What is a spoke?

A spoke is an independent or standalone digital workplace (e.g. site) within the networked enterprise. It is connected to the hub, but it does not live within the hub. Generally, a spoke site provides a digital workplace for a community of users so they can work together. Usually, these communities have a specific theme or interest which brings them together, but they need to be separate from the hub. 

Spoke sites are created in the Enterprise Administration Panel (EAP) from an existing site template. Spoke members are a subset of hub members, so not all members in the hub will be in every spoke. 

When to use a spoke?

• It needs to be separate site due to legal, ethical, locality, or security reasons.
• It has external members and you don't want these users in your digital workplace (e.g. contractors).
• The site must have its own branding.
• The site is too big for a space (e.g. too many members).
• You have a variety of user groups (e.g. communities, businesses) who are with different organizations and need separate sites.
• The site requires a very complex hierarchy (e.g. many different levels of spaces).
• You want to create a public digital workplace (e.g. allow anonymous users).

Sample Spoke - Customer Support Portal

The Igloo Customer Care site is a spoke site. It is a spoke for the following reasons:

✔ It needed its own branding.
✔ It has external members.
✔ It is a very large, complex site.
✔ It has lots of users (e.g. scale and performance).

Screenshot - Customer Support Portal