April 2017 Blog Review

Let's run through some interesting CRM blogs posted over the last month.

Ledgeview Partners posted a quick tip on Custom Coloring Dynamics 365/CRM Dashboards which shows how to set colors for different options in an option set.

Hitachi Solutions teaches the basics of entity creation through an example in Dynamics 365 Roadmap: A complete guide to Dynamics 365 Fields and Entities.

Hosk discusses How Machine Learning will Change Dynamics 365. This explains the basics of what machine learning is and where to look for more information.

Sonoma Partners shared CRM: When Homemade Doesn't Cut it. The article explains the benefits of going with a market-leading CRM system instead of building in house. I would add to this that these benefits also apply to utilizing market-leading CRM systems in the way they were designed (i.e. evaluating how your business should change to fit standard processes, avoiding unsupported changes, not over-customizing, etc.).

ReadyXRM posted on how to Stop Deactivation of Records in Dynamics 365. This utilizes a workflow to solution to inform users they should not deactivate.

Jumping ahead to May for a minute I need to share ReadyXRM's Dynamics CRM Business Rules Not Working Issue. This is an issue that my organization was battling for months and Nick Doelman was battling even longer. Spoiler Alert: even though the issue occurred even for Administrators the issue was caused by security. Microsoft is working on a fix as it involves corrupted security on the form using the Business Rule.

As always, keep an eye on the CRM Tip of the Day for news and help. This month I particularly liked When Export to Excel Fails for No Reason. This explains how having columns of the same name will cause the export to fail.

That's all for today folks! Have a great day!

February 2017 Blog Review

Let's quickly catch up on the CRM news floating around this past month.

First of all, the December 2016 update for Dynamics 365 is available so you should check out the release notes and podcast. Keep in mind this is just version 8.2 so more like a 2016 update then any kind of upgrade.

PowerObjects posted a great resource on Troubleshooting Solution Import Failures. This walks through common error scenarios as well as gives some general customization tips to avoid these issues.

Ledgeview partners shared 10 tips to Improve User Adoption. This has some great tips for your training and keeping your team informed. Also remember to have strong executive buy in and ensure managers are involved so they can keep their people accountable.

Hitachi Solutions shared What is the Dynamics 365 Common Data Model? The article explains what the Common Data Model is and how you can use it as an Admin or Developer.

As always, you should keep an eye on the CRM Tip of the Day for help with all kinds of issues and questions.

Any articles I missed? What topics are you interested in about CRM right now?

December 2016 Blog Review

I hope all of you have been warm and enjoyed this holiday season! Let's catch up on all the CRM news from the past few weeks so we are ready to start the New Year off right!

Ledgeview Partners shared a list of their Top 10 Tips of 2016. These are some great tips to be an effective CRM user.

PowerObjects posted Make Your Own Custom Shortcuts on a CRM Dashboard in Microsoft Dynamcis 365. This is a step-by-step guide showing you how to add a list of shortcuts to a section of a dashboard.

PowerObjects also walked us through how to Change Business Process Flows Using a Workflow. This will allow administrators to automatically switch processes based on certain conditions so that users do not need to click Switch Process.

Hitachi Solutions had some holiday fun while helping us learn more about Dynamics 365:

• Santa Trains the Reindeer with Dynamics 365 Learning Paths
• The Eighth Day of Christmas: Yes Virginia there is a Common Data Model
• The Grinch's Heart Grows with a Little Help from the Dynamics 365 Relationship Assistant

Hosk shared Dynamics 365 - What does Include entity Metadata do. For those building solutions and curious about this little checkbox this should give you the information you need.

Sonoma Partners also talked about Dynamics 365 and posted Updates to Business Rules and Actions. This discusses changes and new features you can start using.

Mitch Milam shared a great article on Always Maintaining control of your Dynamics CRM/365 Assets. This discusses the need to have control of your system and awareness of what is going on in which environments. Also be sure to keep backups of all solutions and use Source Control for any code.

As always, make sure you look at the recent posts from CRM Tip of the Day to see if this can help with any questions or issues you are having now.

