SharePoint Hub Sites: Connecting Your Intranet Ecosystem

Owner = "[email protected]" SiteDesignId = "6142d2a0-63a5-4ba0-aede-d9fefca2c767" # Topic site design Lcid = 1033 # English HubSiteDesignId = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" # Will be hub``` }

Write-Host "Creating HR site..." -ForegroundColor Cyan New-PnPSite @hrSiteParams

Write-Host "✓ Site created: $hrSiteUrl" -ForegroundColor Green

Wait for site provisioning to complete

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30

Register site as Hub Site

Write-Host "Registering as Hub Site..." -ForegroundColor Cyan Register-PnPHubSite -Site $hrSiteUrl

Write-Host "✓ Hub Site registered" -ForegroundColor Green

Verify hub site creation

$hubSite = Get-PnPHubSite -Identity $hrSiteUrl Write-Host "`nHub Site Details:" -ForegroundColor Yellow Write-Host " Title: $($hubSite.Title)" Write-Host " URL: $($hubSite.SiteUrl)" Write-Host " Hub Site ID: $($hubSite.ID)"

Diagram: See the official Microsoft documentation for architecture details.

Step 3: Configure Hub Site Settings

Set Hub Site Logo and Theme

## Connect to the HR hub site
$hrSiteUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $hrSiteUrl -Interactive





## Upload logo
$logoPath = "C:\Logos\HR_Logo.png"
$logoFile = Add-PnPFile -Path $logoPath -Folder "SiteAssets" -Publish





Write-Host "✓ Logo uploaded: $($logoFile.ServerRelativeUrl)" -ForegroundColor Green

## Set site logo
$web = Get-PnPWeb
Set-PnPWeb -LogoUrl "$($web.ServerRelativeUrl)/SiteAssets/HR_Logo.png"





Write-Host "✓ Logo applied to hub site" -ForegroundColor Green

## Define custom theme
$themeJson = @"
{
```text
"themePrimary": "#0078d4",
"themeLighterAlt": "#eff6fc",
"themeLighter": "#deecf9",
"themeLight": "#c7e0f4",
"themeTertiary": "#71afe5",
"themeSecondary": "#2b88d8",
"themeDarkAlt": "#106ebe",
"themeDark": "#005a9e",
"themeDarker": "#004578",
"neutralLighterAlt": "#faf9f8",
"neutralLighter": "#f3f2f1",




"neutralLight": "#edebe9",
"neutralQuaternaryAlt": "#e1dfdd",
"neutralQuaternary": "#d0d0d0",
"neutralTertiaryAlt": "#c8c6c4",
"neutralTertiary": "#a19f9d",
"neutralSecondary": "#605e5c",
"neutralPrimaryAlt": "#3b3a39",
"neutralPrimary": "#323130",
"neutralDark": "#201f1e",
"black": "#000000",
"white": "#ffffff"```
}
"@

## Add custom theme to tenant
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com" -Interactive





Add-PnPTenantTheme -Identity "HR Theme" -Palette $themeJson -IsInverted $false -Overwrite

Write-Host "✓ Custom theme created" -ForegroundColor Green

## Apply theme to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $hrSiteUrl -Interactive
Set-PnPWebTheme -Theme "HR Theme"





Write-Host "✓ Theme applied to hub site" -ForegroundColor Green

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Configure Hub Site Navigation

## Connect to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $hrSiteUrl -Interactive





















## Clear existing navigation
Get-PnPNavigationNode -Location TopNavigationBar | Remove-PnPNavigationNode -Force





## Add hub navigation links
$navItems = @(
```text
@{Title = "Home"; Url = "/sites/hr"},
@{Title = "Benefits"; Url = "/sites/hr-benefits"},
@{Title = "Careers"; Url = "/sites/hr-recruiting"},
@{Title = "Learning"; Url = "/sites/hr-learning"},
@{Title = "Policies"; Url = "/sites/hr-handbook"},
@{Title = "Contact HR"; Url = "/sites/hr/Pages/Contact.aspx"}```
)





Write-Host "Adding navigation items..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

foreach ($item in $navItems) {
```text
$fullUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com$($item.Url)"

Add-PnPNavigationNode -Title $item.Title `
                      -Url $fullUrl `
                      -Location TopNavigationBar

Write-Host "  ✓ Added: $($item.Title)" -ForegroundColor Green```
}

Write-Host "`n✓ Navigation configured" -ForegroundColor Green

## Verify navigation
Get-PnPNavigationNode -Location TopNavigationBar | 
```text
Select-Object Title, Url | 
Format-Table -AutoSize

