In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 there are a number of predefined system dashboards:
In many cases, organizations/clients may or may not have need of some of these “out-of-the-box” dashboards. They might, however, have need of them in the future. So how do you remove them from a user’s view, but preserve them so you can bring them back in the future? In my particular situation, the question came up, “How do you remove these, but not delete them?” Great question.
There is not an out of the box way to “hide” a dashboard with the current Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 functionality. But there are some options to preserve the original dashboards, while removing them for your users.
One way to do this is to export the dashboard to a solution file, then delete the original dashboard. In CRM 2011, create a solution in settings-->Solutions. Click add existing dashboard, and select the dashboard that you want to remove. Then export the solution and save the exported file in your source code repository of choice. This file will contain a backup of the original system dashboard, and you can then delete the dashboard from your CRM 2011 system. Should you ever change your mind down the road, you can restore the deleted system dashboard by importing the solution file.
Another option is to create a NEW Dashboard, based upon the existing dashboard. This can be done by clicking on “Save As” from the Ribbon Menu Bar:
So for this example, let’s assume we like the Marketing Dashboard, but would rather hide it from users until a time when we want to use it. By clicking "save as," I’ll create a personal dashboard, based upon the Marketing Dashboard. The personal version will, by default, be only be visible by me:
In this case, I’ll just add “ORIGINAL” onto the end of the name of the dashboard, so that I’ll know the source. Now that I have a my dashboard saved as a personal dashboard, which only I can see, I can now remove the dashboard that I do not want to be seen in my users’ Dashboard list. This can be done through Customizations:
In this case, I checked the “Marketing Dashboard” on my list and clicked “Delete”. You will get a Confirm Deletion dialogue box. Click “OK” and the Dashboard is deleted. To confirm this, we can go back to our Workplace –> Dashboards and see that it is no longer in our listing:
So now that you have a backup personal copy of the marketing dashboard, you can use it as a point of reference should you ever want to reconstruct the deleted dashboard as a system dashboard, or you can just share your personal dashboard copy with other users. This is done by selecting the dashboard, “Marketing Dashboard – ORIGINAL” – and then clicking the “Share This Dashboard” button on the Menu Bar. This will bring up the sharing dialogue box. You can then share the Dashboard with an individual user or Team.
You can also rename the Dashboard in the customization-->dashboards area, if you would like to do so.
Good luck with your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 implementations and configuration!
In many cases, organizations/clients may or may not have need of some of these “out-of-the-box” dashboards. They might, however, have need of them in the future. So how do you remove them from a user’s view, but preserve them so you can bring them back in the future? In my particular situation, the question came up, “How do you remove these, but not delete them?” Great question.
There is not an out of the box way to “hide” a dashboard with the current Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 functionality. But there are some options to preserve the original dashboards, while removing them for your users.
One way to do this is to export the dashboard to a solution file, then delete the original dashboard. In CRM 2011, create a solution in settings-->Solutions. Click add existing dashboard, and select the dashboard that you want to remove. Then export the solution and save the exported file in your source code repository of choice. This file will contain a backup of the original system dashboard, and you can then delete the dashboard from your CRM 2011 system. Should you ever change your mind down the road, you can restore the deleted system dashboard by importing the solution file.
Another option is to create a NEW Dashboard, based upon the existing dashboard. This can be done by clicking on “Save As” from the Ribbon Menu Bar:
So for this example, let’s assume we like the Marketing Dashboard, but would rather hide it from users until a time when we want to use it. By clicking "save as," I’ll create a personal dashboard, based upon the Marketing Dashboard. The personal version will, by default, be only be visible by me:
In this case, I’ll just add “ORIGINAL” onto the end of the name of the dashboard, so that I’ll know the source. Now that I have a my dashboard saved as a personal dashboard, which only I can see, I can now remove the dashboard that I do not want to be seen in my users’ Dashboard list. This can be done through Customizations:
In this case, I checked the “Marketing Dashboard” on my list and clicked “Delete”. You will get a Confirm Deletion dialogue box. Click “OK” and the Dashboard is deleted. To confirm this, we can go back to our Workplace –> Dashboards and see that it is no longer in our listing:
So now that you have a backup personal copy of the marketing dashboard, you can use it as a point of reference should you ever want to reconstruct the deleted dashboard as a system dashboard, or you can just share your personal dashboard copy with other users. This is done by selecting the dashboard, “Marketing Dashboard – ORIGINAL” – and then clicking the “Share This Dashboard” button on the Menu Bar. This will bring up the sharing dialogue box. You can then share the Dashboard with an individual user or Team.
You can also rename the Dashboard in the customization-->dashboards area, if you would like to do so.
Good luck with your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 implementations and configuration!
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