That's all for this December day. Have a Happy New Year and a CRM-filled 2017!

October 2016 Blog Review

October has been a very busy month for CRM. We have had the announcement for Dynamics 365 and of course CRMUG Summit (my recap coming soon, see Sonoma's right now). Let's jump right in to all the blogs that have been flying around throughout the month.

Ledgeview Partners showed us how to create mappings in Auto-Populate Opportunities with lead Data in CRM.

PowerObjects walks through a workflow example in Using Workflows to Switch Between Business Process Flows Automatically.

Hitachi wants to keep everyone's CRM systems running smoothly and shared 15 tips and Safegurards to Speed up your CRM Server.

Sonoma Partners also posted performance tips this month in Dynamics CRM Performance Considerations. This focuses on changes inside of CRM (security, views, etc.) whereas Hitachi focuses a bit more on server and more technical items.

Also check out RSM's Two Easy Ways to Improve CRM Forms. This shows some ways to use web resources to quickly make changes such as moving check boxes to the other side or adding instruction boxes.

Everyone struggles with CRM for Outlook troubleshooting. To assist with this the Microsoft support blog posted a multi-part series giving information and troubleshooting tips. Here are a few parts I would recommend:

• Settings that affect Synchronization and Tracking
• Highlights and Simple Methodology for Troubleshooting
• Simple list of Troubleshooting Tools

Of course we should also talk about Dynamics 365. So start off with PowerObjects' What is Dynamics 365? and then for more information read Hitachi Solution's Understanding Dynamics 365: What you Need to Know and How it Affects your Business.

That's all I have to share. Anything I missed? What exciting news have you been following?

August 2016 Blog Review

Let's start the month of August off right with some CRM Tip of the Day:

• Tale of a Small Change - great example showing the work that goes into "small" changes
• Record Merge fails when assignee has insufficient privileges - merge issues when reparenting records owned by administrative access users
• Get your Tab order in order - a few quick tips to help users tab through fields and enter data in your system

Ledgeview Partners posted Setting Up a Sales Follow-up Workflow in Dynamics CRM. This walks through a workflow example showing the planning and final logic.

Ledgeview also shared Customize Color of Dynamics CRM Icon Backgrounds. Use these steps to theme your entity icons to match the rest of your system.

If you are interested in testing out a portal solution check out Donna Edward's CRM Online Portal Trial - Step by Step Installation.

Sonoma Partners was busy this month and shared:

• How to Use CRM Business Process Flows: The Checklist Strategy - Pros and Cons of using Business Process Flows and what it means for your system and users. Major takeaway: Have a clear, defined process and report on usage of it.
• Troubleshooting the Dynamics CRM Outlook Addin - everyone has issues with CRM for Outlook so Microsoft has provided some new diagnostic tools to assist. This article walks you through how to get started with this tool.
• What did Johnny Cash know about CRM? - this discusses the importance of planning your CRM implementation and working with a good team to make that a reality.

Hitachi Solutions posted How to Create a Voice of the Customer Survey in Dynamics CRM. Walk through these steps to create surveys that you can send to your customers directly from CRM.

Mitch Milam shared Dynamics CRM Security: Crossing Your I's and Dotting Your T's. This is a great example of the need to double check everything and never make assumptions in your system.

Speaking of security, you can also check out Leon Tribe's post on Securing Records by a Field Value in CRM. This gives an overview of how to handle a complex security situation.

PowerObjects also shared several posts this month for you to check out:

• Best Practices for Business Process Flows - this gives tips to keep in mind during the design and build phase for BPFs
• How to Disable Exporting or Printing Reports in CRM 2016 - you always want to be careful with dangerous permissions in your system. This post shows you how to turn off Export to Excel and Print access for a particular security role. Be sure to ensure that it is removed from all roles that the user has.
• Using Security Roles to Disable Custom and System Dashboards - you can now limit dashboards to only certain security roles. In this way, you can hide unnecessary dashboards from certain user groups.

That’s all for August!

