Tip #403: Introducing the CRM Audio Podcast

Can’t get enough of the CRM Tipsters? Good news! You can now subscribe to our podcast.

CRM Audio is a podcast about Dynamics CRM hosted by Joel Lindstrom, George Doubinski, and Shawn Tabor. A roundtable discussion of all things CRM, including what’s new, best practices, and answers to your CRM questions. We will feature (hopefully) interesting guests.

The podcast is an extension of our regular truckstop feature on CRM Tip of the Day. We feel it is insightful to get the perspective of multiple CRM experts discussing a topic. Plus, you can find out why George finds proving Joel wrong to be so exhilarating.

Joining George Doubinski and Joel Lindstrom is Shawn “CRM Hobbit” Tabor.

Sounds great! How do I get it?

If you have any feedback or questions you would like us to answer on the podcast, send us an email at voice@crm.audio

Tip #402: My form script changes aren’t working

“I made an update to a form script in Dynamics CRM, but I don’t think it worked–it still acts the way it used to before I made the change. What’s happening?”

What most likely is happening is that your browser is caching the old form script. When you update CRM customization, if you change a form script without updating something on the form (like a field, tab, or section), after publishing, your browser may not recognize that anything has changed with the form, and you will not see the new script actions.

To make the form refresh, you can clear your browser cache or hit ctrl+F5. Alternatively, if you want to force it to refresh for all users, change something on the form, such as rearranging two of the fields.

Tip #401: Dynamics CRM for Good

Microsoft and Good Technology recently introduced a version of the Dynamics CRM for Tablets app. The Dynamics CRM for Good app adds a layer of security by verifying the user’s identity when launching the app. You can find out more at the Good Technology website.

Here are the things that you need to know.

  • You need to have a Good server.
  • It is IOS only (for now)
  • It is only the tablet app, but a phone version is coming now that the phone app has been updated to the same platform as the tablet app.
  • ADFS is still required for on premises deployments. This doesn’t change the way the tablet app is authenticated–it just adds another layer of user verification.
  • The documentation for the Good apps can be found in the latest implementation guide. Make sure you have the one published April 29, 2015 (or later) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45022.

One question that comes up when discussing the CRM for Good apps is “how do you prevent someone from accessing CRM outside of Good? If you have an IFD deployment, what prevents a user from accessing the application via the normal apps on their home iPad?”

Beth Steinke did a session at Convergence 2015 this spring where she demonstrated how to do this. To do this, the CRM needs to be accessible only through the good proxy. Watch the session below.

Tip #400: Calculate the difference between two dates

CRM 2015 Update 1 introduces some new calculated field formulas. One of the most exciting additions is the DiffinDays function. This function calculates the difference between two date fields in days.

So if you want to see the length of time that a record, like a case, has been open, you now can do it without any custom code. For more information, read Steve Foster’s blog.

Tip #399: All aboard! (CRM Online Onboarding Success Center)

You’d like to try out the best CRM in business but not sure where to start? Or you’ve already tried, liked it and would like to buy a subscription? Purchased already and not sure what to do next? The good news is that now there is a single place where you can find this information :
CRM Online Onboarding Success Center
which is, in effect, a

step by step guidance to onboard y​our organization successfully on Microsoft CRM Online​

The center approach is very straightforward:

    1. Try
    2. Buy
    3. Onboard your organization
    4. Onboard your users

Everything you need to know, from signing up for a trial to empowering your users with Power BI and Office 365 Groups. Tons of goodness, training materials and videos.

That's $37 - Awesome!

Tip #398: Careful with those .js libraries

After denting his table, Mehmet “Sputnik” Ozdemir finally decided to use his call-a-friend card. The problem? After attaching this trivial piece of script to the birthday field

function dateonchange() {
   Xrm.Utility.alertDialog(
       Xrm.Page.getAttribute("birthdate").getValue());
}

one would reasonably expect to select a date and see that selected value (+local time) popping up in a box. Instead, the returned value was null. Sometimes but not always. Internet Explorer was spitting dummy telling the world that getHours is a non-existent function. Things were gloomy, table-denting, I’d say.

