Issue adding dynamic link in email template - CRM Dynamics 365 - dynamics-crm

I have a process which triggers when a case is assign, the process send an email to the case owner with the content of the case which also include a dynamic link to the case assigned. I could achieve it in CRM 2011 however I don't see any option to insert dynamic link in CRM 365. Any help on this would be really appreciated.

Using template in workflow does not have this hyperlink option, but direct Email message will have.
Refer this community discussion for the different implementation ideas.
Dynamics CRM OOB does not support adding Record URL (Dynamic) to email template!
There is workaround, by adding a new custom field to the case entity, then create a workflow to fire on case create which updates the new field to be a Record URL (Dynamic), then simply add this field to your email template and attach the email template to your workflow

Related

Setting Activity Category on Email tracked from Outlook to CRM

I'm using Dynamics CRM 2015 (7.0.2.53) and Outlook 2016 (16.0.7766.7080) with the CRM for Outlook (7.1.1.3113) addin.
What I am trying to achieve is to give users the ability to specify an Activity Category against an email which they Track and Set Regarding from Outlook.
Currently, upon tracking and setting regarding on an email in Outlook, an Email Activity is created against the specified Entity record (let's say an Opportunity) in CRM, which is fine. The problem is that I cannot find any way to allow the user to specify an Activity Category for that created Activity either during the Track/Set Regarding process, or even after the Activity is created in CRM.
Is what I'm trying to achieve possible and if not, is there any other way to achieve a similar result, so that users can specify some value from a set of options against an email when they track it from Outlook to CRM, so that value can then be used for reporting purposes?
Basically there is no way of adding some custom functionality to Tracking Emails from Outlook. So you cannot add anything in Outlook plugin that will allow you to perform some operation on CRM side to set the Category right.
You can always make a plugin/workflow on Email creation in CRM and based on some email properties (topic, content, recipients etc.) set this category by youself - but of course users still will be unable to change it.
When email is created in CRM, it's disabled (because it usually already has been sent), but you can still modify it using workflows and dialogs. So you can always create a Dialog (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg509010.aspx) and there you can prompt for proper category and set it on the email. So I can see a scenario like that - you have a view of Emails that are not categorized (or a Queue, where you put them in a plugin when user is tracking email from outlook). You pick Email, click "Start Dialog" which will be called "Set Category" or whatever, and set the category. Of course after this operation Email will vanish from the view. You can always create a reminder for the users to set the category for their mails, this should be included in new users training etc. Without any hardcore custom coding I think that's the only thing you can do (because if you don't mind writing more complex stuff you can always prepare some custom HTML5 control on Email form that will allow you to set the category field).

How can you customise CRM for Outlook so that Convert to Lead asks for all required fields?

We made a new field in the Lead entity in CRM and made it required.
We're trying out the CRM for Outlook add-in and when we convert to a Lead, it asks for Surname, Company Name, email etc. but not our required field. This means that when you hit Save as Lead, it fails as the entity is looking for our custom required field to be there.
Is it possible to change the form that Outlook shows? I would have hoped any customisations would have surfaced automatically through this form since CRM allows you to customise the entities.
OK, it turns out that Outlook actually does bypass any custom fields which you've made required. It was the plugin I had which was throwing the error as I was expecting it to be populated, whereas Outlook leaves it alone. A quick check works fine

How to change the CRM Email Activity form based on email direction

We're using the web interface or Dynamics CRM. We would like to change the email form based on the direction of the email.
E.g. if the direction is incoming, rename some labels, maybe hide a field, display the Actual Start as "received" etc.
Is there any way to do this without adding code to the solution?
No,
You will always have to add code for your requirement.
The easiest way is adding JavaScript to a form. Form Scripting CRM 2011
It's basically add a webresource containing your JavaScript code and then adding it to the form.

