CRM 2011 forms include “tabs” to help organize information.  If you are a user of previous versions of CRM you know that tabs used to be presented across the top of a form.  In CRM 2011 tabs are now presented vertically.  This has several advantages:

  1. With your forms organized vertically, users can now scroll through an entire form without having to use the mouse to switch to a different tab. This may seem like a small thing – but when a user spends a significant portion of their day doing data entry, this can be a real time saver.
     
  2. Users can still rapidly navigate to a tab by using the Quick Tab navigation in the navigation menu on the left of a form (see the nearby image).
     
  3. Tabs can be collapsed or expanded – making it easier for users to see just the data that they want to see on a form. This tab “state” (collapsed or expanded) can be changed by the user by clicking the small triangle to the left of a tab name.

The default tab state is set when designing a form.  So, whenever a form is initially displayed, each tab will be collapsed or expanded based upon the settings for that particular form.  This tab state is the same for all users of the form and is always reset when a user opens a form.  For example, if a user opens an account form and collapses a tab called “Contacts” and then clicks the Save & Close button, the state of the tab is not remembered. When a user opens the form again, the tab returns to the same state it was in the last time the form was opened.

So, by default, tabs are helpful for setting default collapsed/expanded settings for a form; and they’re useful for a user to collapse/expand while looking at a particular form.  They are not, however, unique to each user.

Remembering Tab State Settings by User

So, is it possible to remember the state of each tab on each form for each individual user?  In a word: yup!

We have published an app on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace that allows you to do just that.  You can click here to learn more about the app and purchase a copy.

Buy the Book, Get the App

Looking for another way to get the app?  Well, if you’re reading this post before June 15, 2011, you’re in luck.  When you buy a copy of the Dynamics CRM Administration Bible, you are entitled to a free organization license to Remember My Tabs.  To learn more about this offer and purchase a copy of the book, click here.

C5 Insight Clients

For clients of C5 Insight, the Remember My Tabs is a part of our standard launch toolkit – so if we are consulting with you to implement Dynamics CRM 2011, the application will be installed for you.