CRM Blog world

Wonderfull thing blogging. I'm doing this now for more then half a year and still am having fun to continue. But more and more blogs are coming up. There's a huge list now of people blogging mostly about MS CRM. So where is this list? Everyone has got some other blogs on their blogroll, but there is no full list. Well. Here's a list of what I think is the complete list of MS CRM blogs at the moment. Starting with the Microsoft people, then MVP's and then the other bloggers. Some blogs are marked with [inactive]. Those are blogs that have mentioned to stop or which do not have any CRM related post for the last half year. Furthermore there's no logic in the ordering. Hope you find some new information which you can use!


Microsoft Bloggers:
MSCRM Team Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/crm
MSCRM Partner Specialist Team West region http://westregioncrm.spaces.live.com/
Andrew Bybee [MS -US] http://bybeeworld.spaces.live.com/
Arash Ghanaie-Sichanie [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/arash/default.aspx
Ben Riga [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/benriga/default.aspx
Ben Vollmer [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/midatlanticcrm/default.aspx
Benjamin Lecoq [MS - France] http://blogs.msdn.com/benlec
Bill Patterson [MS -US] http://pattersonwc.spaces.live.com/
Charles Eliot [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/charle/
Charly Wood [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/charliew/
David Orlander [MS - Norway (language: norwegian)] http://www.crmnorway.com/
Jason Hunt [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonhun/
Jim Glass [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/jim_glass/
Jon White [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/jonwhite/
Jonas Deibe [MS - Sweden] http://blogs.msdn.com/jonasd/
Joriz Kalz [MS - Germany] http://blogs.msdn.com/joris_kalz/
Kevin Nazemi [MS - US] [inactive / cleared] http://blogs.technet.com/microsoftcrm/
Marcello Fisicaro [ MS - Italy] http://mfisicar.officeisp.net/blog/default.aspx
Menno te Koppele [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/mscrmfreak/
Michael Rich [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/microsoft_crm_western_region_news/
Michaeljon Miller [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/mikemill/default.aspx
Michaeljon Miller [MS - US] [inactive] http://inside-mscrm.blogspot.com/
Philip Richardson [MS - US] http://www.philiprichardson.org/blog/
Philip Richardson [MS - US] [inactive] http://spaces.msn.com/philiprichardson/
Philippe Brisaud and Vincent [MS - FR (language: french)] http://blogs.msdn.com/frcrm/
Prashanth Kaankadae [MS - US] http://blogs.technet.com/pkcrm/
Praveen Upadhyay [MS - US] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/crmbest/
Ross Dembecki [MS - Australia] http://microsoft-crm-au.spaces.live.com/
Satya Nadella [MS - US] http://blogs.msdn.com/satyanadella
Simon Hutson [MS - UK] http://blogs.msdn.com/ukcrm/default.aspx
UK MCS [MS - UK] http://blogs.msdn.com/b/thecrmguys/