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

## Set Hub Site Permissions

```powershell




## Connect to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $hrSiteUrl -Interactive

## Add hub site administrators
$hubAdmins = @(
```text
"[email protected]",
"[email protected]",
"[email protected]"```
)





Write-Host "Adding hub site administrators..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

foreach ($admin in $hubAdmins) {
```powershell
try {
    Add-PnPHubSiteAssociation -Site $hrSiteUrl -HubSiteAdmin $admin
    Write-Host "  ✓ Added: $admin" -ForegroundColor Green
} catch {
    Write-Host "  ✗ Failed to add: $admin" -ForegroundColor Red
    Write-Host "    Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red
}```
}

## Grant hub site permissions (for association)
Grant-PnPHubSiteRights -Identity $hrSiteUrl -Principals $hubAdmins -Rights Join





Write-Host "`n✓ Hub administrators configured" -ForegroundColor Green

## List hub administrators
$hubSite = Get-PnPHubSite -Identity $hrSiteUrl
Write-Host "`nHub Administrators:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
$hubSite.SiteOwners | Format-Table

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Step 4: Create and Associate Child Sites

Create Associated Sites

## Define associated sites for HR hub
$associatedSites = @(
```text
@{
    Title       = "Benefits"
    Url         = "/sites/hr-benefits"
    Description = "Employee benefits information and enrollment"
    Owner       = "[email protected]"
    Template    = "CommunicationSite"
},
@{
    Title       = "Recruiting"
    Url         = "/sites/hr-recruiting"
    Description = "Talent acquisition and recruiting resources"
    Owner       = "[email protected]"




    Template    = "CommunicationSite"
},
@{
    Title       = "Learning & Development"
    Url         = "/sites/hr-learning"
    Description = "Employee training and development programs"
    Owner       = "[email protected]"
    Template    = "CommunicationSite"
},
@{
    Title       = "Employee Handbook"
    Url         = "/sites/hr-handbook"
    Description = "Company policies and employee guidelines"
    Owner       = "[email protected]"
    Template    = "CommunicationSite"
}```
)

## Connect to tenant
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com" -Interactive





## Create each associated site
foreach ($site in $associatedSites) {

> **Architecture Overview:** $fullUrl = "https: contoso.sharepoint.com$($site.Url)"


**Expected output:**

```text
Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Associate Sites with Hub

Figure: SharePoint hub site – connected sites navigation and news web parts.

## Get hub site ID
$hrHubSite = Get-PnPHubSite -Identity "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr"
$hrHubId = $hrHubSite.ID





Write-Host "Hub Site ID: $hrHubId" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host "`nAssociating sites with HR hub..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

foreach ($site in $associatedSites) {
```powershell
$fullUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com$($site.Url)"

try {
    # Connect to the site
    Connect-PnPOnline -Url $fullUrl -Interactive
    
    # Associate with hub
    Add-PnPHubSiteAssociation -Site $fullUrl -HubSite $hrHubId
    
    Write-Host "  ✓ Associated: $($site.Title)" -ForegroundColor Green
    
} catch {
    Write-Host "  ✗ Failed: $($site.Title)" -ForegroundColor Red
    Write-Host "    Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red
}```
}

Write-Host "`n✓ All sites associated with hub" -ForegroundColor Green

## Verify associations
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr" -Interactive
$associatedSites = Get-PnPHubSiteChild -Identity $hrHubId





Write-Host "`nAssociated Sites:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
$associatedSites | Select-Object Title, Url | Format-Table -AutoSize

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Bulk Associate Existing Sites

Figure: SharePoint hub site – connected sites navigation and news web parts.

## Find all sites with specific naming pattern
$sitesToAssociate = Get-PnPTenantSite | Where-Object { 
```powershell
$_.Url -like "*/sites/hr-*" -and 
$_.Template -eq "SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0"  # Communication site template```
}





Write-Host "Found $($sitesToAssociate.Count) sites matching pattern" -ForegroundColor Yellow

foreach ($site in $sitesToAssociate) {
```powershell
Write-Host "`nProcessing: $($site.Url)" -ForegroundColor Cyan

try {
    # Check if already associated
    Connect-PnPOnline -Url $site.Url -Interactive
    $currentHub = (Get-PnPSite).HubSiteId
    
    if ($currentHub -eq $hrHubId) {
        Write-Host "  ⚠ Already associated with HR hub" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    } elseif ($currentHub -ne [guid]::Empty) {
        Write-Host "  ⚠ Already associated with another hub: $currentHub" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    } else {
        # Associate with hub
        Add-PnPHubSiteAssociation -Site $site.Url -HubSite $hrHubId
        Write-Host "  ✓ Successfully associated" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
    
