Lesson 2 · Cloudflare DNS
The phone book: A/CNAME vs MX
You open: Cloudflare dashboard → connorclaire.ca → DNS → Records
Cloudflare is not “the website.” It is the authoritative list of where the name points. Website rows go to Vercel. Mail rows go to Migadu. Mixing them up is how you take mail down while fixing the site — or the reverse.
An A (or CNAME) row is “when a visitor asks for the website, send them here.” For you, here is Vercel. Those rows should be DNS only — the gray cloud, not the orange one. Both Vercel and Migadu warn about this: an orange cloud puts Cloudflare in the middle and can break certificate checks and DKIM.
MX rows are “when someone sends mail to @connorclaire.ca, deliver it to Migadu.” SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are extra rows that prove the mail is really from you. They look boring. They are load-bearing.
You already did the hard part once: nameservers at the registrar point at Cloudflare. Do not change nameservers casually. Switching them pulls the carpet out from under every row in this table, mail included.
Practice
In the mock table below, click the website rows and the mail rows. On the real dashboard, find those same types. Do not edit anything today. Finding is the skill.
Cloudflare · DNS · Records
Mock of the screen you will log into. Click a row.
| Type | Name | Content | Proxy |
|---|---|---|---|
Website → Vercel
Apex of connorclaire.ca. Gray cloud. This is the house address, not mail.
Takeaway. One name, two buildings. Gray cloud on Vercel and DKIM records. Never “clean up” a row you cannot name.
From the experts
Opening this lesson counts as done.