Beau Cameron

Hub sites are out in targeted release and the masses are quickly jumping to PowerShell and creating hubs in their environments! While this is exciting news, there are many considerations you should be aware of when using Hub sites (hub sites are in preview and subject to change).  The DOs & Don’ts below are my opinion on how to use Hub sites.

Hub site basics:

1. Hub sites roll up News, share a common theme and share common navigation
2. Hub sites can be Modern or Classic Sites
3. Hub sites can be Site Collections or Sub Sites
4. Hub sites work with modern pages only
5. Hub sites can be created via PowerShell & via REST

DOs

• Plan before you create
  • Your tenant is limited to 50 hubs max (at this time). Be cognizant of this when planning any new Information Architecture around Hub sites.
  • Be aware Hub site functionality is best with modern pages, be aware of the current limitations when linking classic site collections. Classic pages will not share the navigation elements.
• Create Hub sites out of Modern Communication sites & Office 365 Group sites
  • Modern sites will always give a consistent look and feel to your hub sites, because all of the pages are modern and will adhere to the navigation elements and theme defined in your hub
• Use Hub sites as a way to connect team sites
  • Hub sites are a great way to roll up content from similar/connected teams. Use hub sites to share news!
• Connect classic site collections into your hub
  • Hub sites support classic site collections. See “Plan before you create”.
  • Any sub sites within the associated site collection, which use modern pages will receive the common navigation and theme.
  • Modern theming is currently being released to classic sites (yay!)

DONTs

• Do not individually link sub sites to Hub sites
  • This will become a maintenance nightmare. The reason being, sub sites can actually join a hub even when the parent site collection isn’t a part of the hub at all.
  • Navigation in the classic sense will become convoluted and lacks governance when switching between classic and modern, creating a poor end-user experience.
• Add Navigation without being aware of the end-users
  • Hub site navigation is static navigation. Be aware that some end-users may or may not have access to the link you have provided.
  • With some customization, you can create security trimmed navigation. Follow my previous blog for more info.

I’m sure there are plenty more DOs and DON’Ts that I can add to this list. If you have any you’d love to add, comment and let me know!