In this Southern Fried DNN User Group Meeting:

Speaker: Jeremy Farrance
Topic: Why you should (and how to) put Cloudflare Free in front of your DNN site

Jeremy Farrance Presents: Why you should (and how to) put Cloudflare Free in front of your DNN site! This SoFri meeting session includes a live set up on an existing website as well as: setting up the 15-year origin server SSL certificate, a walk through on features you should turn on after you get it working, and a walk/talk through Clearing the Cache as well as when to use Pause vs. Dev mode.

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Community Topics and Updates

• 🚐 Van Life update: David joins from his camper van near Yosemite (~3,000 ft), now 5,500+ miles into the journey, leveling and parking while friends arrive.
• 🌄 Community vibes: scenic travel chat, surprise meetups suggested, nostalgic tunes and jokes.
• 🌐 DNN Connect news: Girona, Spain, different pace than U.S. Summit; look for recaps from community voices like “DNN Diva” (Alessandra Daniels).
• 🧩 DNN community updates: Will Strohl publishes OpenContent templates for social metadata and relaunches Glanton auth modules under Appendo; new DNN Feedback Module v6.8.0 helps upgrades from older versions.
• 🦠 Security story: TooSexyBlog shares a ransomware post-mortem that started from an outdated SharePoint install, with transparent lessons learned.
• ⚙️ DNN 10.0.1 release: shipped this week; please test and report issues to keep momentum strong.

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Why you should (and how to) put Cloudflare Free in front of your DNN site

Jeremy leads a live Cloudflare setup for a DNN site, covering origin SSL, key security and performance features to enable, and practical workflows for cache clearing and when to use Pause vs. Dev mode.

Recommendations and Presentation Notes:

• ☁️ Core benefits: edge caching for speed, stronger security, bot and threat protection.
• 🔐 Origin Server SSL: create and install a 15-year cert to ensure full encryption (browser → Cloudflare → origin). Note: the stream showed an IIS binding hiccup; verify the cert is applied and bound correctly.
• 🛡️ Harden the origin: restrict IIS to Cloudflare IP ranges to prevent direct hits even if the server IP is known.
• ⚙️ Cloudflare settings to review: Bot Fight Mode and managed challenges, DNS entries, SSL/TLS mode, caching rules, and Development Mode for debugging.
• 🧰 Optional pro tools: image optimization (WebP, Mirage, Polish) and managed WAF rules, including DNN-aware protections.
• 🚀 Advanced & automation: Pro plan enables advanced WAF; DNS updates are nearly instant; Ryan demonstrates Cloudflare API/CLI and Terraform patterns for replicating site configs; use whitelisted IP lists for dev access.
• 🔎 Upgrade notes & caveats: Let’s Encrypt renewals can collide with Cloudflare; pause proxy or avoid HTTP/2 during renewal windows if needed.
• 🧾 SSL & billing philosophy: Cloudflare origin certs help agencies fold SSL into maintenance rather than separate billing.
• 🤝 Takeaway: setup has many steps, but once complete, Cloudflare provides durable performance, protection, and reliability.
• 🗓️ Next meetup: Thursday, June 19 — topic suggestions welcome.

Watch the Southern Fried DNN User Group Meeting: