Written for Cookie Rocks 2.9.5, checked on 1 November 2026. The current version is 2.11.2: some details may have changed.
This guide is for WordPress multisite networks: several sites run by one WordPress installation. It explains how Cookie Rocks works on each site of the network, and how many keys you need.
Install it on the network
- In the network admin, open Plugins and add Cookie Rocks Audit, then Cookie Rocks Pro if you use it.
- Choose how to turn them on. Network Activate turns them on for every site of the network, including the sites you create later. Activate from the dashboard of one site turns them on for that site only.
- With Network Activate, Cookie Rocks is set up on every site at once, and on each site you create later: its register of proofs and its daily task are ready before anyone opens its dashboard. Then open the Cookie Rocks menu on each site.
- On each site, answer the four questions of the Obligations page: the countries of each site can be different.
Each site is set up on its own
Every site of the network has its own Cookie Rocks: nothing is shared between sites.
- Its own settings, its own Obligations page and its own countries.
- Its own banner and its own cookie policy.
- Its own register of proofs of consent, kept in the tables of that site.
- Its own cookie for the visitor’s choice: a visitor who accepts on one site of the network is asked again on another.
Deleting Cookie Rocks from the network erases the data of every site, each in its own tables. Export the proofs of each site first if you need them: see Prove consent.
How many keys you need
| Your network | Example | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Sites in sub-folders | example.com/shop/, example.com/blog/ | One key. Every site has the same domain, example.com: enter the same key on each site. |
| Sites on subdomains | shop.example.com, blog.example.com | One key covers example.com, with or without www, and 3 of its subdomains. Beyond that, take another key. |
| Sites on different domains | example.com, another-example.org | One key per domain. |
Tip. Local sites (localhost, .local, .test, .localhost, IP addresses) never use up a key. A paid key or a trial also has 2 places for known staging hosts. A free Community key covers exactly one site, without staging places.
Without a valid key, the banner of a site keeps protecting it: the visitors’ choices and the proofs of consent keep working, and only the settings lock. See Move, renew or remove a key and Licence.
What we have checked
Cookie Rocks is tested on a network with sites in sub-folders. Networks with sites on subdomains work the same way in the code, but have not been tested yet: if something looks wrong on yours, tell us.
See also: Cookie Rocks for WordPress multisite networks, what changes for this kind of site.