Title: Network Syndication configuration
Author: staff
Published: August 1, 2022
Last modified: November 12, 2025

---

 1. [Installation resources](https://docs.parse.ly/installation-resources/)
 2. [Parse.ly Integration](https://docs.parse.ly/installation-resources/parsely-integration/)
 3. [Metadata](https://docs.parse.ly/installation-resources/parsely-integration/metadata/)
 4. Network Syndication configuration

#  Network Syndication configuration

It’s common for large publishers or brands to publish the same content across multiple
sites. Parse.ly makes it easy to understand how both the original content and the
syndicated versions perform across the entire network.

In order to understand how content is distributed, Parse.ly requires all syndicated
pages (and any “original” pages that may be syndicated) to have an additional metadata
field that establishes a “network canonical URL.”

While it may seem redundant, you will need to have both a “URL” value and a “network
canonical URL” value on the “original” or “parent” pages that will be syndicated.
Just as the [Parse.ly canonical URL](https://docs.parse.ly/the-parsely-canonical-url/)
is used to combine data across all URLs from a single site, the network canonical
URL is used to group each of those combinations together. Note that the site where
the network canonical URL originates from must be publicly accessible.

This property should be specified using the schema.org [`isBasedOn` property](https://data-pipeline-schema/.org/isBasedOn)
in [each page’s JSON-LD](https://docs.parse.ly/metadata-jsonld/) as illustrated 
in the example below.

## Example

    ```lang-php
    <script type="application/ld+json">
      {
        "@context": "http://schema.org",
        "@type": "NewsArticle",
        "headline": "Zipf's Law of the Internet: Explaining Online Behavior",
        "url": "https://blog.parse.ly/post/57821746552",
        "isBasedOn": "https://www.parse.ly/troubleshooting-faqs//kb/getting-parse-ly-integrated-with-your-site-2/",
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://blog.parse.ly/inline_mra670hTvL1qz4rgp.png",
        "datePublished": "2013-08-15T13:00:00Z",
        "articleSection": "Programming",
        "creator": ["Alan Alexander Milne"],
        "keywords": ["statistics", "zipf", "internet", "behavior"]
      }
    </script>
    ```

It’s easier to illustrate by example. Let’s say you have a network composed of sites`
a.com`, `b.com`, and `c.com`. Site `a.com` publishes `https://a.com/great-post.com`.
That page is syndicated on the other sites at `https://b.com/a-post.com` and `https://
c.com/good-post.com`. The `url` and `isBasedOn` property of each version of the 
post should be set as follows:

| Site | `url` value (site) | `isBasedOn` value (network) | 
| a.com | `https://a.com/great-post.com` | `https://a.com/great-post.com` | 
| b.com | `https://b.com/a-post.com` | `https://a.com/great-post.com` | 
| c.com | `https://c.com/good-post.com` | `https://a.com/great-post.com` |

Because each of the three pages share the same network canonical URL, they will 
be grouped together in [network rollup and site group](https://docs.parse.ly/network-rollup-site-groups/)
screens of the Parse.ly dashboard. Additionally, because the Parse.ly canonical 
URL and network canonical URL of `a.com` match, Parse.ly can identify that version
as the “original” and use that version of the metadata within network and site group
views. Any cases where those URLs don’t match are understood to be syndicated versions.

One advantage of this system is that different versions of a syndicated article 
can maintain their own metadata on site-specific dashboards. For example, it’s common
for syndicated versions to have a different headline than the original. Within the
dashboard of each site, the `url` value will be used as the Parse.ly canonical URL.
This means that on the `b.com` dashboard, the headline (and any other metadata) 
provided on `https://b.com/a-post.com` will be used for the post.

## Syndication & Dash

Whenever you’re navigating through your Overview or Historical Posts view at a [Network Rollup or Site Groups](https://docs.parse.ly/network-rollup-site-groups/),
you’ll find your syndicated content right away with a clear indicator.

[[

The syndicated information block will point to the original website where this article
is syndicated from, as well as any number of sites where it is present. Hovering
over the number of syndication sites will provide additional information at a glance.

[[

Once you enter the Post Detail view, the same Syndicated Content additional information
can be found in the top bar alongside the rest of the Post Metadata.

[[

And in the body of the Post Detail view, you can find enhanced and detailed information.

[[

## Alternative methods for specifying the network canonical

### Via repeated meta tags

If you’re using [repeated meta tags](https://docs.parse.ly/metatags/) instead of
JSON-LD to specify Parse.ly metadata, you can also provide the network canonical
URL by including a `<meta>` tag with the name `parsely-network-canonical`.

The equivalent markup for the JSON-LD example above would be:

    ```lang-php
    <meta name="parsely-network-canonical" content="https://www.parse.ly/troubleshooting-faqs//kb/getting-parse-ly-integrated-with-your-site-2/">
    ```

Last updated: November 12, 2025