# Cloud flare with Rapidweaver **URL:** \ **Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\ **Created:** [July 19, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265 "2017-07-19T11:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bazza](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/bazza/32/2104_2.png) [@Bazza](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Bazza)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/1 "2017-07-19T11:03:04Z")
Is Cloudflare worth it? I’ve no intention of paying the monthly fee for it, so is the free service worth bothering with? I’ve heard it can mess with FTP access among other things. Anyone have any experience? ---
**Author:** ![1611mac](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/1611mac/32/5675_2.png) [@1611mac](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/1611mac)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 12:03pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/2 "2017-07-19T12:03:39Z")
I would say… Know what it is and what it does. I believe many people get it for the wrong reasons. Search this forum and web in general for “Cloudflare issue” and “Cloudflare problems” etc. Disclaimer: I’ve never used the service but I’ve seen enough issues that I’d consider it’s use very carefully. I’m sure others who actually use the service will reply with hands on knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![peterdanckwerts](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/peterdanckwerts/32/22443_2.png) [@peterdanckwerts](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/peterdanckwerts)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/3 "2017-07-19T16:43:18Z")
I’m a bit wary of CloudFlare. They had a massive data leak earlier in the year. Also, it was impossible on my hosting company to make the changes to the settings which would allow it to work properly. ---
**Author:** ![teefers](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/teefers/32/8173_2.png) [@teefers](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/teefers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/4 "2017-07-19T18:10:22Z")
Don’t leave home without it. I have used it quite a few sites, speed improvements are considerable, especially if you are on a shared hosting plan. ---
**Author:** ![GRMacGeek](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/grmacgeek/32/45_2.png) [@GRMacGeek](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/GRMacGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/5 "2017-07-19T18:53:11Z")
I use Cloudflare on most of the websites I build. The “free” plan gives you: - SSL (including “Automatic HTTPS Rewrites”) - caching of HTML. CSS and JavaScript - Rocketloader (which Foundation supports) - and extra site security Why wouldn’t you use it? All this for free? The only thing you have to remember, is to put it into “Development Mode” when making changes to your website. ---
**Author:** ![Bazza](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/bazza/32/2104_2.png) [@Bazza](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Bazza)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/6 "2017-07-20T09:52:45Z")
I think the “Development Mode” is what’s been causing me problems. So you just sign up for the full version (‘cname only’ only seems to be available as part of a paid plan), repoint the DNS and set to development mode any time you want to use FTP or make changes to the website in RW? Anything else I should be aware of? ---
**Author:** ![joeworkman](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/joeworkman/32/23780_2.png) [@joeworkman](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/joeworkman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/7 "2017-07-20T14:35:38Z")
I love Cloudflare and suggest that everyone use them… ---
**Author:** ![teefers](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/teefers/32/8173_2.png) [@teefers](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/teefers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/8 "2017-07-20T14:37:33Z")
That seems to be the problem most people have is remembering they have CloudFlair turned on. Development mode will go directly to your server for 3 hours or until you turn it back off. Under the “cache” tab you an also purge your cache to apply updates. The free account only allows you to purge all, not individual files. ---
**Author:** ![jabostick](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/jabostick/32/1760_2.png) [@jabostick](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/jabostick)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/9 "2017-07-20T14:46:39Z")
> [@Bazza](#): > > I’ve heard it can mess with FTP access Regarding this point - I did have an issue with this on one site, but it was simply a matter of changing the server address to have ‘ftp’ in front (so if it was simply [example.com](http://example.com), with cloudflare, it needed to be [ftp.example.com](http://ftp.example.com)). I don’t remember the exact scenario but it was a realtively simple fix ---
**Author:** ![Bazza](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/bazza/32/2104_2.png) [@Bazza](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Bazza)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 8:47am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/10 "2017-07-21T08:47:46Z")
Many thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated. I think I’ll take another look. ---
**Author:** ![BooneCtyBeek](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/boonectybeek/32/1323_2.png) [@BooneCtyBeek](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/BooneCtyBeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/11 "2018-05-24T22:44:39Z")
I did everything like the video said. It is pretty simple. Pasted the DNS names as custom to my Godaddy host. But then my website wouldn’t load. Double and triple checked. Anyone have any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![teefers](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/teefers/32/8173_2.png) [@teefers](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/teefers)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/12 "2018-05-25T01:18:11Z")
> [@BooneCtyBeek](#): > > But then my website wouldn’t load. What is it doing when you try to load? DNS changes can take a bit of time to roll out. ---
**Author:** ![BooneCtyBeek](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/boonectybeek/32/1323_2.png) [@BooneCtyBeek](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/BooneCtyBeek)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 10:38am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/cloud-flare-with-rapidweaver/15265/13 "2018-05-25T10:38:20Z")
It is a blank page. I understand the changes may take a bit. How long is reasonable? I made the change in the evening and it was still this way in the morning. One of the tutorials said you could go to Whois which I did and it did not have the CloudFlare DNS names.