MVP's
Aaron Elder [MVP CRM - US - Ascentium] http://www.ascentium.com/blog/crm/Default.aspx
Aaron Elder [MVP CRM - US - Invoke Systems] http://www.invokesystems.com/cs/blogs/mscrm/
Aaron Elder [MVP CRM - US - Invoke Systems] [inactive] http://spaces.msn.com/members/provega/
Aaron Elder [MVP CRM - US - Invoke Systems] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/aaronel
Andreas Donaubauer [MVP CRM - Germany (language: German)] http://www.crmfaq.de/
Andrii Butenko [MVP CRM - Ukraine] http://a33ik.blogspot.com/
Ayaz Ahmad [MVP CRM - Pakistan - Ovex Technologies] http://ayazahmad.wordpress.com/
Darren Liu [MVP CRM - Crowe Chizek - US] http://msdynamicscrm-e.blogspot.com/
Darren Liu [MVP CRM - Crowe Chizek - US (language: chinese)] http://msdynamicscrm.blogspot.com/
David Jennaway [MVP CRM - Excitation Ltd - UK] http://mscrmuk.blogspot.com/
David Yack [MVP ASP.NET - US - Colorado Technology Consultants] http://crm.davidyack.com/ [CRM]
http://blog.davidyack.com/ [ASP.NET]
Frank Lee [MVP CRM - US - Workopia] http://spaces.msn.com/microsoft-crm/
Frank Lee [MVP CRM - US - Workopia] [inactive] http://microsoft-crm.blogspot.com/
Geoffroy Gabel [MVP CRM - FR (language french)] http://mscrm3.blogspot.com/
Guy Riddle [MVP CRM - Australia - Snapdragon] http://guyriddle.spaces.live.com/
Guy Riddle [MVP CRM - Australia - Snapdragon] http://www.mscrm.com.au/
Joel Lindstrom [MVP CRM - Customer Effective - US] http://blog.customereffective.com/
John O'Donnell [MVP CRM - US - Crowe Chizek] http://crowechizek.typepad.com/crm/
Larry Lentz [MVP CRM - US - Lentz Computer Services] http://ts2community.com/blogs/larrylentz/
Leon Tribe [MVP CRM - Australia] http://leontribe.blogspot.com/
Marco Amoedo [MVP CRM - Spain - Plain Concepts] http://geeks.ms/blogs/marco
Matt Wittemann [MVP CRM - US - gTECHserv] http://icu-mscrm.blogspot.com/
Matt Wittemann [MVP CRM - US - gTECHserv] http://www.askcrm.com/Home/tabid/866/BlogID/15/Default.aspx
Michael Höhne [MVP CRM - DE - Stunnware] http://www.stunnware.com/crm2
Mitch Milam [MVP CRM - US - Infinite-X] http://blogs.infinite-x.net/
Nithya Balasubramanian [MVP CRM - India] http://niths.wordpress.com/
Ronald Lemmen [MVP CRM - NL - Avanade] http://ronaldlemmen.blogspot.com/
Scott Colson [MVP CRM - US] http://msmvps.com/blogs/crm/default.aspx
Umar Khan [MVP CRM - Pakistan] http://umarkhan.wordpress.com/


Company Blogs:
C5 Insight http://blogs.c5insight.com
CustomerEffective http://blog.customereffective.com/
CWRMobility http://www.cwrmobility.com/weblog/
Simego http://www.simego.com/Blog/
Sonoma Partners http://blog.sonomapartners.com/
Unitek http://www.unitek.com/training/microsoft/crm/blog/


