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Creating and Editing Views: 1.) Learn the Basics. 2.) Conquer the World!

Post Author: Joe D365 |

One of our most frequently requested customizations is to add new views to the set of system views that come out-of-the-box with Microsoft Dynamics 365. It seems most of our clients are hesitant to play around with modifying these system views or adding new ones out of fear that it may be too difficult or complex. However, this could not be further from the truth. The ability to customize Microsoft Dynamics 365 is very easy to complete, and almost easier to learn HOW to complete these customizations.

Below are some simple steps to get you started in creating and customizing views for the Account entity. Using the below instructions as a framework, you will be able to come up with some pretty exciting combinations to fulfill your business needs - and therefore, conquer the world!

We will first walk through how to change the default view.

1.)In CRM, click on the module menu drop down, then click on Settings, then click on Customizations

creating and editing views

2.)Click on Customize the System- this will open another window

creating and editing views

3.)In the new Customizations window, expand the triangles to expand Entities, then expand Account and click on Views.

creating and editing views

4.)To change which view is the Default View, click to select the Active Accounts view, then click More Actions, then click Set Default

creating and editing views

As you can see, changing the default view is quite easy. It may be more challenging to decide which view you and your users want to be the default view.

We will now walk through the steps to create a new view. These options are available in the same area in Customizations from which we set the default view.

1.)To create a new View, simply click on the New button on the main action bar.

2.)In the New View window, type a name and optionally a Description. I choose to name my new view My New Accounts

creating and editing views

3.)Click OK.

4.)On the right hand navigation, click Add Columns

creating and editing views

5.)In the Add Columns window, you can select which columns to add to your view by checking the boxes next to them

creating and editing views

6.)You can rearrange the columns by highlighting one and click on the left or right arrows to move them

creating and editing views

7.)You can also choose which data appears in the View by clicking on Edit Filter Criteria

creating and editing views

8.)Since I want to show Accounts that I own and that were created in the last 30 days, I will update my filter criteria to reflect this:

  • Click Select and grab the Owner field; the next filter part defaults to Equals Current User, so I will leave this.
  • Click Select on the next line and grab the Created On field. Click where it says On in the middle and scroll down to grab Last X Days. Then click next to that where it says Choose Date and type 30.
  • Your finished query should look like this:

creating and editing views

9.)You are also able to choose which column to sort on by clicking on Configure Sorting in the right navigation

creating and editing views

10.)In this window, you are able to sort based on two columns; I have chosen to also sort based on Account Name as well as Created On date

creating and editing views

11.)Lastly, you can also adjust the width of your columns individually by selecting a column and clicking on Change Properties in the right navigation

creating and editing views

12.)In this window, you can select from a variety of pixel widths for your columns. The default is 100; however, I wanted to make my date column more narrow

creating and editing views

The most important thing to remember here is that your users will not see any of these changes until you click Save and Close and the Publish. If your users report that they are not able to see the view immediately after you published, just ask them to refresh their browser and it should appear.

You can use the above items to come up with infinite possibilities of different views for all of your different record types, as well as modifying the views after you have saved them. As you can see, there was no coding required. That is the hallmark of Dynamics 365: its ability to seamlessly match the technology with the needs of each business.

For more tips and tricks, check out these similar blogs:

Who Wore it Best: System View vs. Personal View

Assigning System Views Based on Security Roles

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

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