} catch {
    Write-Host "  ✗ Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red
}```
}

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Step 5: Configure Aggregated Content

Create News Rollup on Hub Home

## Connect to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr" -Interactive

## Get or create homepage
$homePage = Get-PnPPage -Identity "Home.aspx" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue





if (-not $homePage) {
```text
$homePage = Add-PnPPage -Name "Home" -LayoutType Home -Publish
Write-Host "✓ Created homepage" -ForegroundColor Green```
}

## Add News web part (aggregates from hub)
Add-PnPPageWebPart -Page $homePage `
                   -Component "News" `
                   -Section 1 `
                   -Column 1 `
                   -WebPartProperties @{
                       "dataProviderId" = "news"
                       "newsDataSourceProp" = 2  # 2 = Hub sites
                       "newsSiteList" = @()  # Empty = all associated sites
                       "layoutId" = "FeaturedNews"  # Featured news layout
                       "dataRowsLimit" = 10
                   }





Write-Host "✓ News rollup added to homepage" -ForegroundColor Green

## Add Events web part (aggregates from hub)
Add-PnPPageWebPart -Page $homePage `
                   -Component "Events" `
                   -Section 1 `
                   -Column 2 `
                   -WebPartProperties @{
                       "dataProviderId" = "events"
                       "eventsDataSource" = 2  # 2 = Hub sites
                       "layoutId" = "FilmStrip"
                       "dataRowsLimit" = 5
                   }





Write-Host "✓ Events rollup added to homepage" -ForegroundColor Green

## Add Highlighted Content (documents from hub)
Add-PnPPageWebPart -Page $homePage `
                   -Component "HighlightedContent" `
                   -Section 2 `
                   -Column 1 `
                   -WebPartProperties @{
                       "contentSource" = "hub"  # Hub source
                       "queryMode" = "Basic"
                       "query" = @{
                           "contentTypes" = @("Document")
                           "sortBy" = "Modified"
                           "sortOrder" = "desc"
                       }
                       "layoutId" = "Card"
                       "dataRowsLimit" = 12




                   }

Write-Host "✓ Highlighted content added to homepage" -ForegroundColor Green

## Publish page
Set-PnPPage -Identity "Home.aspx" -Publish





Write-Host "`n✓ Homepage published with aggregated content" -ForegroundColor Green

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Create Custom Hub News Page

## Create dedicated news page
$newsPage = Add-PnPPage -Name "News" -LayoutType Article -Publish:$false





## Add page title section
Add-PnPPageTextPart -Page $newsPage -Text "# HR News & Updates" -Section 1 -Column 1





## Add News web part with filters
Add-PnPPageWebPart -Page $newsPage `
                   -Component "News" `
                   -Section 2 `
                   -Column 1 `
                   -WebPartProperties @{
                       "dataProviderId" = "news"
                       "newsDataSourceProp" = 2  # Hub sites
                       "layoutId" = "SideBySize"
                       "dataRowsLimit" = 20
                       "filterBy" = @{
                           "contentType" = "News"
                       }
                   }





## Publish news page
Set-PnPPage -Identity "News.aspx" -Publish





Write-Host "✓ Dedicated news page created" -ForegroundColor Green

## Add to navigation
Add-PnPNavigationNode -Title "News" `
                      -Url "/sites/hr/SitePages/News.aspx" `
                      -Location TopNavigationBar





Write-Host "✓ News page added to navigation" -ForegroundColor Green

Step 6: Implement Site Search Scope

Configure Hub Search Settings

## Connect to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr" -Interactive

## Create search schema (custom managed properties)
$searchConfig = @"
<SearchConfigurationSettings xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.SearchConfigurationSettings">
```text
<ManagedProperties>
    <ManagedProperty>
        <Name>HRDocumentType</Name>
        <Type>Text</Type>
        <RefinementFilters>
            <RefinementFilter>Document</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Policy</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Form</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Guide</RefinementFilter>
        </RefinementFilters>
    </ManagedProperty>




    <ManagedProperty>
        <Name>HRDepartment</Name>
        <Type>Text</Type>
        <RefinementFilters>
            <RefinementFilter>Benefits</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Recruiting</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Learning</RefinementFilter>
            <RefinementFilter>Compliance</RefinementFilter>
        </RefinementFilters>
    </ManagedProperty>
</ManagedProperties>```
</SearchConfigurationSettings>
"@

