How to Set Up Cloudflare for Your Website

Cloudflare has its servers spread all over the world, enabling a “content distribution network (CDN)”, which means you can route your website traffic through their servers.

This way, the visitor to the website does not connect directly to the server where the website is hosted, but to the nearest CloudFlare server. This server then connects to the server where the website is actually hosted. Since only certain data or small parts of the website are served from the server where the website is actually hosted, and the rest is uploaded directly via the CloudFlare server, the website will run faster if it is further away from the server where it is actually hosted, as the distance the data has to travel is less.

Why would you need CloudFlare?
How to create a CloudFlare account?
CloudFlare DNS servers
Edit DNS records
CloudFlare and SSL certificate

Why would you need CloudFlare?

CloudFlare is particularly suitable for you if your website is visited by visitors from all over the world or from distant parts of the world, because of the faster page loading described above, if the visitor is very far away from the server. It is also recommended for high-traffic online shops operating in the European market.

CloudFlare also allows you to hide the IP address of your website. This can come in handy especially in case someone wants to launch a DDoS attack on your website, but can’t because the IP address of your website is hidden in this case. At NEOSERV, we already offer DDoS protection, so you don’t need to worry about this.

How do I create a CloudFlare account?

1. Open the CloudFlare website and click on“Sign Up” on the top right. Then enter your email address and desired password.

2. Choose the type of account you want; we recommend you choose the free Free plan, which gives you all the basic functionality.

We also advise you to check the email address you entered when registering and to confirm the registration link you received from CloudFlare.

3. The process will then automatically offer you the option to add a domain, where you enter your domain.

4. Wait for CloudFlare to automatically check existing DNS records if they are already active for that domain. However, we advise you to check that all existing records have been transferred.

Read more about registering the appropriate DNS servers and editing DNS records later in this guide.

CloudFlare DNS servers and DNS record editing

Registering DNS servers

Once you have added a domain to CloudFlare, you still need to enroll the new DNS servers listed in the CloudFlare interface for that domain.

You can access the domains by opening the first page of the CloudFlare interface (click on the CloudFlare logo in the top left corner), and then click on the desired domain.

As long as the DNS servers are not yet registered or refreshed, “Pending Nameserver Update” is displayed under the domain.

Where do I check which DNS servers need to be enrolled?

You can check this at:

As long as the DNS servers have not yet been changed or refreshed, this is also recorded if you click on the Overview icon.

You can check this at any time by clicking on the DNS icon and checking the DNS servers that are recorded under the DNS records (“Cloudflare nameservers”).

How do I change DNS servers for a domain?

If the domain is registered with us, you can arrange this in your My NEOSERV Subscription Centre:

How do I change DNS servers?

If the domain is registered elsewhere, you can usually arrange this in your user interface with the registrar of that domain.

After changing the DNS servers, you will need to wait for them to refresh, which usually takes between 4 – 24 hours (longer in extreme cases). This is because it takes this long for all global and Slovenian DNS servers to refresh at your ISP (Telekom Slovenije, A1, T-2, Telemach, etc.). The speed at which the DNS servers refresh will also depend on your ISP.

You can check whether the DNS servers (at least on CloudFlare) are already refreshed on the CloudFlare front page. When they are, the record under the domain changes from “Pending Nameserver Update” to “Active”.

In rare cases, it may happen that certain functionalities on the website (e.g. payments) will not work via CloudFlare or certain adjustments need to be made (depending on the individual case). We advise you to check the functioning of your website after refreshing the DNS servers.

Editing DNS records

You can also edit individual DNS records in the CloudFlare interface. To access DNS records, click on the DNS icon above in the settings for the desired domain and start adding or editing the desired DNS records.

To add a DNS record, click the “Add Record” button. To change the value of a DNS record (for example, the IP address to which the domain is routed), click in the value field and enter the new value. The new value will be saved automatically.

Next to the DNS record, a cloud icon is displayed on the right-hand side, which you can click to change the Proxy status. If the arrow goes through the cloud and it is orange, it means that the DNS record is routed through CloudFlare and is being served through CloudFlare, but the IP address of the server where the website is hosted is not visible on the outside, but the CloudFlare IP address is.

If the cloud is greyed out and the arrow goes past it, it means that the visitor is not connecting via CloudFlare, but directly to the server where the website is hosted, and the IP address of the server is visible instead of CloudFlare.

If you notice problems with email performance after switching to CloudFlare, we advise that you point the DNS record for your email past CloudFlare (so the arrow should go past the cloud icon).

If the email is hosted with us, this is usually the DNS record mail.vasadomena.si (instead of “vasadomena.si”, your actual domain is entered).

The email uses an MX record that points to a different DNS record. If the email is directed to us and is in the form “vasadomena.si”, change the record to “mail.vasadomena.si” (instead of “vasadomena.si” enter your actual domain).

CloudFlare and SSL certificate

It is also necessary to check and edit the SSL certificate settings.

The SSL certificate works by encrypting from the server where your website is hosted using the SSL certificate you have installed on your hosting package, and encrypting from CloudFlare to the website visitor using the CloudFlare SSL certificate.

You can access the settings for editing the SSL certificate by clicking on the SSL/TLS icon above in the settings of the selected domain. You can then select the appropriate option for the SSL certificate.

a) You do not have an SSL certificate installed on your website

In this case, select Off (not secure). In any case, we advise you to install an SSL certificate on the website. You can read more about why this is recommended here.

Flexible is also available, but we do not recommend selecting this option. If you view the website over HTTPS, although it will not report an error, certain parts of the page will be rejected, so the visitor may get a distorted view of the website.

b) You have an SSL certificate installed on the website

In this case, you have two choices:

Full: In this case, it is sufficient to have a “self-signed” or free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate installed on your hosting package.
Full (strict): a valid and trusted CA (certificate authority) SSL certificate must be installed on the hosting package where the website is hosted. You can view the range of SSL certificates available on our website.

The CloudFlare Service Manual is available here.

We are also always available by phone or email for any further questions .