June 2016 Blog Review

Clearly summer schedules got the best of me this year. So let's quickly get caught up on all the CRM news.

I always recommend you stay up to date with CRM Tip of the Day, here are a few to start with:

•  Don't give users and teams the same role - spoiler alert: this can cause unexpected consequences
• You may be an Enterprise - understand the nuances of licensing and changes
• If Activities disappear, take the pill - some solutions to odd Outlook issues

Sonoma Partners shared Get ready, Dynamics is about to get "Linked" in. This talks about the Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn and what it could mean for the future.

PowerObjects shared tips for dealing with workflow email errors in Workflow Generated Email stuck in "Pending Send" - Get it sent!

EMEA Dynamics CRM Support posted a great overview of Workflows in Dynamics CRM. This talks about the different kinds of processes and what you need to get started.

Workflows were very popular this month and Ledgeview Partners also shared Using Dynamics CRM Workflows to Create Tasks Automatically. Follow along in their example to better understand automating activities via CRM.

One of the cool new features in CRM 2016 is Excel Templates! To learn more reach Hitachi Solutions' 5 Tips for using Excel Templates in Dynamics CRM.

That's all for June!

May 8 Blog Review

Clearly the blog has been a bit delayed so we have a bit of catching up to do. Let's jump right in!

CRMUG has lots of exciting things happening over the next few weeks. CRMUG European Congress is next week so be on the lookout for news from that. Also the Momentum Chapter Series! The DC Chapter meeting is on Tuesday, May 10. We will feature deep dive content straight from Microsoft on top of our usual programming. Plus there's lunch! Get registered for the CRMUGDC Meeting or see if there is a similar meeting coming up in your city! As always you can stay up to date on all of the DC Chapter activities by joining our community at CRMUG.com/Washington.

Ledgeview Partners shared a quick tip in Getting CRM Columns Sorted Out. This shows users how to sort by multiple columns in a view.

PowerObjects posted a deep dive into One Click Document Generation in CRM 2016. They walk through how to create a table in the template to pull in multiple lines of data - such as multiple products from an Opportunity.

Hitachi Solutions explains how to Use Real-Time Workflows for Data Validation. Real-Time workflows allow an error message to be returned to the user when they try to complete a certain action. This logic will fire from the web version, Outlook and even the tablet app.

A quick tip from Mitch Milam - Repurposing CRM Fields, Just Say No! Do not change out of the box fields to something else for your use. Keep in mind that they were created for a reason and future versions might make use of them in different ways.

Finally, I always recommend you keep up to date with the CRM Tip of the Day. If you are a bit behind I would recommend checking out Teach our users to type-ahead and 
The Forgotten Three.

That's all I have for today. Let me know if I am missing anything!

January 8 Blog Review

Welcome back! It is time to recap all the CRM blogs and such that were missed while so many of us were enjoying time with family and enjoying over-eating.

Most importantly of course is the upcoming CRMUGDC Chapter Launch Party on January 21. This is going to be a casual event for people in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area to meet other CRM users and learn about the local CRM User Groups. Check out this blog for more information and then register!

If you didn’t get enough presents this holiday season, make sure you check out CRM Tip of the Day’s CRM Christmas Presents. This gives several tips about gamification, business rules, and Server Side Synchronization. Make sure you also review all of the CRM Tip of the Day posts you might have missed while on vacation.

EMEA Dynamics CRM Support posted about Dynamics CRM SML Schema Validation. This talks you through how to use Visual Studio to edit your customizations.xml file to prevent or find issues before importing your solution back into CRM.

PowerObjects shared CRM and FieldOne: Solutions for Field Services. This gives you a look into the FieldOne acquisition and what it will mean for CRM service module users.

PowerObjects also posted New Year, New Mobile Experience: Mobile Controls in CRM 2016. This describes some of the features designed to improve user adoption of mobile CRM users while also improving data quality.

Finally, Hitachi Solutions shared Great CRM Training is more than Keeping the People Awake (but that’s a good start). This talks about the top training tips to keep your listeners engaged and learning.

That’s all for today. Have a great weekend!

