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How to Export CRM Customizations

The reason that one exports the customizations is so that you can revert back from any accidents that might happen or that you want to revert back to a previous version. Reverting back should be done first in a test environment to make certain that the backup is correct.

Additionally, for the advanced users out there it can sometimes be more efficient to make changes by using the backup  then using the actual interface but is not recommended except for those that are extremely confident in the Dynamics CRM XML structure as a wrong change  can cause serious problems with your system.

1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer
2. Log into Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a user that has a minimum of System Customizer rights
3. Settings
4. Customization 
5. Click on "Export Customizations"
6. Click on "Export All Customizations"
7. Click on Save
8. For the file name it defaults to customizations.xml which isn't good for archiving multiple days unless you're saving into a system that will automatically version  control the document (e.g. something like SharePoint (WSS/MOSS)).
   
1. I typically have two naming conventions
1. For the FIRST export
1. 20071128-customizations-v00.xml
   
2. For every other export
1. 20071128-customizations-v01.xml
2. The naming convention is this that is above is this
1. 2007 is the year (4-digit year)
2. 11 is the month (if this would be a single digit [e.g. 7] I enter 07
3. 28 is the day (if this would be a single digit day [e.g. 7] I enter 07
4. Then I use a dash and keep the word customizations and end with a dash
5. The last is the version number
6. v00 is always the FIRST (clean) export from the system that has no customizations in it
7. v01 is the first export of the day, v02 would be the second export of the day, and each day I always start with v01 and always end the day
3. As with anything there are exceptions to the rule. The one exception is if you're fortunate enough to have multiple CRM servers available to you that when you export you should export with either the  machine/client name after the date (e.g. 20071128-ServerName-customizations-v01.xml).

How to change the Lead "Status Reason"

 A common request by clients is how to add reasons for why leads were qualified, disqualified and lost. Below are the steps to complete this.

1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer
2. Load your Microsoft Dynamics CRM website and log in with a minimum of "System Customizer"  credentials
3. Click on Settings
4. click on Customization
5. Click on Customize Entities (Note: It's recommended to export your settings BEFORE doing this)
   
6. Double-click on Lead
7. Click on Attributes
8. Scroll down and double-click on "Status Reason"
   
9. Change the "State" to the desired choice (Open, Qualified, or Disqualified). Do not delete from the list. If you don't want say "Lost" any more to show don't delete it as it may already have been used and the number that is assigned can't ever be re-used. Rather you can rename existing ones.

Update CRM Licensing

On some installations of Dynamics CRM you will see on the Start | Microsoft CRM that the Licensing information is missing. Even though this is missing you can still access it by doing the following:

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\Tools\DMSNAPIN.msc" (with the quotes)
4. Press OK
   

This will load the same MMC you would get through the Start menu option above. I've found this to happen if you start out with the trial version of Small Business Server.

Outlook Client vs. the Web browser Interface

Both Outlook and Web Clients are built on .NET technologies and they are accessible in either of two ways:

• Through a web application that is running in IE
• Through a CRM client for Outlook

The web browser client provides a web-based user experience through a zero footprint instance running in IE.  It provides access to all CRM functionalities including the ‘Settings’ Section

The Outlook client provides a Windows-based user experience through a rich Win32 implementation integrated seamlessly with Outllook Client.  You cannot access the ‘Settings’ Option from within Outlook though.

The Web browser Client:

• The Web browser Client uses ASP.Net to serve the user interface to Internet Explorer.
• Note the following when working with the Browser Client:
• The application framework is specifically tuned to support high number of users, but without the expense of requiring a large server.
• The server-side web pages made available to the browser client are the ASP.Net pages processed by the IIS web server.
  

The Outlook Client:

• Outlook client is a feature-rich 32 bit application framework installed upon the local client machine.  It is built to support the web-based application logic; it enables salespeople, customer service representatives and marketing representatives to access CRM from within outlook.

There are two types of CRM clients for outlook:

• The laptop client
• The Desktop client

Desktop Client

One of the few features in CRM 3.0 is the inclusion of an “online only” client for outlook.  This client supports the following multiple user scenarios:

• Multiple serial users on a shared workstation and
• Multiple concurrent users for centralized application servers such as Citrix and Terminal Services.

