Oh and in case it’s relevant, the website in question is http://robertsiegelstudio.com
Using the cloudflare plugin will give you access to the real IP address of the spammers. Without it, you will not be able to check against the Stop Forum Spam database to detect spammers.
I like cloudflare. It does some good anti-spam on its own and speeds up your site. The plugin is very light weight. I use the cloudflare plugin whenever I use cloudflare.
The only situation where I don’t use cloudflare is when I am trying to attract spammers so I can test new features on anti spam plugins.
Keith
No need to sell me on CloudFlare, it seems great, but my host is supposedly already using it? As in it’s already a part of my site? I don’t have a login and API key to enter into the WordPress CloudFlare plugin to connect it to a CloudFlare account.
Perhaps there are some relevant questions to ask my host as well?
Would actively signing up for a CloudFlare account and hooking it up to my site potentially mess up things with my hosting environment? Or should I just sign up for it on top of whatever DreamHost is doing?
Since you already have cloudflare, you need only to install the plugin. The plugin does nothing but translate the incoming request so that the original information about the web surfer is restored.
Cloudflare caches your website so the IP address of the surfer is the Cloudflare IP address. I can’t check that for spam because it is not the original user’s IP address. The plugin fixes this so plugins can check the incoming user against Stop Forum Spam db.
The CloudFlare plugin is invisible to you and has no settings. All it does is fix the IP. It is only a dozen or so lines of code and does not interfere at all with WordPress functionality.
Keith
“So I did what it said, and installed the CloudFlare plugin, but because I have CloudFlare through my host (never signed up for a CloudFlare account), I don’t have any login credentials or API key to enter into the CloudFlare plugin.”
Activating through a hosting provider would actually have created a CloudFlare account for you (you should have received an email regarding this as well). You would find your API key in your CloudFlare account under the ‘Account’ link. The email address for the account is probably what is tied to your hosting provider’s account.
kpgraham, thanks, that makes sense because when I install the Cloudflare plugin, your plugin’s message goes away and it seems to be satisfied.
damoncloudflare, all I know is that Dreamhost is a Cloudflare hosting partner. However they are integrating Cloudflare with their hosting, it is invisible to their clents (as far as I can tell) I was never really notified that they are using Cloudflare, nor was I ever given an API key. It seems more as though they are taking care of the Cloudflare on their end.
” all I know is that Dreamhost is a Cloudflare hosting partner. H”
Correct.
“However they are integrating Cloudflare with their hosting, it is invisible to their clents “
It isn’t. A client specifically has to turn us on in Dreamhost’s panel. It is not something that is turned on by default.
The API key would be in the CloudFlare account created when the customer turned us on at the hosting provider.
damoncloudflare,
I’m not so sure about what you say. I use SiteGround.com for a few sites and it has a CPANEL page for configuring cloudflare where I can turn it on and off and set options.
I cannot, in this case use CloudFlare.com to configure CloudFlare.
If, however, I want to use straight CloudFlare, I have to turn off CloudFlare at SiteGround, create an entry at CloudFlare.com and point my DNS to the cloudflare dns servers.
There is no API key involved.
And one thing that bothers me about the CPANEL CloudFlare is that I can’t configure the CloudFlare free SSL.
Keith
Stop Spammers seemed to be working fine regardless of whether the Cloudflare plugin activated or deactivated. I had both configurations for a while.
That’s good. There is a danger that without the plugin that some spammers can slip through on the Cloudflare IP because they are reading the cached page from cloudflare. This way you can block more spam.
Keith
The panel options at partners do let you do certain things without logging in to your CloudFlare account. You still get an account when it is created through a partner, and that account does let you turn features on/off in your CloudFlare account. You will also have an API key in the CloudFlare account that was created through a hosting partner.
“If, however, I want to use straight CloudFlare, I have to turn off CloudFlare at SiteGround, create an entry at CloudFlare.com and point my DNS to the cloudflare dns servers.”
Yes, this is also an option. The direct signup is different because we can only provision CNAMEs through a hosting partner’s panel option.
“And one thing that bothers me about the CPANEL CloudFlare is that I can’t configure the CloudFlare free SSL.”
We have to be managing the DNS to activate the free SSL option, which explains why it isn’t available through a hosting partner sign up.
“There is no API key involved.”
You will have an API key available regardless of how you signed up, direct or through a partner.
I can assure you that you have CloudFlare accounts for the domain(s) you have signed up through a partner. That’s simply how the integration works…