## Import search configuration
Set-PnPSearchConfiguration -Scope Site -Configuration $searchConfig





Write-Host "✓ Search configuration imported" -ForegroundColor Green

## Create custom search results page
$searchPage = Add-PnPPage -Name "SearchResults" -LayoutType Article -Publish:$false





## Add Search Results web part
Add-PnPPageWebPart -Page $searchPage `
                   -Component "SearchResults" `
                   -Section 1 `
                   -Column 1 `
                   -WebPartProperties @{
                       "queryText" = "{searchTerms} path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr*"
                       "resultSourceId" = "8413cd39-2156-4e00-b54d-11efd9abdb89"  # Local SharePoint Results
                       "refiners" = @{
                           "HRDocumentType" = @{
                               "displayName" = "Document Type"
                               "displayOrder" = 1
                           }
                           "HRDepartment" = @{
                               "displayName" = "Department"




                               "displayOrder" = 2
                           }
                           "FileType" = @{
                               "displayName" = "File Type"
                               "displayOrder" = 3
                           }
                       }
                   }

Set-PnPPage -Identity "SearchResults.aspx" -Publish

Write-Host "✓ Custom search results page created" -ForegroundColor Green

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Step 7: Hub Site Governance

Create Hub Site Governance Policy

## Define governance metadata
$governanceMetadata = @{
```powershell
"HubSiteOwner" = "[email protected]"
"HubSiteAdmins" = @("[email protected]", "[email protected]")
"ReviewFrequency" = "Quarterly"
"LastReview" = (Get-Date).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")
"NextReview" = (Get-Date).AddDays(90).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")
"RetentionPolicy" = "7 years for policies, 3 years for general content"
"AccessReviewFrequency" = "Annually"
"ComplianceRequirements" = @("GDPR", "SOX", "HIPAA")```
}





## Connect to hub site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr" -Interactive

## Store governance metadata as site properties
foreach ($key in $governanceMetadata.Keys) {
```powershell
$value = if ($governanceMetadata[$key] -is [array]) {
    $governanceMetadata[$key] -join ";"
} else {
    $governanceMetadata[$key]
}





Set-PnPPropertyBagValue -Key "Governance_$key" -Value $value
Write-Host "✓ Set: $key = $value" -ForegroundColor Green```
}

Write-Host "`n✓ Governance metadata applied" -ForegroundColor Green

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Monitor Hub Site Health

Figure: SharePoint hub site – connected sites navigation and news web parts.

## Hub site health check script
function Get-HubSiteHealth {

> **Architecture Overview:** param(

$healthMetrics | Export-Csv -Path "HubSiteHealth_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').csv" -NoTypeInformation
Write-Host "`n✓ Health metrics exported to CSV" -ForegroundColor Green```
}

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Audit Hub Site Associations

Figure: SharePoint hub site – connected sites navigation and news web parts.

