Global search is one of the best features added to Dynamics CRM, and with the addition of Relevance Search, the ability to find data in Dynamics 365 is even more powerful. However we had a client come to us today with a complaint about how Dynamics CRM for Outlook works with search.
See, they were not happy that the only way to access search was through the Outlook Menus, and when they access through the menu, global search is just a tiny magnifying glass.
They were looking for a better way and asked if Global search could be added to the left hand navigation in CRM for Outlook. At first I didn’t see how that could be done, but after a bit of thought I came upon a very simple way to add global search to the OUtlook for CRM MEnus
How to Add Global Search to the SiteMap
The first step is to know how to access CRM pages through a URL. All CRM pages have their own URL which is generally kept hidden. The URL for global search, the URL would be the crm instance URL + “/multientityquickfind/multientityquickfind.aspx ” for example – https://<<clientname>>.crm.dynamics.com/multientityquickfind/multientityquickfind.aspx. With this URL, I could go directly to global search from any browser.
Now to add this URL, I simply open up XRMToolBox and connect to the CRM Instance. Open up the SiteMap Editor. and load up the sitemap.
Drill down to the Area and Group where you want to add the URL. Right click and select “Add SubArea” In the form that pops up, Name your ID “Search” Then fill in your URL in the URL box. Save your work and then add a Title to the SubArea you just created – I call mine “Global Search”
Update your Sitemap and restart Outlook. You should now see a Global Search Item added to the menu. You can even add Global Search to your Outlook Shortcuts to make accessing search even easier via drag and drop
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This method can also be used to add other URLs to the CRM sitemap – for example company webpages, other web applications such as Outlook email or even views of CRM Data.
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