Collective brain traced it down to the inclusion of the well-known date manipulation library date.js. That’s what you get for a) using 7 years-old library and b) messing around with the prototypes of the standard javascript objects.

If you really want nice and easy date/time manipulation library then get on with the program and download moment.js library and then add multi-language support to top it off.

But the main lesson is that when you decide to use <noun of your choice>.js library in your next CRM project, test it extensively, always treat it as a suspect and give preference to those libraries that do not use jQuery.js.

Tip #397: Leave support user alone

Dynamics CRM TipperOur little truck seems to be burning lots of rubber in the past few weeks. Latest stop – Dynamics CRM Group on Facebook.

Albert “Chilli Crab” Han, a good friends of ours, awesome CRM trainer and equally awesome host, asks:

I did a retriveMultiple on systemuser entity on my CRM Online trial account, I found a “hidden user” with fullname as “Support User”, I tested a few more instances and they are the same. Anyone have any idea what is the purpose of this user? any implication if I delete it?

After a short argy-bargy about On-premises vs Online and if it’s ethical for a service provider to access your database, Joel “The House Captain” Lindstrøm draws the line:

Support users can’t be deleted. They don’t have access to your data. See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg328485.aspx

Tipp Jarr’s Double Dipp

Correcting Joel is my favorite thing to do #47. Support users cannot be even disabled yet alone deleted.

Tip #396: Please subscribe me to all you’ve got

Dynamics CRM TipperIs there any CRM question that Adam “I bought the truckstop” Vero does not know the answer to? Apparently not. Another mini truck stop date with Adam.

When Mitch “Only in Texas” Milam asked for a potion:

Anyone have any magic for adding a Contact to multiple marketing lists at once? The Add to Marketing List functionality only allows one selection by default.

It took precisely 25 minutes for Adam to quickly pounce on the opportunity to highjack yet another truck stop:

Add a sub-grid for Marketing Lists to the Contact form.
Use the + (new) button above the subgrid to add a Contact to multiple lists at once.

So, from a view, select 1 or more Contacts to add to a single list (using the “Add to Marketing List” button);
or, open a single Contact and add to one or more lists.

You can’t select multiple Contacts and add to multiple lists at once (without code, custom dialog box, custom button etc).

Tip #395: Notifications

When I discuss requirements and user stories for Dynamics CRM deployments, a common request is that users be notified about various items. It seems like many people automatically think of email when they think of alerts and notifications. But I recommend that you stop before creating a bunch of email notification workflows and consider the downside of email notifications.

Consider the golden rule of CRM configurations: don’t do to your users what you don’t like to be done to you. Take a look at your inbox. Is it a fun place to be?

If you’re like me, your inbox is filled with impersonal notifications. (And if it is and you have Office 365, turn on the new Clutter feature).

Screenshot 2015-05-19 10.00.22

Email notifications are like your smart phone dinging. If it happens rarely, it is very valuable. If it happens every three minutes and for 50 different reasons, it is a burden and loses its value.

For that reason I always recommend that people only use email alerts for truly urgent alerts. Other than that use a more user-friendly alert system. This can be something on the dashboard, A view that they check in the normal course of the day, the social feed, or send them an sms text message.

Tip #394: Where did the opportunity subgrid pop-out button go?

In Tip #393 I recommended replacing the opportunity “Potential Customer” field on the form with the accounted lookup field if you just want to have the customer lookup return account records. Just because you do this on the form does not mean that you should totally replace the “Potential Customer” field.

One of the areas where you will still want to use the Potential Customer relationship is for subgrids. If you add a subgrid to the account form and select the Opportunities (Account) relationship in the subgrid properties, the opportunity list will display correctly, but the “pop out” button that opens the full grid will not be displayed on the subgrid.

Screenshot 2015-05-18 13.20.57

Remember, even if you use the account lookup field on the form instead of the Potential Customer, the Potential Customer field will still be populated when you select an account. So always use the Potential Customer relationship for related opportunity subgrids on account forms.