You may have caught the recent announcement that our Hummingbird performance plugin has been integrated with CloudFlare. But given that CloudFlare works on a domain level, what does this mean if you’re running a Multisite network?
The good news is that with one CloudFlare account you can cover multiple domains. Unlike many services, you don’t need a separate account for each domino, and you don’t need to pay extra if you’re using Multisite with subdomains or mapped domains.
In this post I’ll show you how to integrate Hummingbird with CloudFlare for the sites on your network, and identify the different approaches you need to take depending on whether you’re using subdirectories, subdomains or mapped domains.
Note: If you’re using Hummingbird and CloudFlare together on a single site installation of WordPress, this guide will also help you get set up.
But let’s start with an intro to CloudFlare.
CloudFlare: What it is and How it Works
CloudFlare is a service that incorporates a few key features designed to make your site perform better. These are:
- A Content Delivery Network (CDN). This distributes the data from your site across multiple servers in different locations, meaning visitors to your site get faster response times as the data isn’t stored halfway across the world.
- Optimization features designed to speed up your site (just like Hummingbird!)
- Security delivered via a firewall as well as protection from DDoS attacks.
CloudFlare is designed to give people running small sites access to the kind of tools that only those managing huge enterprise level sites have had in the past, by leveraging its community of users and being able to learn from what’s happening to sites across its user base and apply that to the rest of the sites signed up with it.
If you want to find out more about what it does, check out this video:
Integrating Hummingbird and CloudFlare on Your Network
Let’s start by looking at how you set up Hummingbird with CloudFlare on your Multisite network. Once we’ve done that I’ll move on to looking at how it interacts with different domain setups.
Installing Hummingbird
Start by installing Hummingbird on your Multisite network, if you don’t already have it installed. The easiest way to this is by using the WPMU DEV Dashboard.
Once you’ve got Hummingbird installed, take some time to run a scan and make any tweaks you need to. I’ve done that and got a score of 83%:

Let’s see if it improves once I’ve activated CloudFlare.
Creating a CloudFlare Account and Adding Your Domain
Now you’ve got Hummingbird up and running, it’s time to set yourself up with CloudFlare. If you haven’t already, create an account and log in. You can create a free account or there’s a choice of premium options depending on your need.
Now CloudFlare will promote you to add your domain name. Type (or copy) the domain for your network in the field provided:

Click the Scan DNS Records button and CloudFlare will check your site’s DNS.
CloudFlare will start scanning your DNS records and play a video while it does so:

When it’s done, click the Continue button.
You’ll then see details of your DNS records for your domain. Check these and confirm they’re correct by clicking the Continue button.
Next you’ll be asked to select a website plan for this domain. Pick the one that works for you: I’m going with a free one for now.
The next step is to edit the nameservers for your domain. CloudFlare will give you details of what you should change them to:

Do that and wait up to 24 hours while the DNS changes take effect. Click the Continue button to see a summary of your CloudFlare settings:

Adding CloudFlare to Hummingbird
Adding CloudFlare to Hummingbird couldn’t be easier. Go to the Hummingbird dashboard in your network admin screens, and scroll down to the CloudFlare metabox:

In the first field, enter the email address you used to register with CloudFlare.
Now back in your Cloudflare account, click on your name at the top right of the screen and then on My Settings. Scroll down to the API Key box:

Next to Global API Key, click on the View API Key button. Your API key will appear in a pop box. Copy that and paste it into the second field in the CloudFlare metabox in Hummingbird. Then click the Connect button.
Hummingbird will connect with your CloudFlare account and replace those fields with a Select domain drop-down box. Use this to select the domain of your network and click the Enable CloudFlare button.
Hummingbird and CloudFlare will link up and you’ll see a confirmation message:

You’re all set!