Accessing Systems views on the Navigation Bar

On the goals of any CRM implementation is to make the navigation as easy and intuitive as possible.  One way to do this is to use a combination of system views and site map.  For example, there are many organizations that have users that work with specific types of Account or Contacts.  The traditional way to do this is to create a system view or advanced find view based on the Account or Contact type.  However, this still requires that the user access the screen and select the appropriate view from the drop down.  It would be much easier if the user could simply select an option on the Navigation Bar and have that view displayed.  This can be accomplished with some site map changes and the creation of a few system views.  Below is the outline of an example:

Scenario

An organization has two main types of Accounts that they deal with.  These are Broker firms and Agency firms. Furthermore, the organization is segregated into individuals that deal with only Brokers and individuals that deal only with Agencies.  The goal here is to provide an easy way for these individuals to access the correct Account types and access them easily.

Step 1-Access the Account entity and create two separate system views.  One view is for active Accounts of the Broker and the other view is for Active Accounts of the type Agency.

Step 2-Export your site map and open it.  Be sure to save a copy of the original

Step 3-.Create an Area on the site map called Agency.  This will display the option of Agency on the main Navigation bar.

Step 4-Access the system view for Active Accounts of the type Agency and copy the GUID.  You can also do this by selecting "Copy Shortcut" when you create the view on the entity.

Step 5-In the site map add a subarea called Agencies and the url for this sub area is the guid that you just copied.  You could also create a view for Contacts for Account type Agency also by creating the system view and copying  the GUID.

Step 6-In the site map create an Area called Brokers.  This wil display the option of Broker on the main Navigation bar.

Step 7-Access the system for Active Accounts of the type Broker and copy the GUID, again you can use "Copy shortcut" also.

Step 8-Follow step 5 except the subrea will be called Broker and the GUID will be for the Broker system view.

Step 9-Import your sitemap and publish.

You will now see a main Navigation item called Agency and one called Broker and when these are accessed the user has options to see data for their specific business function,specially Accounts and Contacts of a certain type.  This may not be applicable in all situations but it is an easy way to reduce user confusion and also makes the front end more appealing.

Below is a sample of the site map changes for the Agency account type.

Area Id="MA" ResourceId="Area_Marketing" Icon="/_imgs/marketing_24x24.gif" DescriptionResourceId="Marketing_Description" Title="Agency MGT">
        <Group Id="MA">
         
          <SubArea Id="nav_accts1" Entity="account" DescriptionResourceId="Account_SubArea_Description" Title="Agencies" Url="http://moss:5555/MicrosoftCRM/_root/homepage.aspx?etc=1&viewid=%7b40CDBE8B-22E7-DD11-83F5-0003FF340014%7d" />
          <SubArea Id="nav_conts1" Entity="contact" DescriptionResourceId="Contact_SubArea_Description" Title="Agency Contacts" Url="http://moss:5555/MicrosoftCRM/_root/homepage.aspx?etc=2&viewid=%7bC08666EB-30E7-DD11-83F5-0003FF340014%7d" />

Comments

[Neil Benson]

Hi John, we've used this technique on quite a few implementations and it really impresses users. As database designers, we know that Doctors and Patients are just two types of contact, but users have a hard time understanding the purity of entity types! They just want separate navigation areas. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Neil

[markg]

Hi John,
this is a good solution. however the view drop down (appears blank) and the quick find both default to the Account entity for some reason. Do you know if these can be removed and just laving the list toolbar,
Mark