Network Template Parts

Centralized control meets local flexibility

Network Template Parts gives WordPress multisite network administrators precise control over which design elements stay consistent across all sites and which can be customized locally. Push changes to headers, footers, and navigation across your entire network instantly, while site administrators retain control over their content areas and local customizations.

The multisite governance problem

Standard WordPress multisite allows individual site administrators to customize templates through the site editor. While this flexibility seems useful, it creates serious governance challenges:

Once a site administrator customizes any template, that site stops receiving template updates from the theme. Want to update your global header across 50 department sites? You’ll need to manually coordinate with 50 site administrators—or force-overwrite their work and lose their customizations.

The result: visual inconsistency, outdated branding across your network, and endless coordination overhead. Organizations need a way to maintain central control over brand elements while still allowing local customization where it matters.

Granular control: choose what’s centralized

Network Template Parts solves this by letting you specify exactly which template sections are controlled centrally and which remain editable by individual sites. It introduces two rendering contexts:

Network context

Renders template parts from your main network site. Changes made to network-context parts appear instantly across all sites in your network. Perfect for:

• Global headers and footers
• Primary navigation menus
• Brand elements and logos
• Shared sidebars
• Consistent calls-to-action

Site context

Renders template parts from each individual site. Site administrators can edit these parts without affecting other sites or losing theme updates. Ideal for:

• Local navigation and submenus
• Site-specific content areas
• Department contact information
• Location-specific promotions
• Customizable sidebars

This granular approach means you can centralize your global header and footer while still letting each franchise location manage their own hours, contact info, and local menu.

How it works

Network Template Parts provides a custom block that works in your theme’s template files (not in page content). When building a template, you specify which template part to load and in what context to render it.

Example template structure:

<!-- Network header: controlled by network admin -->
Network Template Part: "header" (network context)

<!-- Site navigation: managed by each site -->
Network Template Part: "site-nav" (site context)

<!-- Main content area: managed by each site -->
Network Template Part: "content" (site context)

<!-- Network footer: controlled by network admin -->
Network Template Part: "footer" (network context)Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In practice:

1. Network administrators edit network-context template parts once on the main site
2. Changes to network parts appear immediately on all sites
3. Site administrators can only edit their site-context parts
4. Individual sites never lose network-controlled updates
5. Everyone works within their designated areas without stepping on each other

Perfect for organizations managing multiple sites

Franchise networks
Corporate headquarters maintains consistent branding, messaging, and navigation while franchisees control their location-specific hours, menus, staff bios, and contact information.

University systems
Central IT enforces consistent navigation, branding, and accessibility features while individual departments, colleges, and research centers manage their own content, faculty listings, and local menus.

Multi-location businesses
Brand team controls global headers, footers, and corporate messaging across all location sites while each branch manages their staff directory, local promotions, and community involvement pages.

Agency client networks
Maintain consistent client branding across campaign microsites, product sites, and regional variations while giving different teams autonomy over their content and local navigation.

Government agencies
Central authority controls mandatory elements like accessibility features, official seals, and required navigation while departments and offices maintain their own content, forms, and local resources.

Publishing networks
Parent company enforces brand guidelines, advertising placements, and global navigation while individual publications control their editorial content, local sections, and community features.

Works at the template level

Network Template Parts operates at the template level of your WordPress theme, not at the content level. This is a developer tool for controlling the structure and layout that surrounds your content, not for syncing page content between sites.

What this means:

• Changes affect the structure of your site (headers, footers, sidebars)
• Not for controlling blog posts, pages, or other content
• Requires implementation in your theme’s template files
• Works best with block themes and Full Site Editing

Complete multisite governance

Network Template Parts pairs perfectly with our Restrict Network Templates plugin, which prevents individual site administrators from editing core templates. Together, they create a complete governance solution:

• Network Template Parts: Defines which template sections are centralized vs. local
• Restrict Network Templates: Prevents sites from editing core template structure

This combination gives you total control: the network defines the structure, decides what’s centralized, and individual sites can only edit the areas you’ve designated for them.

Requirements

• WordPress Multisite installation
• Block theme (Full Site Editing)
• Theme development knowledge for implementation
• Network administrator access for setup

This is a developer tool that requires custom implementation in your theme’s template files. It’s not a point-and-click solution, but rather a powerful building block for creating governed multisite architectures.