Throughout this chapter, we have been working towards creating a new dashboard layout that supports three tab areas with a total of six dashboard components. In this recipe, we will configure an organization overview dashboard that shows three tabs of information.
Use the CRM Organization Overview Dashboard solution package created earlier in this chapter by navigating to the Dashboards list.
Carry out the following steps in order to complete this recipe:
- Open the CRM Organization Overview Dashboard from the solution package. This will launch the Dynamics CRM Dashboard Editor screen. The dashboard will have three main tabs with one section in each tab.
- Select the first tab and click on the Edit Component button located in the toolbar, as shown in the following screenshot:
- The Tab Properties dialog will appear. Change the Label field value to Sales and then click on the OK button:
- In the Sales tab, select the third component placeholder and click on the Remove button in the toolbar, as shown in the following screenshot:
- In the Sales tab, select the first component placeholder and add a new chart. Select the Sales Pipeline chart using the My Open Opportunities view for the Opportunity entity. Now, click on the OK button:
- Select the second component placeholder and add a new chart. Select the Top Customers chart using the My Open Opportunities view for the Opportunity entity and click on the OK button, as shown in the following screenshot:
- Selecting the second chart, click on the Increase Width button located in the toolbar. This will make the new chart take up two cell spaces and fill in the section, as shown in the following screenshot:
- Scroll down if needed to select the second tab. Edit the tab component so that the label reads Activities.
- Select the single component placeholder and adjust it using the Decrease Width button so it is only one cell wide.
- Working with the same placeholder, add a chart. Select the Activities by Month Due chart using the My Activities view for the Activity entity, as shown in the following screenshot:
- In the Activities tab, add a new list component. The list component should show the My Activities view for the Activity entity:
- Move and adjust the width of the list component so that it fills the empty cells of the Activities tab:
- Scroll down and select the third tab. Edit the tab component and change the label to read Service. Select the first component placeholder and add a new chart. Select the Case Mix (By Priority) chart using the My Active Cases view for the Case entity, as shown in the following screenshot:
- Adjust the new chart so that it only takes up one cell width.
- Add a list component to the Service tab. The list component should show the My Active Cases view for the Case entity:
- Move and adjust the list component so that it takes up two cell spaces in the tab:
- Once all of these changes have been made, click the Save and Close button in the dashboard editor toolbar area.
- Locate the new dashboard in the solution package, select the record from the list and click the Publish button in the toolbar to make the changes available to the system users:
- Once the publishing is complete, go to the main Dashboards area of the Workplace section in Dynamics CRM and select the new dashboard from the listing of system dashboards to view the results:
Dynamics CRM has implemented certain limitations to how a dashboard layout can be modified. This section will identify a limitation, and ways to get around it.
The dashboards in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 can only have a maximum of six dashboard components at a time. This is the total number of charts, lists, IFrames, and Web Resources combined.
If you are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 online, then you are stuck with this limitation. However, if you are using an on-premise version of Dynamics CRM 2011, your systems administrator can adjust the limit using a Windows PowerShell command. Please refer to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK for the latest information about the syntax and steps involved in making this adjustment: