{"id":12480,"date":"2024-05-29T07:55:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T07:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/?p=12480"},"modified":"2026-06-14T10:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T10:31:16","slug":"hub-sites-in-sharepoint-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/eccentrix-corner\/hub-sites-in-sharepoint-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Hub Sites in SharePoint Online"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Introduction to Hub Sites<\/h2>\n<p>Hub sites in SharePoint are special types of sites designed to connect and organize other sites within an organization.\u00a0They provide a centralized navigation experience across associated sites, making it easier for users to find information and resources. Hub sites allow for consistent branding, ensuring a cohesive look and feel throughout the organization&#8217;s SharePoint environment. They also aggregate content such as news, events, and activities from associated sites, offering a consolidated view of important information. The search experience is scoped to the hub and its associated sites, improving search relevance. Additionally, hub sites facilitate connections between related sites, promoting collaboration and information sharing across different departments or projects. Security and permissions are inherited from associated sites, simplifying management, and ensuring consistency.<\/p>\n<p>Hub sites offer flexibility and scalability, allowing organizations to associate multiple sites with a hub site and reassign sites to different hubs as needed. This makes hub sites particularly useful for organizations with many SharePoint sites, as they streamline site management and enhance the user experience.\u00a0They are a great alternative and replacement to subsites that were used in the legacy implementation scenarios, and that we are gradually decommissioning in favor of hub sites.<\/p>\n<h3>Practical Use Examples<\/h3>\n<h4><strong>Example 1: Corporate Intranet<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A common use case for Hub Sites is to organize a corporate intranet. For instance, a Hub Site can serve as the central intranet portal for an organization, with associated sites for different departments such as HR, IT, and Marketing. This setup not only enhances navigation between departmental content but also ensures a consistent corporate identity across the intranet.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Example 2: Project Management<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Hub Sites can also be instrumental in managing projects. By creating a Hub Site for a specific project, you can connect sites dedicated to various project components or teams. This approach enables centralized project communication, document sharing, and progress tracking.<\/p>\n<h2>Configuration Steps<\/h2>\n<p>Creating and configuring a Hub Site in SharePoint Online involves several key steps. We will demonstrate here how to create the hub site, associate an existing site to it, and verify that changes the top link bar URLs that are made available at the hub are reflected on the member site, which is one of the functionality the use of hub sites allow to do.<\/p>\n<p>1. Navigate to your tenant\u2019s SharePoint Admin Center by using the appropriate URL &#8211;\u00a0<em>https:\/\/[your tenant name]-admin.sharepoint.com\/_layouts\/15\/online\/AdminHome.aspx<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>2. Expand\u00a0<strong>Sites<\/strong>\u00a0and select\u00a0<strong>Active Sites<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17924\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-2-300x204.png\" alt=\"SharePoint Online active sites screen in Microsoft 365.\" width=\"644\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-2-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-2.png 611w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>3. Choose an existing site to convert into a Hub Site (or create a new site) by clicking on\u00a0<strong>Register as a hub site<\/strong>\u00a0in the\u00a0<strong>Hub<\/strong>\u00a0menu:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17926\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-3-300x196.png\" alt=\"Hub site registration in Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online.\" width=\"643\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-3-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-3.png 577w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>4. Enter a name for the Hub Site and specify additional settings as required, and click on\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>\u00a0to create your Hub Site:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17928\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-4-300x209.png\" alt=\"Hub site registration in SharePoint Online screen.\" width=\"643\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-4-300x209.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-4.png 563w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>5. Notice your site will be converted as a hub site, and click\u00a0<strong>Close<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17930\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-5-300x212.png\" alt=\"Hub site creation confirmation screen in SharePoint Online.\" width=\"636\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-5-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-5.png 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>6. At this point, check the site you wish to associate with the Hub Site, and select\u00a0<strong>Associate with a hub<\/strong>\u00a0in the Hub menu:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17932\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-6-300x204.png\" alt=\"Association of a site to the hub site in Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online.\" width=\"620\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-6-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-6.png 559w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>7. Select your Hub Site to which you want your current site to be associated with from the dropdown list and click on\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17934\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-7-300x208.png\" alt=\"Saving the hub site association in SharePoint Online.\" width=\"609\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-7-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-7.png 504w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>8. Notice the association has completed successfully:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17936\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-8-300x206.png\" alt=\"Successful change of a hub site association in SharePoint Online.\" width=\"601\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-8-300x206.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-8.png 614w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>9. Browse to the hub site that we have converted recently by accessing its URL in its properties:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17938\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-9-300x160.png\" alt=\"Properties of a hub site in SharePoint Online.\" width=\"598\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-9-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-9.png 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>10. Now, we will customize the main navigation bar links of the hub site to be reflected on the associated sites by clicking on the member sites by clicking on\u00a0<strong>Edit<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17940\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-10-300x49.png\" alt=\"Editing the site bar in a SharePoint Online site.\" width=\"618\" height=\"101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-10-300x49.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-10.png 661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>11. Click on the\u00a0<strong>plus sign<\/strong>\u00a0and specify the address, the display name of the link, and click on\u00a0<strong>OK<\/strong>\u00a0to ensure the changes are applied at that level:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17942\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-11-300x193.png\" alt=\"Adding content to the hub site navigation in Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online.\" width=\"583\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-11-300x193.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-11.png 561w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 583px) 100vw, 583px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>12. Click on\u00a0<b>Save<\/b>\u00a0to close the link menu editor:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17944\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-12-300x283.png\" alt=\"Saving the changes of a hub setting in SharePoint Online.\" width=\"571\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-12-300x283.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-12.png 315w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>13. By visiting the member site, you will notice the link has appeared in the navigation bar at the top, proving a hub site is designed to provide consistency across member sites:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-17946\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-13-300x51.png\" alt=\"Navigation bar update in a SharePoint Online site.\" width=\"641\" height=\"109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-13-300x51.png 300w, https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hs-13.png 658w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 641px) 100vw, 641px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Hub Sites in SharePoint Online offer a powerful solution for organizing and managing sites within an organization. By leveraging Hub Sites, businesses can enhance collaboration, improve information discovery, and maintain a cohesive digital workplace. Whether for a corporate intranet or project management, the practical applications of Hub Sites are vast and varied.<\/p>\n<p>For professionals looking to deepen their understanding of SharePoint Online and explore advanced features like Hub Sites, Eccentrix provides comprehensive IT training, such as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/courses\/microsoft\/sharepoint-online\/sharepoint-online-management-and-administration-ms55370\">SharePoint Online Management and Administration (MS55370)<\/a>\u00a0course. With expert-led courses and hands-on practice, Eccentrix equips you with the skills needed to effectively implement and manage SharePoint Online in your organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction to Hub Sites Hub sites in SharePoint are special types of sites designed to connect and organize other sites within an organization.\u00a0They provide a centralized navigation experience across associated sites, making it easier for users to find information and resources. Hub sites allow for consistent branding, ensuring a cohesive look and feel throughout the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[160,103],"class_list":["post-12480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eccentrix-corner","tag-compliance-and-governance","tag-microsoft-365"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12480"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44054,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12480\/revisions\/44054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eccentrix.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}