Other Bloggers:
Abe Saldana [US] http://blog.crmbuzz.net/Default.aspx
Andrey Slepitsky [Russia (language: russian)] http://blogs.technet.com/ansle
Anne Stanton [The Norwich Group - US] http://www.crmlady.com/
Arne Janning [Germany] [inactive] http://geekswithblogs.net/insidemscrm/
Asle Berg [Columbus IT - Norway (language: norwegian)] http://dynamics-crm.blogspot.com/
Ben Hosking [UK] http://crmbusiness.wordpress.com/
Boris Kanlica [Turkey] http://www.cub-e.net/
Brian [US] http://mscrmspot.blogspot.com/
Cafe CRM [FR (language French) ] http://cafecrm.typepad.com/webblog/ms_crm/index.html
Carsten Groth [Germany (language: german)] http://carstengroth.spaces.live.com/
Catherine Eibner [Cybner - Australia] http://blog.cybner.com.au/
Christian B. Mortensen [Denmark] http://blogs.msdn.com/cbm/
Cornel Croitoriu [Romania] http://crmstuff.blogspot.com/
Craig Hamer http://blog.crmvault.net/
David Fronk [Dynamic Methods - US] http://dmcrm.blogspot.com/
David Hawes [Avanade - UK] http://blog.davehawes.com/
Dejan Dular [Slovenia] http://a-crm.blogspot.com/
Douglas Leung [Unique World - Australia] http://sharepointsix.blogspot.com/
Erik van Hoof [CWR Mobility - NL] http://www.cwrmobility.com/weblog/
Gagandeep Singh http://mscrmnovice.blogspot.com/
Gareth Tucker [Avanade - Singapore] http://garethtuckercrm.com/
George Doubinski [Australia] http://crm.georged.id.au/
Greg Owen [UK] http://thecrmgrid.wordpress.com/
Guenter [World-Direct.at - Austria] http://geekswithblogs.net/guentersblog/
Gustaf Westerlund [Logica CMG - Sweden] http://gustafwesterlund.blogspot.com/
Hans Veldman [ACI - Netherlands] http://microsoftdynamicscrm.blogspot.com/
Henry Cordes [Avanade - Netherlands] http://www.henrycordes.nl/category/CRM.aspx
Hero [India] http://www.crmsaurin.tk/
Ibrahim Sukari [RightServ - Australia] http://www.mscrmblog.net/
Imran [Pakistan] http://microsoftcrm3.blogspot.com/
Imran [inactive] http://crmexpert.blogspot.com/
Jeff Bennett [Solutions Consulting Group] [inactive] http://mscrm-notes-from-the-field.blogspot.com/
John O'Connor [US] http://crmnit.blogspot.com/
John Straumann [Canada] http://mscrmguy.blogspot.com/
John Straumann [Canada] [inactive] http://blogs.msdn.com/jstraumann
Julian Sharp [active again!] http://spaces.msn.com/members/mscrm
Keith Delarge [Aspective - UK] http://www.mscrmblog.com/
Kjell-Sverre Jerijærvi [Objectware - Norway] http://kjellsj.blogspot.com/
Luis Mazario [Spain (language: Spanish)] http://blogs.msdn.com/crmlandia
Maarten Dominicus [NL] http://www.crmwatcher.com/
Mads Nissen [Norway] [inactive] http://weblogs.asp.net/mnissen/category/5782.aspx
Maik Roempagel http://blog.codealchemist.com/
Marcello Tonarelli [VAR Group - Italian] http://marcellotonarelli.wordpress.com/category/ms-dynamics-crm/
Mario Raunig [World-direct.at - Austria] http://marioraunig.blogspot.com/
Mike Snyder [Sonoma Partners - US] http://blog.sonomapartners.com/
Mike Taylor [UK] http://crmuser.blogspot.com/
Neil Huffman [Productivegap - US] http://nhuffman.spaces.live.com/
Oguz KIRIS [Turkey] http://www.crm4.ws/
Olivier Furnemont [METRUM SàRL - LUX] http://www.furnemont.eu/
Oshri Cohen [Canada] http://mymscrm3.blogspot.com/
Peter Florijn [NL] - http://customcrm.blogspot.com/
Peter Maude [inactive] http://www.tconv.com/blogs/crm3tips/
Phil Adams http://blog.expertsoftware.co.uk/
Pierre Hulsebos [EHTC - US] http://blog.solomon2crm.com/
Rich Oyler & Nicholas Cole [Saratogaus - US] http://crmblog.saratogaus.com/
Rob Bakkers [Avanade - NL] [inactive] http://robbakkers.blogspot.com/
Robert MacLean [South Afrika] http://www.sadev.co.za/
Robert Peledie [UK] http://www.crmrocks.net/
Robert Peledie [UK] http://www.crmconsult.info/
Roberto Nocera [Avanade - Italy (language: italian)] http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/rnocera
Roberto Vecchio [Italy (language: italian)] http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/roblog/
Ron Kane [Scotland] http://mscrminscotland.blogspot.com/
Ross Lotharius [Ascentium - USA] http://rosslotharius.com/
Ryan Farley [inactive] http://crmdeveloper.com/blog
Sandor Schellenberg [Atos Origin - NL] http://friendlycrmonster.blogspot.com/
Seidl Michael [Germany (language english/german)] http://mscrm.m-seidl.com/
Seth Kircher [Navint - US] http://navintmicrosoftcrm.blogspot.com/
Stéphane Dorrekens [Belgiu] http://blog.dorrekens.com
Stephen Maij [SeeSharp - NL] http://www.maijspace.nl/
Steve Boyce [UK] http://blog.crmvault.net/
Wim Coorevits [U2U - Belgium] http://www.u2u.info/Blogs/WimCo
Wolter Kreun [Netherlands] http://www.crmmaps.com/
Wolter Kreun [Netherlands] http://skypecrm.blogspot.com/
Xavier Courchinoux http://blogs.msdn.com/xavier_courchinoux/

General CRM Blogs
Aina Neva Fiati [Indonesia] http://www.crmpieces.blogspot.com/

MS CRM SDK 3.0.4

Microsoft posted the newest version of the SDK for MS CRM 3.0 yesterday. We're on version 3.0.4 now.

Download the SDK here.

Overview
The Microsoft CRM 3.0 SDK is for developers, system customizers and report writers. It contains the following sections:

Server Programming Guide – A guide for developers writing server side code, custom business logic, integration modules, workflow assemblies and more. This guide provides an architectural overview of Microsoft CRM, the entity model, security model, Web services, and sample code.

Client Programming Guide – A guide for developers customizing the Web client or the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook, including scripting, integration of custom Web pages, and sample code.

ISV Programming Guide - A guide for independent software vendors (ISVs) developing installable add-ins for Microsoft CRM.

Report Writers Guide - A guide for developers writing reports for Microsoft CRM using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Report Designer.

Hiding rows

Hi!

Have you already tried to remove fields as described in this article?

I've been using this quite some time now, but I noticed something weird. When you have removed two fields which are on the same line, then you don't want to see this row at all. Well, this doesn't work by default.

By using jscript you'll need to access the table row and hide it. This doesnt work with the style.visibility = 'hidden'. Instead, you should use this line:

crmForm.all.field.parentElement.parentElement.style.display = 'none';

This row should remove the whole line. Yes, thats what it should do. So if it doesn't do that, what does it do? It removes everything except for picklists. You’ll need to hide those manually as described in the other article:

crmForm.all.picklist_d.style.display = 'none';

It's not business critical, but it does fine-tune your UI when working with advanced UI manipulation.

Good luck!

Update:
Robert Amos mailed me his solution. He's hiding complete sections. Here's part of his mail:

I usually pick the first (top left) field in CRM and work on it:

crmForm.all.firstfield_c.parentElement.parentElement. parentElement.style.display = 'none';

That should pick the element containing the entire section and suck it out of the form. So I've been hiding non-relevant sections so the user doesn't get confused. Keeps it clean :)

Readonly fields

Ryan Farley has written a nice article about making fields readonly. Ryan has written several good articles from a developers point of view. I expect there will be more good work coming from his hands. Welcome in the world of CRM bloggers Ryan!

Wintersport

It's been a while since my last posting. Well, for that I do have a good reason. I've been in France, Alpe d'Huez, for a week for winter holidays. Until the day before my holidays I didn't know for sure if I could go on holidays because of a high priority CRM project. Luckily for me the project has been delayed and so I have been snowboarding a week long!

I've been back for several days now but I'm still walking around with pain in my muscles. Not too weird though if you know that every day me and my friends started with a black piste for warmup and furthermore spending the day off-piste and in the funpark ;-)

Here's a picture of me with one of the jumps last week.

Are there more snowboarders who work with CRM? Or should I put it the way around: Are there more people who work with CRM and do a bit of snowboarding in their spare time? ;)

How to rename area's

Quite often I see the question "how do I rename an area in CRM v3.0?".

I could write an own example, but Arne Janning already did so in the public community. Here's his post:

In the CRM-web-client click --> Settings --> Customization --> Export Customizations --> mark Site Map --> More Actions --> Export Selected Customizations --> Hit OK on the dumb dialog.

You get a customizations.xml-file to download. In that file you'll find five area-elements: Workplace, SFA, MA, CS, Settings. These areas define the top-level structure of the "Wunderbar" (the Outlook-style navigation).

This is an example for an area-element:
<area id="SFA" shape="RECT" coords="0,0,0,0" resourceid="Area_Sales" icon="/_imgs/sales_24x24.gif" descriptionresourceid="Sales_Description">
To customize this you could add the "Title"-attribute to overwrite the ResourceId:

<area id="SFA" title="Clients" shape="RECT" coords="0,0,0,0" resourceid="Area_Sales" icon="/_imgs/sales_24x24.gif" descriptionresourceid="Sales_Description">The strucure of the sitemap is well documented in the SDK, which BTW has been updated and improved lately :o)

Microsoft CRM 3.0 SDK

Client Programming Guide --> Navigation Configuration: SiteMap

Once you have finished your customizations in the sitemap you can upload the again:

Settings --> Customization --> Import Customizations --> select your file --> upload, publish and hit F5 to reload the Wunderbar.

Hope that helps.

Getting inside MS CRM

If you think that solutions which are on this blog are unsupported, then take a look at the post which my new German colleague Arne Janning has posted:

Getting inside Microsoft CRM - Part I

He'll get you virtually inside crm and from there you will be able to do anything that you have ever wanted to do with MS CRM.

I'll have to warn you: if you don't feel comfortable with what you see, then just don't try this. You'll likely be messing up your (clients?) system :-)