@joshdoehla thanks for raising the issue. Let me clarify a few points regarding Cloudflare for WordPress plugin detection.
Best way to activate APO with the plugin
I recommend enabling APO feature in WP plugin itself, not in the Cloudflare dashboard. This way you make sure APO and WP plugin integration works. Everything about APO configuration should be done from the “Cloudflare for WordPress” plugin. The ability to enable APO from Cloudflare dashboard is mostly for cases when APO works independently from WP plugin. We explained the difference in the blog post.
How to verify APO and WP plugin integration works?
- publish a change on the website page.
- refresh the page 2 times (first time we return stale version of the page from KV)
- you should see a change and the page should be cached with cf-cache-status: HIT in a response header
Possible reasons why WP plugin is not detected with APO
- WP plugin version before 3.8.2 is installed ( we need 3.8.2 to detect plugin), remedy - install 3.8.2.
- WP plugin version 3.8.2 is installed but existing caching plugins returned stale responses (without cf-edge-cache header), remedy- enable APO from WP plugin, purge caches in other plugins
- WordPress only runs on a subdomain, we check for WordPress and WP plugin against the zone’s root domain. Remedy - liberate subdomain zone and run APO.
How we detect WP plugin is running and compatible with APO
All origin’s responses should return the cf-edge-cache header. Starting from version 3.8.2 cf-edge-cache header is added.
I hope my comments make sense and help all APO users to get the most out of the service.