November 27 Blog Review

It is a shorter blog review today with so many on vacation for Thanksgiving. That means you should start it off by reading a few themed blogs Hitachi Solutions shared CRM Features to be Thankful For and CRM Tip of the Day posted about the Top CRM Turkeys.

I would say the CRM features I am most thankful for are Workflows and Advanced Find along with Export for Re-import. Workflows allow me to automate processes without needing to involve a developer. Advanced Find allows me to find detailed information about a record or isolate instances where a particular situation is occurring. I’m also very thankful for the CRMUG Community and how it has really helped me learn and grow as well as make so many friends in my field.

But back to the regular blog review as there are a few quick items I want to focus on.

PowerObjects shared Troubleshooting Tips: Why isn’t my Business Rule Working? This walks through how to troubleshoot a few common issues you may run into with Business Rules. A helpful tip that was mention was that Calculated Fields cannot be used in a Business Rule or to trigger workflows. Keep this in mind when you are planning your logic.

Develop1 posted Option-Set, Lookup or Autocomplete. This talks through the different options you have to avoid using free-form fields. They talk about the options for each and the best options for specific scenarios.

That’s all for today. Have a lovely weekend!

July 10 Blog Review

It is a beautiful day! Really makes you want to go to a baseball game!

Let’s quickly jump in to the news of the day!

CRM Tip of the day posed a video: Tipsters Guide to Folder Level Tracking for End Users. This shows users how to set up folder level tracking when you are using Server Side Synchronization.

Hitachi Solutions shared a quick tip – Hey! Where are the Users in CRM 2015!? In CRM 2015, instead of having users directly under Administration you need to look under Security.

The CRM Support Blog posted Dynamics CRM Support with Windows 10, Edge browser, and Office 2016. As some have speculated only CRM 2013 and CRM 2015 will be supported with Windows 10.

Finally, Jukka Niiranen discusses the State of Dynamics in 2015. This is a look at many topics around the state of Microsoft and CRM.

That’s all I have folks. Have a great weekend!

July 19 Blog Review

Let’s jump right into our CRM news of the week!

This is a bit more technical than I usually include but you should check out Hosk’s Don’t let bugs get into Production Environments. This stresses the importance of making sure you look for issues throughout the whole design and release process. It will be harder to fix the longer you let it grow!

Hitachi Solutions posted about 10 ways CRM Benefits the Individual. There are many benefits to using CRM. You users need to understand the ways it benefits them so that they will use the system and take advantages of what it provides.

C5Insight shared CRM Deployment Options … How to Decide? This walks through your deployment choices and the factors that will need to go into your decision.

Leon Tribe blogged about the Top Ten Secrets to a Successful CRM Deployment: Part One – People. This walks through ten reasons why people are essential to your CRM success including executive buy-in and training.

Finally there were two great tips posted by PowerObjects that are worth checking out:

• Clearing a Field Value Using Business Rules – This walks you through writing a business rule that will remove the value from a field on your form
• How to Make Unused OOB Fields Unsearchable in Dynamics CRM – Advanced Find is a great tool to empower your users but it can be very overwhelming when users see a long list of fields. To make it easier, set your unused fields as unsearchable so they will no longer appear there. Just keep in mind the limitations of unsearchable fields.

That’s all for tonight. Have a great weekend!

April 2 Blog Review

This week’s blog recap is a bit early with the long weekend. Still lots of news coming in from Convergence and the Spring 2015 release. Let’s take a quick look.

Most importantly (of course) it was April Fool’s this week. To celebrate, Leon Tribe created CRM: Corpse Relationship Management. If you ever need to customize CRM during the zombie apocalypse then this is the information you will need to know! (Or if your Pets use CRM there was Pet CRM last year.)

Ledgeview Partners gave a quick overview of future features in CRM 2015 Spring Release Details from Convergence. This lists the features we can expect to see soon.

For more information check out PowerObject’s Top 10 New Features in CRM 2015 – Update 1. This includes the ability to change the color and add a logo as well as the Export to Excel change to a flyout menu instead of a wizard.

