---
title: Multisite Setup for WP Engine Smart Search plugin
description: Setting up WP Engine Smart Search on a multisite WordPress installation.
url: https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/smart-search/plugin/multisite-setup/
image: https://developers.wpengine.com/og/docs/smart-search/plugin/multisite-setup.png
---

# Multisite Setup for WP Engine Smart Search plugin

Currently, the WPE Smart Search plugin is not properly configured for multisite installations. We need to manually set up the WPE Smart Search plugin for multisite by following these steps:

## A. Obtain WPE Smart Search plugin credentials

1. Log in to Portal and go to the WP Engine Smart Search product [page](https://my.wpengine.com/products/smart_search#/). ![WP Engine Smart Search Portal](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/smart-search-portal.3HUUWFMF_Z2mXOtt.webp)
2. Identify the associated environment and click the **Show Credentials** button. ![WP Engine Smart Search Show Credentials](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/smart-search-credentials.DI19qUa0_1rEWqe.webp)
3. Copy the credentials ( `<URL>` and `<ACCESS_TOKEN>`). These will be used in the next steps.

## B. Set up WPE Smart Search plugin for multisite

In this step, network-activate the plugin and copy the credentials obtained previously. There are two ways to do this:

- Using the [WP Admin](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/smart-search/plugin/multisite-setup/#i-wp-admin-setup)
- Using the [WP CLI](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/smart-search/plugin/multisite-setup/#ii-wp-cli-setup)

### I. WP Admin setup

1. Log into WP-Admin and navigate to the network admin plugins page ![WP Engine Smart Search Portal](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/as-network-admin.BAOCXLk-_Z1DI0v6.webp)
2. Network Activate the plugin ![WP Engine Smart Activate Plugin](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/as-network-activate.C-SC-AGa_1cKA7i.webp)
3. Go back to the network admin dashboard in wp-admin and access **WP Engine Smart Search → Settings** ![WP Engine Smart Settings](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/as-settings.C0tdAATm_ZVf9Dv.webp)
4. Paste the credentials from portal and save the configuration. ![WP Engine Smart Credentials](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/as-plugin-credentials.CAzKq1jA_ZGyhzk.webp) Now we are ready to perform an initial indexing of the multisite. ![WP Engine Smart Index](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/as-plugin-index.B0RufqmJ_ZKlvyJ.webp)

### II. WP CLI setup

Alternatively, you can use WP CLI to network activate the plugin and set up the credentials for network admin. For accessing WP CLI, you need to have [SSH access](https://wpengine.com/support/ssh-gateway/) to the server.

1. Network activate the plugin

   Terminal window

   ```bash
    wp plugin activate atlas-search --network
   ```

2. Set up the credentials, using the `<URL>` and `<ACCESS_TOKEN>` from the portal.

   Terminal window

   ```bash
    wp network meta update 1 wpe_content_engine_option_name '{"url":"<URL>","access_token":"<ACCESS_TOKEN>"}' --format=json
   ```

Now we are ready to perform an initial indexing of the multisite.

> **Caution**
>
> The `--reset` flag deletes the index and starts indexing all data from scratch.

Terminal window

```bash
    wp wpe-smart-search sync-data --reset
```

## Was this helpful?

Thanks for the feedback!

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