Cloudflare SSL breaks Wordpress & Joomla and how to fix it

Cloudflare is a fantastic free + premium CDN service that provides SSL in the free plan at no cost.

I was testing their SSL with WordPress & Joomla, and both were broken, which upset me for a minute. However, I found an easy solution and thought to share it with you.

In this article, you will learn: –

• How to ensure SSL is activated in Cloud Flare
• How to fix broken WordPress due to Cloud Flare SSL
• How to fix broken Joomla due to Cloud Flare SSL
• How to ensure HTTP is getting redirected in HTTPS

So first thing first – let’s ensure you have SSL activated in Cloud Flare

• Log in to Cloud Flare
• Select the website from a list
• Click on Crypto

• Ensure you can see “ACTIVE CERTIFICATE,” and SSL level is enabled like Flexible, Full, or Strict based on what you need. If you don’t want to spend money on having a cert on your web server, you can leave the default value, Flexible.

This ensures Cloud Flare SSL is activated on your website.

Fix Cloudflare SSL issue in WordPress

As you can see in the below screenshot, my WordPress site layout got broken. This usually happens when all content is not loaded through HTTPS, resulting in a broken site.

There are two ways to fix this –

First – ensure all contents are getting loaded from the HTTPS URL. However, if you were using a third-party theme, you would mostly prefer the second solution, which is easy.

Second – Install Cloudflare Flexible SSL WordPress Plugin

• Login to WordPress admin
• Go to Plugins >> Add New
• Search for “Cloudflare Flexible SSL”
• Install and activate it

That’s all – this plugin takes care of everything. As you can see below, it loads correctly.

Fix Cloudflare SSL issue in Joomla

I activated Cloud Flare SSL on my website, which is on Joomla, and got the layout broken.

To fix this – install the “Cloudflare For Joomla” plugin

• Download Cloudflare For Joomla plugin. You need to register for a free account first.
• Login into Joomla Admin
• Go to Extensions >> Extension Manager
• Click on Choose File and select the downloaded plugin and click on Upload & Install
• By default, Joomla will not enable this plugin, so you got to do this manually. To enable:-
• Go to Extensions >> Plugin Manager
• Search for Cloud Flare and enable

Now you can see it’s getting loaded correctly.

Once you activate, you must ensure HTTP is redirected to HTTPS to avoid duplication in a search engine.

HTTP to HTTPS redirection using Cloudflare Page Rules

• Log in to Cloud Flare
• Select the website from the list
• Click on Page Rules
• Enter HTTP URL in URL pattern
• Turn ON “Always use HTTPS” as shown below

That’s all – you are all set to use free SSL-powered by Cloud Flare. Don’t forget to test your SSL for any vulnerabilities.