One of the changes is improvements to the navigation you can get a taste of this in Sonoma Partner’s CRM Online Spring Release ’15 – Navigation Enhancements.

Another interesting enhancement is the ability to include plugin tracing information in a new entity in CRM so it can be easily reviewed. Read about this in:

• CRM in the Field – Monitoring and Statistics for Sandboxed Plugins
• PowerObjects – CRM 2015 Spring Update 1: Plug-In Trace Log
• Hitachi Solutions – Plug-in Tracing Enhancements in the Spring Release of CRM 2015

PowerObjects also posted about some existing CRM 2015 functionality. Check out: Branching and Programmatically Branching Process Flows as well as CRM 2015 Custom Hierarchies.

That’s all for today. Enjoy the long weekend! 

March 20 Blog Review

This has been a very exciting week because it was Microsoft Convergence! Lots of exciting things were discussed and announced so let’s cover that first.

The big announcement of course was the CRM 2015 Spring Release. The CRM Team blog posted the Official Pre-Release Content for you to check out.

Hitachi Solutions posted some great summaries of the announcements each day: Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. The most exciting enhancement for me was themes which allows you to customize the colors of your CRM system and even add a logo! You can also see this feature on CRM Tip of the Day’s Turn CRM Green.

Microsoft’s Premier Field Engineers shared 3 posts on 15 tips in 15 minutes sessions that they had at Convergence – Upgrading, Optimization, and Customization.

Finally, McGladrey posted the Spring Release Highlights to recap what we have been looking at so far.

Non-Convergence related you should check out PowerObjects’ post on Definitions of ‘Append’ and ‘Append To’ in Dynamics CRM. This describes the difference, why it’s important and how to keep it straight in your mind.

That’s all I have. Have a great weekend everyone!

March 13 Blog Review

Happy Friday the 13^th and almost St. Patrick’s Day! It may be tempting to get lost in the excitement but I need you to focus for just a few minutes on the CRM blogs that came out this week.

Hitachi Solutions posted CRM Business Rules + Calculated Fields = Amazing. This discusses how to use Business Rules to set a default value for all of the fields that you want to rollup. This will ensure you do not run into any issues because fields don’t have values or things like that.

Jukka Niiranen also talked about Rollup Fields in Monitoring Rollup Field Values with Workflows. This describes how you can use a workflow batch process to check for certain conditions and send out notifications if the rollup fields have hit a certain threshold.

PowerObjects wrote How to: Open Quick Create from a Sub Grid. This talks about a few options to make the + icon when filling in a lookup open up the Quick Create form.

McGladrey walked through Using Marketing Lists to bypass the limitations of Advanced Find functionality. Often people are asking for how can I find Accounts without contacts or similar requests, this blog walks through how to do that using Marketing Lists. Keep in mind this can only be used if the record set you are looking for is Accounts, Contacts, or Leads.

A few weeks ago the CRM Team Blog announced a new CRM for Outlook ebook. This week they posed the new CRM for Outlook User’s Guide Page. This is a place to send users for generic training or get some customizable trainings that you can personalize for your organization.

CRM Tip of the Day posted several tips to take a look at:

• In Dynamics CRM we Trust – This talks about the CRM Trust Center and gives you an overview of what is says and what you need to know.
• Demystifying pop3/smtp for CRM Online – this describes what configurations are not allowed for Server Side Sync with CRM Online and how to set up those that are allowed.
• Sky is the limit for the Workflows – There is no limit for the number of workflows in CRM Online, at least not an enforced one.

Also for those of you shipping off to Convergence next week, be sure to check out Ledgeview Partners Hitchhikers Guide to Microsoft Convergence 2015. Then make sure you review PFE Dynamics @ Convergence 2015. This talks about the sessions that the Premier Field Engineers will be leading meaning they will be packed with excellent content.

That’s all for tonight. Have a great weekend folks! Please share all your news from Convergence so we can look at it next week!

March 6 Blog Review

It is our first opportunity to catch up on the CRM News of March. Let’s see what has been going on.