Addressing the customer by their first name in CRM 2011 email templates triggered by Service Activity workflows

If a customer schedules a service activity using my web application and I want to send them an automated confirmation email, it seems I have two options:
Have the workflow create and send a new email message. On this view (see below), you can use fields from related entities on the service activity (e.g. the customer's first name).
Have the workflow use an email template. It seems that email templates do not allow you to access fields from a related entity, like first name, so the only option here is to address the customer by their FULL name.
Are there any solutions that I missed, or am I stuck with the first option if I want to address the customer in a personal, natural way on this automated email?
Unfortunatly, the CRM is pretty limited on that aspect. The best workaround is to add the firstname to the Service Activity entity. May suit you or not. Otherwise, it is achievable through a the SDK, but that's much more complicated if you don't already use it.

Can an arbitrary email address be used in workflow send email activity

I'm wondering if there is any way to be able to include an arbitrary email address as the To:, From:, CC: or BCC: fields of a send email activity? It appears that they must be contacts in the CRM.
I ask this because I have a requirement to cc a known group email (no actual user associated with the email...something like support#mycompany.com...though it's not a queue at all). I'm concerned that if I create a CRM user for this email, that when I move to production, I'll have to change all the workflows using this email to point to the CRM entity on the production box (assuming GUID is saved with activity).
If an arbitrary email isn't possible, any other suggestions?
I'm not quite sure, if I have unterstood your question right:
You want to create a workflow which contains a send mail activity. You would like to set one of the address fields (To:, From:, CC:) to a plain mail address like 'foo#bar.org'?
It is possible if
you enter the mail address by hand (do not use the field assistant)
you have configured that e-mails with unresolved recipients are allowed to be sent.
See Settings -> Administration -> System Settings -> E-Mail Tab
you don't want to set the e-mail address with another workflow step
To my knowledge, the only way to do this would be to create a custom workflow assembly. This may be more trouble to you than it's worth.
I doubt it. Not without horrible SDK or Custom Workflow Activity machinations, which even then may not work. Unless you have a truly gargantuan number of workflows that must be altered, the manual approach may be the best.
It may be a terrible hack, but you might be able to replace instances of the development environment support account GUID with its production counterpart directly in SQL Server. Not in the SystemUserBase table, but in whatever workflow activities mention the support account as a CC field in an e-mail. But that is scary stuff.
You may also want to take another look at your process; a significant portion of Dynamics CRM is dedicated to handling support issues, and that includes fairly robust e-mail tracking and storage; there probably shouldn't be a need to CC this support mailbox to which you refer.
In summary: All of the options I've listed are terrible. Find a way to avoid them. :-P
I've had this requirement before, and even with workflow activities, there doesn't seem to be a way to handle this (even though CRM will allow it through the UI).
Your instinct is right that if you create a user separately in both environments and then try to move a workflow that references that user between the environments, that the workflow references will have to be updated.
The best solution, to me, would be to go with just creating the contact/user in one environment. But then, create the contact/user in your other environments with the same Guid. You can do this through the API quite easily, or for a no-code solution, there is a Microsoft provided CRM Configuration Data Utility (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd442453.aspx) that you can use. (Note that the utility will want to migrate all records from the chosen entity, so you might want to export it to a file, edit the resulting file which is just XML, and then import to your target).
This is something that you can do with CRM 2011, CRM 2013, or CRM 2015 if you have a custom entity that is email enabled and then copy the email address from your core entity even if that email address is in a custom text field to it and relate it back via a lookup field. Doing that would require a plugin in Microsoft CRM 2011, but is possible to do with real-time workflows in Microsoft CRM 2013 and Microsoft CRM 2015. This method would allow you to have email addresses associated to the records and available for usage with the CRM workflows to send emails without needing to create an additional user or contact record. This is also handy if you are working with an entity like Incidents that is a core CRM entity and is not email enabled, yet you wish to be able to send emails related to that entity. You could use this method in conjunction with the steps ccellar provided.
I've got a blog post that goes through an example of this here: http://dynamicsuniversity.com/steps-to-send-emails-to-custom-email-address-text-field-from-a-workflow/
You can write custom workflow or you should go for plugin development.
You will get details for it on below blogs.
For custom-workflow
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg334455.aspx
Blog:-
https://lakshmanindian.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/custom-workflow-activity-in-microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011/
more knowledge on your email sending requirement.
https://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/375f5dad-0382-4112-ab0d-5b42ba235d96/crm-2011-workflow-sending-email-problem?forum=crmdevelopment

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