Feature Request: Add CF for SaaS Support in WP Multisites (incl. APO)

[JanThiel]

Confirmation

• My issue isn't already found on the issue tracker.
• I have replicated my issue using the latest version of the plugin and it is still present.

WordPress version

5.8.2

Cloudflare-WordPress version

4.6.0

PHP version

7.4.24

Expected result

Cloudflare for SaaS was recently made general available outside of Enterprise plans. This enabled interesting usecases for WordPress Multisites.
This feature requests aims at enabling APO for SaaS enabled domains in a WordPress Multisite "Network" mode.
Instead of activating and configuring the plugin on single sites, I suppose to add a "Network Activate" mode which only connects against the CF SaaS Zone instead of individual zones.

To make this work several changes are required in this plugin as well as on Cloudflare (APO):

• CF APO: Allow "alternate hostname" domains to be handled via the primary zones APO instead of just the primary zone domain
• CF (APO?): Purge the cache for Alternate Hostnames on the primary zone
• CF WP: Add the possibility to be network activated
• CF WP: In Network Mode: Add the CF config / login screen only to the Network Admin
• CF WP: In Network Mode: Remove Config screen from single sites
• CF WP: In Network Mode: Validate alternate hostname on single site using the Custom Hostname API: https://api.cloudflare.com/#custom-hostname-for-a-zone-list-custom-hostnames (Contrary to what the docs states, this is available on all account types now. Not just Enterprise. I just verified that.)
• CF WP: In Network Mode: If sites domain is setup as alternate hostname of the primary SaaS zone: Handle Cache purging for all single sites against the globally configured primary zone

This would one allow to either continue to use the plugin as it is by activating it on a single site. But it would also unleash the potential features of the CF for SaaS offering.

Yet the biggest roadblock is that APO currently does not function on alternate hostnames in a CF SaaS setup.

Actual result

CF WP has to be enabled on a single site and connected against individual CF zones. There is no support for "alternate hostnames".

Steps to reproduce

1. Setup a WP Multisite in Subdomain Mode (doesn't matter if subdomain or subdir) with at least one additional site (Network Domain for this example: mysaas.com)
2. Setup a second site within this network. Subdomain: aclient.mysaas.com
3. Change the second sites domain from aclient.mysaas.com to aclient.com
4. Configure mysaas.com in Cloudflare
5. Add aclient.com as an alternate hostname for mysaas.com
6. Activate CF WP on the primary network site and login
7. Activate CF WP on the second network site aclient.com and try to login => As this is not an individual CF Zone it will fail

Additional factoids

No response

References

No response

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[JanThiel]

Still wanted...

[lkraav]

I think this would also significantly simplify CF-ing WP multilingual multisites, such as with https://multilingualpress.org

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[JanThiel]

Not stale, just ignored by Cloudflare. Sadly...

[tomershay]

+1
@JanThiel, did you come up with any solution for this request? Definitely an interesting use case I'd like to explore.

[JanThiel]

@tomershay The possible solution would be to re-implement CFs existing APO code with a custom worker. It shouldn't be that hard. But it would be stupid for obvious reasons to do that...
And it would be quite expensive due to the worker pricing if your sites have a lot of traffic.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[JanThiel]

Not stale, just ignored by Cloudflare. Sadly...

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[JanThiel]

Not stale, just - still - ignored by Cloudflare. Sadly...

Cloudflare you are not even considering this?! Come on. Just add this as a BIZ plan only feature and you even have a revenue proposition for your management.
This feature could be a game changer for professional WordPress users like us as APO is for single sites already. Having this ability would remove the need for local Varnish installations or other - paid - Caching solutions for WordPress. Currently you cannot offer any solution on this front out of the box although you have all the building blocks right there in place already 😕

[jordantrizz]

Not stale, just - still - ignored by Cloudflare. Sadly...

I spoke to two Cloudflare folks who were looking for feedback about the partner program and Cloudflare en-large. I spoke to them about this plugin almost being abandoned. As well as no real presence of a Cloudflare WordPress Community Manager. Hopefully something changes.

[JanThiel]

@jordantrizz Thanks for your feedback. Appreciate sharing it, although not very positive.
I do understand that the plugin might not be that great from a revenue perspective. It is currently "just" boosting the Pro plan with regular WordPress sites.
But what does CF folk expect if they to not cater to the needs of those clients who are actually able and willing to pay for Biz and Enterprise plans?! And this is most probably one of those features / missing links which could do that. They sadly do not seem to see it this way.

Maybe it's worth raising yet another ticket for this...

[jordantrizz]

I do understand that the plugin might not be that great from a revenue perspective. It is currently "just" boosting the Pro plan with regular WordPress sites.

The plugin doesn't generate revenue as it's free, so putting effort into it doesn't see a direct profit. However, if the plugin was extended to better integrate with Cloudflare and their Pro offerings, then you would see conversions from free to pro, which I think is what Cloudflare wants itself and for it's investors.

But what does CF folk expect if they to not cater to the needs of those clients who are actually able and willing to pay for Biz and Enterprise plans?! And this is most probably one of those features / missing links which could do that. They sadly do not seem to see it this way.

They cater to enterprise clients, mostly large web hosting companies with a B2B relationship. I see this plugin as a B2C relationship with more overhead per client.

Maybe it's worth raising yet another ticket for this...

A support ticket? Perhaps you should reach out to your account manager at CF, or better yet sign up for the partner program and reach out to the partner program team.

More resources need to be put into this plugin and the community, 1FTE to the community and 1FTE to this plugin. Even if you spread it over four employees with each doing 0.5 FTE would be better than what is currently occurring.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[JanThiel]

Still active, required and sadly still ignored...