This client can be used when multiple clients need to be installed for outlook or in scenarios where offline is not supported (such as hosting).  In these scenarios, the ability to go offline and the components that support offline use are not required.

Therefore, the desktop client for outlook setup program does not include installation of the following:

• Local MSDE database
• Offline Web Server
• Local platform layer logic

Laptop client

The laptop client for outlook provides online processing functionality and optional offline functionality.  One of the main features of the laptop client for outlook is that it optionally provides a disconnected user experience for sales, service and marketing representatives who are not always connected to a corporate LAN

During installation, the laptop client setup program installs the following:

• Local version of the CRM platform logic
• Local web server
• Local MSDE database 

Differences to note

For day-to-day work, you can use the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook, but not all Microsoft CRM features are available. If you are working offline, an even smaller subset of features is available.

The following features are not available by default in the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook:

• Knowledge base management
• Service Calendar
• Settings

The following entities cannot be edited in the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook

• Articles
• Products

Mail merge integrates Microsoft CRM 3.0 client for Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft CRM 3.0 with Microsoft Word so that you can create documents that are populated with Microsoft CRM data. You can use these familiar applications to send mail-merged documents through Microsoft Word using a document template (.dot) file.  Note that this feature is available only in Microsoft CRM client for Outlook. In the Web application, use the Direct E-mail feature.

Similarities between Working in Microsoft CRM client for Outlook and Outlook

• Microsoft CRM client for Outlook is integrated with folders and toolbars in Outlook. The Microsoft CRM folder is in the Navigation Pane, under Folders. To view a list of records, click the folder for that record type. The preview pane displays the list and the selected record.
• You can access Microsoft CRM functionality on either the Target toolbar or the CRM Shortcut menu.  

Differences between Working in Microsoft CRM client for Outlook and Outlook

Because Microsoft CRM uses standard Microsoft Internet Explorer HTML editing controls, some Outlook features are not available in the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook. For example, your Outlook signature line cannot be incorporated into messages, attachments or embedded graphics might not be accepted in templates, and you cannot create bulleted lists. The editing controls you use with most HTML editors however are available in Microsoft CRM. For example, pressing ENTER at the end of a line of text inserts two lines, and pressing SHIFT+ENTER inserts one line.

• In the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook you cannot use a drag-and-drop operation to move or copy an Outlook contact into a Microsoft CRM folder.
• If you drag a contact to a folder, a new e-mail message is created, but the contact information is neither copied nor moved. To resolve this, close the e-mail message, and then locate Microsoft CRM Help to find how to create a Microsoft CRM contact when working in the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook.
• If you try to copy or move an Outlook e-mail message into a Microsoft CRM folder by dragging it, the message does not appear in the Microsoft CRM folder even though it has been moved or copied to the folder. You must move the message back to its Outlook folder.

Working Offline

If you have installed the laptop version of the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook, you can select a subset of Microsoft CRM client for Outlook data to take with you offline and on the road. Whenever you go online, your local data is synchronized with the server data so that changes you have made to your local records when you are working offline are synchronized to the Microsoft CRM database. You cannot work offline with the desktop version.

There are a few things that you cannot do, and information that you cannot access when you are offline. For example, running reports and managing users.

V3C Client Features

• Integration with the Office 2007 “Ribbon”
• Custom MAPI Store (no more PST file!)
• SQL Express Edition 2005 SP1
• Inclusion of all existing client hot fixes
• Windows Vista Support
• User Access Control
• GPO deployments
• Internet Explorer 7
• In addition, we now also support…
• Clean installation of V3C
• Upgrade from CRM V3 Outlook Client to V3C
• Support for hotfixes and patching using MSP technology

Supported Versions

The following versions of Windows and Office are now officially supported.

• Windows
• Windows 2000 SP4
• Windows XP SP2
• Windows Vista
• Office
• Office XP SP3 (with Windows 2000 and XP only)
• Office 2003 SP2
• Office 2007