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Since the state and province fields in Contacts, Leads and Accounts are single line of text, our users are able to enter states and provinces however they want. This means Minnesota might be entered "Minnesota," "Minn," or "MN," depending on who enters it. This makes searching for people or accounts by state unreliable. I am thinking of putting some structure around states by making it an option set or a lookup in CRM 2011. Do you have any recommendations on best practices on adding this field?
Sincerely,
Altered States
Dear Altered States,
This is a pretty common question. Dynamics CRM was designed this way for a few reasons. First, this better supports companies that have contacts and accounts in various countries around the world. Second, the integration with Outlook requires the field be a single line of text for the field to sync with Outlook contacts. This means there are drawbacks to changing the state/province field to a pick list or lookup and must weigh your options carefully. Here are my recommendations if you add this field.
Your first decision is whether to make it an option set (pick list / dropdown menu) or lookup to a custom entity. Let's take a look at each option.
Using an option set to create structure involves first creating a global option set, and then using it when creating fields on each entity where you want to use the state/province dropdown, and adding the field to the form.
Steps:
Let's take a look at the pros and cons of using a global option set for the state/province field.
Pros | Cons |
Setting up a global option set is fairly straightforward, making this the simpler option. | The 50+ values make the dropdown list long, forcing users to scroll when making a selection. |
There is no additional set up using a global option set. | The option set is limited to one value. So if you use the two digit state abbreviation, users will not have a reference to what AR means. |
You can alternatively create a look up to a custom state/province entity where each record is a state or province. This process involves creating a custom entity, creating relationships between it and the entities where you'll use it, creating the records, and giving users permission to view append the state/province records.
Steps:
Pros | Cons |
Since it's a custom entity, it can contain separate fields for the state abbreviation and the state's full name. This is helpful for users who are not familiar with state abbreviations. | Setting up a custom entity requires more planning than an option set. |
The system can be set up so users can search by either the state abbreviation or the full name of the state. | You must grant permissions to the custom entity. |
Regardless if you choose a global option set or go the lookup route; here are my best practice recommendations that you must consider when creating a new field to house state and province information.
You should also check out the blog Global Option Sets in Dynamics CRM 2011 to get the basics of global option sets. You can also take a look at our post on the differences between Global Option Sets and Custom Entities.
Keep in mind it's always wise to weigh your business reasons for changing the out of box functionality and to take the extra steps of automatically populating the out of the box fields.
Happy CRM'ing!
In 2015 online what is the best option: Create option set or lookup? Also, what are the steps in 2015 to create these options? Thx.
Hi - The best option varies a bit by client. In the blog above we have a box with pros and cons for each option. Most of our clients go with the global option set but a few have done the lookup entity.