Hitachi Solutions posted an extension of a post we looked at last week in Dynamics CRM Mission Advanced Find Impossible? This discusses how you can edit the FetchXML of an Advanced Find view to accomplish things that are not possible out-of-the-box.

CRM in the Field discussed Memory Management for CRM in a Virtual Environment. This describes what to look at when dealing with performance issues and some things to keep in mind.

Anne Stanton posted about xRM Best Practices. This goes over important things to keep in mind as you work to expand your CRM implementation. This includes things like loving the SDK and working with it and having a CRM architect map out your system so you have a sustainable design.

CRM Tip of the Day posted a two part series on the name of your CRM environment. First, Choose your name Wisely (don’t get name and display name confused) then if you made a mistake Rename the Organization.

CRM Tip of the Day also discussed Using Stored Procedures with CRM Reports. This talks about the benefits and disadvantages of using stored procedures and how to get started.

That’s all for today. Have a great weekend!

February 27 Blog Review

Let’s get right to the CRM news of the last week of February.

PowerObjects gave a quick tutorial on Creating Monthly Goals in Bulk via Importing. Goals can be a great feature but there is no way to copy a goal. So to overcome this you can import your goals to create a large number at one time.

PowerObjects also discussed Customizable Help Now Available in CRM 2015. This describes how to set up custom help for the system and entity specific within CRM 2015.

Hitachi Solutions posted Great FetchXML Tool for CRM. This talks about the “Download FetchXML” button in Advanced Find and how you can use the XRMToolbox to work with the results.

Hitachi Solutions has also been working on a series about the Social Pane in CRM. Check it out to learn what posts are and how to use workflows to create and intact with them. It consists of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

The Microsoft Dynamics Team announced this week that there is a new CRM for Outlook ebook. This talks about everything you need to get started with using CRM for Outlook.

Mitch Milam discussed System-Wide Alerts in CRM 2015. This is a new feature in CRM 2015 that allows the user to see new alerts that can be triggered from things such as an import finishing. Still not much is known about this feature but it could be very powerful because it is viewable in Advanced Find and accessible via code.

I think that is all I have for today. Have a great weekend!

February 6 Blog Review

Welcome everyone to this week’s recap of everything in the world of CRM. Let’s see what we have to talk about today!

Of course the most exciting news this week was I hosted my first CRMUG Chapter Meeting. You can review all the details here! Also make sure you mark your calendar for our next DC Chapter meeting on May 13^th.

PowerObjects talked about Setting Field Values vs. Setting Default Values in Business Rules. This describes how you can use Business Rules to set default values for numeric, text and lookup fields and compares it to using logic to set certain field values.

Adam Vero discusses Special Privileges in CRM Security Role. This talks about privileges that can be set to User and those that can only be set to user as well as deletion access considerations for those permissions.

Hitachi Solutions blogged about The 3 Steps of CRM Success. This discusses the steps of defining the outcome, defining the success factors and execution.

Leon Tribe wrote about Faking JavaScript Codelessly which discusses how you can use Real-Time Workflows and Business Rules to replace your JavaScript with configuration.

Ledgeview Partners posted the list of Featured Speakers at Microsoft Convergence 2015. If you are planning or considering heading to Atlanta for convergence in just a few weeks, take a look at this to see what to expect.

CRM Tip of the Day commanded Don’t Hack the Button! This presents all the reasons for creating new custom ribbon buttons instead of modifying existing buttons.

CRM Tip of the Day also talked about Once Upon a Time this Rollup Field was Recalculated. This talks about how Rollup fields are calculated and how to check the updated time on a per-field basis.

That’s all for today folks. Have a great day!

January 30 Blog Review

It looks like there are lots of great posts to talk about this week. Before I do, a quick reminder, if you are in the Washington, DC area you should check out the DC CRMUG Chapter Meeting happening next week – Wednesday February 4^th.

Alight now on to the news of the week.

David Yack posted a great tip on the Risk of Adding Field Level Security Layer. This is a good reminder to consider all the implications before you turn on this feature.

