Making Light Edits to Views in Dynamics 365 CRM
Dynamics 365 CRM is designed to be customized around your organization's business needs. Although larger development projects may require help from a partner, there are smaller changes that administrators may feel comfortable making themselves. Views are particularly useful because they let you query CRM data, incorporate information from related records, control the columns users see, and filter or sort records based on specific business requirements. In this lesson, we'll create a system view that becomes available to users without requiring you to share the view individually.
System Views vs. Personal Views
You can already create and share personal views directly from a Dynamics 365 application. System views are different because they don't need to be shared with users individually. If you have a view that would benefit many CRM users, creating it as a system view can eliminate the work of sharing a personal view one user at a time. System views can also be configured as the default view users see when they open a particular table.
Security Requirements
To access the customization side of CRM, you'll need one of these security roles:
- System Customizer
- System Administrator
The System Administrator role provides the highest level of access and control. The System Customizer role provides access to customization functionality without providing the same ability to manage user security and permissions.
Start in a Sandbox
Go to make.powerapps.com and begin by selecting the appropriate environment. Development should generally be performed in a sandbox before changes are introduced into production. This lets you confirm that your customization works correctly and gives users an opportunity to test it without disrupting your live environment or production data. It's also important for the sandbox to accurately reflect production. Otherwise, moving changes between environments can potentially introduce unwanted differences.
Create a View for a Business Need
For this example, imagine your organization is receiving significant sales interest in marketing photography packages. You want to create a view showing each salesperson the Opportunities assigned to them that are expected to close soon. This will help salespeople focus on the immediate needs of potential customers. Begin in Power Apps by finding the Opportunity table and opening its Views area. Rather than creating everything from scratch, start with an existing view that's already relatively close to your desired result. In this example, start with My Open Opportunities and use Save As to create a new view called Closing Soon - My Open Opportunities.
Set a Default View
The new system view can be set as the default. Setting a default view works somewhat like selecting a homepage in your browser. When users navigate to Opportunities, this is the view they'll see first. Consider whether the view is broadly useful before making it the default for your users.
Customize Your Columns
Next, adjust the columns to show the information users actually need. You can:
- Remove unnecessary columns
- Add new columns
- Change the order of columns
- Adjust column widths
In this example, the Potential Customer information already provides the Account information needed, so an unnecessary Account column can be removed. The Estimated Close Date can be moved, while Contact and Email information can be positioned near the Potential Customer information.
Add Information from Related Records
One of the useful capabilities of Dynamics 365 views is the ability to include information from related records. For example, suppose your salespeople travel regularly and need to know the state where a potential customer is located. State isn't stored directly on the Opportunity record. It's stored on the related Account. When adding a column, select the option for related data and locate Address 1: State/Province from the Account related through the Opportunity's Potential Customer. This allows the Opportunity view to display useful Account information without requiring users to open every Account record individually.
Filter the View
Filters determine which records appear in your view. Because this view originated from My Open Opportunities, it already includes conditions that limit the results to:
- Opportunities owned by the current user
- Opportunities with an Open status
Next, add a filter for Estimated Close Date. Dynamics 365 provides many date operators, and selecting the right one is important. For example, filtering for Next Month would exclude Opportunities expected to close during the current month. Instead, you can use Next X Months and specify two months. This allows the view to include Opportunities with Estimated Close Dates within the desired upcoming period, including the current month.
Sort Your Records
You can also determine how records are sorted. For this scenario, sorting by Estimated Close Date makes sense because the goal is to help salespeople identify the Opportunities that are closing soonest. You can change the sort direction or add secondary sorting, such as sorting by Estimated Revenue. Once the columns, filters, and sorting behave as intended, save and publish the view.
Create a Solution for Your Changes
A solution provides a container for organizing CRM customizations. Using a solution makes your work easier to find and provides the mechanism you'll use to move the customization from your sandbox into another environment, such as production. Create a solution and give it a recognizable name. You'll also select a publisher representing who is making the customization, such as your internal organization or a consultant. Add the Opportunity table and your new Closing Soon - My Open Opportunities view to the solution.
Make Sure the View Is Included in Your App
Creating a system view doesn't necessarily mean it will automatically appear in every model-driven application. Review the configuration of the app where users need the view. If the app is configured to include all views, you may not need to make an additional change. If that setting is turned off, you'll need to:
- Add the new view to the app.
- Save and publish the app.
- Add the model-driven app to your solution.
This makes sure the necessary customization is included when you move the solution to your target environment.
Publish and Test Your Changes
It's good practice to publish all customizations before reviewing your work. Then open the CRM application and clear or refresh your browser cache so you're looking at the latest version. Review the new view and verify that:
- It appears in the application.
- It opens by default if configured as the default view.
- The correct columns appear.
- Related Account information displays correctly.
- Filters return the intended Opportunities.
- Records are sorted correctly.
Always test your customization before moving it to production.
Move the View to Production
Once you've confirmed that the view works correctly in your sandbox, the next step is to export the solution and import it into the target environment. Before exporting, make sure your changes have been published. In the target environment, import the solution and follow the appropriate prompts. If the target environment matches your sandbox, the solution should bring the necessary view and application changes into that environment. After importing, publish the customizations and refresh your CRM application again. Finally, review the live application to make sure the new system view appears and works exactly as expected.
Create Views That Help Users Focus
System views are an effective way to give CRM users consistent access to the information that matters to their work. By customizing columns, incorporating information from related records, applying targeted filters, controlling sorting, and selecting an appropriate default view, you can make CRM data easier for users to consume. When a view will benefit a large portion of your organization, creating it as a system view and packaging it in a solution provides a more manageable approach than creating and sharing personal views individually.
