There a so many options for customizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM to fit your organisation so why can't it reflect your own colours and branding?
With Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1 it can!
CRM theme records are a new solution to personalize the Microsoft Dynamics interface so it feels even more like your business by replacing the Microsoft Dynamics logo with your own image and changing CRM colours to reflect your branding, or familiar colour scheme.
To access themes browse to CRM Settings --> Customisations --> Themes
The default theme record is set to read only but administrators can create a new theme record to replace it.
As with any CRM process custom themes should be carefully planned and tested to avoid presenting users with a garish interface.
Each CRM theme consists of 13 components:
1. LOGO
A new image file can be uploaded to CRM in .gif, .jpg and .png formats to replace the default Microsoft Dynamics logo.
With limited space in the CRM nav bar image size is an important consideration. The recommended dimensions for uploading a new image logo is 400px width x 50px height.
To complete this, upload the relevant image file then save and publish.
Changing the logo doesn't affect the CRM action so clicking this area in the nav bar will continue to return a user to their customised home page.
2. LOGO TOOL TIP
Enter text in this field to set the alt text for the new logo, this will also appear when the user hovers over it in a web browser.
3. NAVIGATION BAR
Changing the navigation bar colour will replace the navy default:
Theme colours are defined using a hexadecimal code but the current CRM release doesn't include a colour picker so unless you're a coding whizz an external HTML colour selector will be an essential resource.
There are plenty of free options, like w3schools.com. By using this you can assess new colours for your CRM theme and copy the relevant HEX codes.
The HEX code for the navigation bar background I'm using is #801515 which can be added to the theme record.
In this release CRM will only let an administrator change the background colour of the nav bar, not the font colour.
That means text will remain white so although the background default could be replaced with a light colour this won't work well for users as they'd be unable to easily see the menu text.
4. NAVIGATION BAR SHELF
The shelf that appears under the main CRM control menu can be replaced to a new colour of our choosing.
Here's a shot of a custom CRM theme that features a new logo, updated navigation bar background and yellow bar shelf shading.
5. HEADER COLOUR
Changing the header colour will impact several areas.
Firstly, it appears at the top of the navigation text in the main CRM drop down menus.
Changing the header colour also applies this to CRM form record tabs
6. GLOBAL LINK COLOUR
One of the most important settings defines the colour of each link that appears in CRM.
This includes the record links in a CRM list view and each link that appears on a CRM form.
For example, setting global links to a royal blue colour (HEX Code #0033CC) will change the links that appear on a contact form as follows:
7. SELECTED LINK
Changing the Selected Link colour will set the colour that appears when individual and multiple CRM records are selected in a list view.
8. HOVER LINK EFFECT
Following on from the above, this setting controls the colour that appears when users hover over items in the CRM menu, ribbon and in list views.
9. PROCESS CONTROL COLOUR
Amending the process control changes the primary colour on any record that uses the process control including cases, leads and opportunities.
In this example we've replaced the default blue with purple.
10. DEFAULT COLOUR ENTITY
Icons for CRM standard entities default to blue but this can be changed to reflect any colour of your choosing.
This updates the colours that appear in the drop down menu for dashboards and standard entities including goals, marketing lists, orders and queues.
11. DEFAULT CUSTOM ENTITY COLOUR
In the same way as above the colour choice for custom CRM entities can also be set to appear in a different colour compared to the default of green.
12 & 13. CONTROL SHADE & CONTROL BORDER
These two settings determine the action when a user hovers over a CRM record control field.
Using the example of a pale yellow control shade and a grey control border this is shown on the case title field:
The same effect would appear when hovering over a field in the process control or in the CRM record header.
Here's an example of a complete custom CRM theme record:
Once complete the theme can be previewed before it is published to all CRM users.
Dynamics CRM 2015 Update 1 is now available for CRM Online users - on-premise customers will be able to utilise themes and the other Update 1 enhancements including improved user navigation when Microsoft releases its next major upgrade is Quarter 4 2015.
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Working With Microsoft Dynamics CRM Theme Records is a post from: CRM Software Blog
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