Is finding the information you need in your Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM) solution a bit like locating the mythical island of Atlantis? If your sales, marketing or service teams are referencing this mythical island when trying to locate the right resource, it is time to start using the SiteMap features in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
The good news is SiteMap just got easier in Microsoft Dynamics 365 with the Microsoft Dynamics Sitemap Designer. SiteMap is one of the most forgotten tools in your Microsoft Dynamics toolbox, but extremely important to the usability and user experience of your system.
Defining Focus with Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap
Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap can help you drive users to the information your teams need, in the context where they use it. For example, using Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap you can setup a focused area for Sales Management within your system that provides instant access to the dashboard, data and information your sales managers and sales team need while taking it a step further to show and hide sub-areas and entities based on users’ security role.
For instance, you might want to show Quote and Order entities to Account Managers while preventing Inside Sales Associates from accessing them.
The New Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap Designer
Prior to the December 2016 update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016, there were only two options to edit SiteMap:
- Manually editing Sitemap through customization.xml file
- Using 3rd party tool called XrmToolbox (https://xrmtoolbox.codeplex.com)
Surprisingly, it is not widely known that Microsoft introduced the new Microsoft Dynamics Sitemap Designer tool in Dynamics 365. The designer yields similar functionality as the Sitemap Editor in XrmToolbox with a friendly user-interface, native to Microsoft. Best of all, there is no 3rd party tool installations or updates with Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap Designer built natively into Dynamics 365.
Editing SiteMap using Microsoft Dynamics Sitemap Editor
Deliver instant access to the tools and information your employees need to be more productive throughout their work day with Microsoft Dynamics Sitemap Editor. It is simple to edit and update. Following the steps below to edit the sitemap using the new Sitemap Editor:
1. Open the solution that contains the SiteMap component you desire to edit.
2. Go to Components >> Client Extensions >> SiteMap (double-click) or select the existing SiteMap and click the Edit button.
3. Once the Sitemap Designer tool opens you can easily make the necessary adjustments or updates to the SiteMap. With a very similar look, feel and functionality as XrmToolbox the editing tool is familiar and easy to use. Once you are done with your SiteMap configuration, select the Save button and then click the Publish button.
Designing Dynamics 365 to Work the Way You Do
- No longer does finding information in your Dynamics 365 system have to be the search for Atlantis. Using Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap Editor you can give instant access to the tools, data and dashboards your team needs to stay productive throughout their workday.With Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap Editor recently added as native functionality into Dynamics 365 you can easily make adjustments to your system navigation, as well as define custom SiteMaps for your Sales Team, Marketing Team and Service Team separately, while using security role permissioning to limit and assign access to data based on each user’s role.
- To learn more about Microsoft Dynamics SiteMap Editor, check out this knowledge article “Change Application Navigation Using the SiteMap” on the Microsoft Developer Network: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg309259.aspx.