PowerObjects posted about Testing Incoming Mailbox Configuration for Server Side Sync. This discusses what the Configuration Test Results mean when you are configuring Server Side Sync.

Hitachi Solutions posted a great walk through about calculating the Last Activity Date in CRM 2015. This build upon an old blog that calculated the last activity date with workflows. Now in CRM 2015 we can use rollup fields to greatly improve this process.

McGladrey walked through their favorite new features in CRM 2015: An Upgrade with more Conveniences. This touches on some features like the multi-entity search and managing synchronization filters within CRM.

The Microsoft Dynamics Team Blog released some videos for Microsoft Dynamics Marketing 2015 Update.

Mitch Miliam announced his 21 Squared CRM Administrator Course. This is a great course for CRM System Administrators. It covers the tools you need as an administrator as well as the basic tasks you will need to do within CRM and on the server.

In CRM 2015 you can now use JavaScript to interact with the process. Sonoma Partners discusses this in their post CRM 2015 – Scripting Options for Business Process Flows.

Also a few quick tips from CRM Tip of the Day:

• Change Labels on Composite Controls – Have you ever wanted to change the label of composite fields (address pops out to street 1, street 2, etc.; Name pops out to First, Middle, last)? Well here is your answer!
• CRM Server Licensing 101 – So perfect. There are no words.

So it has been a busy week! I hope I covered all the best bits. Have a great weekend!

January 23 Blog Review

Let’s take a quick look at the CRM news that came out this week.

PowerObjects gave a few quick tutorials to help with CRM 2013. First check out, What to do when: The ‘Set As Default’ button for Dashboards Disappears in CRM. This talks about how to resolve an issue that occurs when your Homepage is set to Dashboards. Then also check out, Accessing the Business Process “Name” in CRM. This shows you how you can create a workflow to populate a field with the current process that is running. This allows you to do charts and reports on that data.

Hitachi Solutions discussed Complex Goal Calculations Using CRM 2015 Calculated Fields. This describes how to use Calculated Fields to determine the weighted percent achieved.

CRM in the Field wrote about the Dangers of Guid.NewGuid();. This is more technical than I usually include but it is very interesting. Apparently when GUIDs are automatically created they are sequential to provide better SQL performance. So don’t try to create your own through plugins/integrations unless you have a very good reason.

Mitch Miliam posted a tutorial of how to Find All Activities for a Particular Entity Type. This is a very helpful tip if you want to only look at Activities regarding Accounts or something like that.

CRM Tip of the Day had an interesting Truckstop discussion about turning off e-mail tracking with CRM for Outlook. You should also check out their tidbit on Dynamic Excel Export Not Working (hint: it has to do with CRM for Outlook too).

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend!

January 16 Blog Review

It has been a very busy week for me because I have been finalizing the CRMUG DC Chapter Meeting. This is going to be a great year for the DC Chapter so all of you should plan to attend!

Now let’s take a look at what was going on in the world of CRM this week.

PowerObjects posted a great tutorial for new users on Modifying a View in CRM 2013 to Create a Personal View. This shows you how to take existing Advanced Find views and create your own copy with columns and filters that are exactly what you need.

Hitachi Solutions blogged about Using Goals as Rollup Tables in CRM. This talks about how you can use the Goals functionality to replace custom reports you might have created long ago to track progress and distance from a target. Goals recalculate every 24 hours so your numbers will be fresh each morning and will not need to be calculated when you run a report.

Donna Edwards posted about CRM Online Licensing Highlights which goes over a few key takeaways from the CRM Online licensing and pricing guide. As CRM continues to have more attached products (Marketing, Social, etc.) licensing becomes more complex, so any extra help understanding is beneficial.

The CRM Team Blog shared a list of the new CRM 2015 videos. Check these out to learn more about the CRM 2015 offering and the benefits it can bring to your organization.

Finally from CRM Tip of the Day remember to Name your Relationships. If you just set up Relationships with default names the left hand navigation of the related entity could show the same name multiple times. So edit this name on the relationship properties or completely remove it.

That’s all for this week. Have a nice weekend!