloudFlare sits in front of your web server, caching and delivering content faster. Your site is still hosted on your web server.

What's a good cache hit ratio?

80% or higher is excellent. 60-80% is good. Below 60% means cache settings may need adjustment.

Can I temporarily disable CloudFlare?

Yes, but strongly not recommended. Contact Kiva Admin if you think it's necessary.

How do I know if CloudFlare is working?

Check Analytics for cache hits and bandwidth saved. Website should load faster globally. Security dashboard shows threats blocked.

End of Documentation

For additional help, contact your system administrator or Kiva Logic support.