## Audit all hub sites and their associations
function Get-HubSiteAudit {
```powershell
$tenantUrl = "https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $tenantUrl -Interactive





Write-Host "Auditing all hub sites..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

## Get all hub sites
$hubSites = Get-PnPHubSite





$auditReport = @()

foreach ($hub in $hubSites) {
    Write-Host "`nProcessing: $($hub.Title)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    
    # Get associated sites
    $associatedSites = Get-PnPHubSiteChild -Identity $hub.ID
    
    # Get hub admins
    Connect-PnPOnline -Url $hub.SiteUrl -Interactive
    $site = Get-PnPSite
    $owners = $site.Owner
    
    # Create report entry
    $reportEntry = [PSCustomObject]@{
        HubTitle = $hub.Title
        HubUrl = $hub.SiteUrl
        HubID = $hub.ID
        AssociatedSitesCount = $associatedSites.Count
        AssociatedSites = ($associatedSites.Title -join "; ")
        Owners = $owners.Email
        LastModified = $site.LastContentModifiedDate
        Status = if ($associatedSites.Count -eq 0) { "No Associations" } else { "Active" }
    }
    
    $auditReport += $reportEntry
    
    Write-Host "  Sites: $($associatedSites.Count)" -ForegroundColor Gray
}

## Export audit report
$reportPath = "HubSiteAudit_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd_HHmmss').csv"
$auditReport | Export-Csv -Path $reportPath -NoTypeInformation





Write-Host "`n✓ Audit complete: $reportPath" -ForegroundColor Green

## Display summary
Write-Host "`nAudit Summary:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host "  Total Hub Sites: $($hubSites.Count)" -ForegroundColor White
Write-Host "  Total Associated Sites: $(($auditReport | Measure-Object -Property AssociatedSitesCount -Sum).Sum)" -ForegroundColor White
Write-Host "  Active Hubs: $(($auditReport | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq 'Active'}).Count)" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "  Inactive Hubs: $(($auditReport | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq 'No Associations'}).Count)" -ForegroundColor Yellow





return $auditReport```
}

## Run audit
$auditReport = Get-HubSiteAudit
$auditReport | Format-Table -AutoSize

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Step 8: Advanced Automation

Automate Hub Site Provisioning (Complete Solution)

Diagram: See the official Microsoft documentation for architecture details.

Expected output:

Connected to https://contoso.sharepoint.com

Best Practices Summary

DO:

1. ✅ Plan hub site hierarchy before implementation
2. ✅ Use semantic URLs (/sites/department-name)
3. ✅ Limit hub sites (5-15 per tenant typically)
4. ✅ Apply consistent branding across hubs
5. ✅ Configure shared navigation early
6. ✅ Set up news aggregation on hub homes
7. ✅ Document governance and ownership
8. ✅ Monitor hub site health regularly
9. ✅ Train site owners on hub concepts
10. ✅ Use PnP PowerShell for automation

DON'T:

1. ❌ Create too many hub sites (causes confusion)
2. ❌ Associate sites with multiple hubs
3. ❌ Skip permission planning
4. ❌ Forget to configure search scope
5. ❌ Ignore governance and lifecycle management
6. ❌ Over-nest hub hierarchies (keep flat)
7. ❌ Use hub sites for temporary projects
8. ❌ Skip training for site owners
9. ❌ Neglect regular audits
10. ❌ Hard-code URLs in navigation

Architecture Decision and Tradeoffs

When designing content management and collaboration solutions with SharePoint, consider these key architectural trade-offs:

Recommendation: Start with the managed approach for most workloads and move to custom only when specific requirements demand it.

Validation and Versioning

• Last validated: April 2026
• Validate examples against your tenant, region, and SKU constraints before production rollout.
• Keep module, CLI, and SDK versions pinned in automation pipelines and review quarterly.

Security and Governance Considerations

• Apply least-privilege access using RBAC roles and just-in-time elevation for admin tasks.
• Store secrets in managed secret stores and avoid embedding credentials in scripts or source files.
• Enable audit logging, data protection policies, and periodic access reviews for regulated workloads.

Cost and Performance Notes

• Define budgets and alerts, then monitor usage and cost trends continuously after go-live.
• Baseline performance with synthetic and real-user checks before and after major changes.
• Scale resources with measured thresholds and revisit sizing after usage pattern changes.

Official Microsoft References

• https://learn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/enterprise/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/

Public Examples from Official Sources

• These examples are sourced from official public Microsoft documentation and sample repositories.
• Documentation examples: https://learn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dev/
• Sample repositories: https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-docs
• Prefer adapting these examples to your tenant, subscriptions, and governance requirements before production use.

Key Takeaways

1. Hub sites connect your intranet - Unified navigation, search, and branding across related sites
2. Planning is critical - Map your org structure to hub architecture before building
3. Governance ensures success - Define ownership, review cycles, and compliance requirements
4. Automation scales deployment - PnP PowerShell enables enterprise-wide provisioning
5. Aggregated content drives engagement - News rollups and events keep users informed
6. Permissions matter - Hub admins control associations, site owners manage content
7. Monitoring prevents issues - Regular health checks identify problems early
8. Search scope unifies discovery - Users find content across all associated sites
9. Branding creates consistency - Shared themes and navigation improve UX
10. Documentation drives adoption - Clear governance and training accelerate usage

Additional Resources

• SharePoint Hub Sites Overview
• PnP PowerShell Hub Site Cmdlets
• Hub Site Planning Guide
• SharePoint Online Limits
• Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways

Next Steps

1. Assess current structure: Map existing sites to logical hubs
2. Create pilot hub: Start with one department (e.g., HR or IT)
3. Define governance: Document policies, owners, and review cycles
4. Automate provisioning: Build PowerShell scripts for consistency
5. Train site owners: Conduct workshops on hub site concepts
6. Roll out incrementally: Deploy one hub at a time, gather feedback
7. Monitor and optimize: Use health checks and audits to improve
8. Scale across organization: Apply learnings to remaining departments

Ready to unify your SharePoint environment? Start with a pilot hub site for your most mature department—you'll immediately see the benefits of connected navigation and aggregated content!