Edit the site map

  • Article

 

Applies To: Dynamics CRM 2013

Before you can edit the site map, you must export an unmanaged solution that contains the site map. The solution can be the default solution, or, to reduce the amount of data exported, you can add the site map to a new solution.

In This Topic

Site map editors

Editing the site map manually

Editing with schema validation

Encode the ampersand character

Recovering from errors

Site map editors

Using a sitemap editor can facilitate editing the sitemap.

A popular one is included in the Toolbox for Dynamics CRM 2011 released by Microsoft CRM MVP Tanguy Touzard.

While these applications streamline the process to edit the site map, they still require that you have some understanding of the site map XML schema. For more information, see SiteMap XML reference.

Note

Microsoft Dynamics CRM technical support doesn’t provide support for these applications. If you have questions about these applications, contact the application publisher.

Editing the site map manually

If you don’t use one of the site map editor applications, you can edit the site map manually using the following steps.

To edit the site map

  1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Customizations, and then click Solutions.

  2. Add the Site Map to a new or existing unmanaged solution. In the solution, select Client Extensions from the list of Components. Select Add Existing, and then select Site Map. Then click Export Solution.

  3. Extract the files from the compressed .zip file.

    Tip

    Keep the compressed .zip file as your backup.

  4. In the customizations.xml file, locate the SiteMap node at ImportExportXml/SiteMap/SiteMap.

  5. Edit the SiteMap node.

    Note

    Editing XML is much easier if you use an editor that provides schema validation. For more information, see Editing with schema validation.

  6. Create a new compressed .zip file, including the extracted solution files and your edited customizations.xml.

    Tip

    In Windows Explorer, select all the files. Then right-click and select Send To and Compressed (zipped) folder.

  7. Import the new solutions file.

    1. In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, click Settings, click Customization, and then click Solutions.

    2. Click Import.

    3. Click Browse, locate your modified solutions .zip file, click Next, and then click Import.

    4. When the import is finished, click Close.

  8. Publish the customizations.

    Tip

    If you don’t see the changes right away, in Internet Explorer press F5 to reload the page.

Editing with schema validation

For a better experience, edit the customizations.xml file with an application that can use schema validation to provide IntelliSense support. For more information, see Edit the customizations XML file with schema validation.

Encode the ampersand character

When you add a URL to the site map that includes the ampersand character (&), you must encode it by replacing it with “&”. XML validation fails if you don’t encode this character and you won’t be able to import the solution. For example:

  • Correct:
    <SubArea Id="new_customSubArea" Url="http://mysite/mypage.aspx?parameter1=value&amp;parameter2=value ">

  • Incorrect:
    <SubArea Id="new_customSubArea" Url="http://mysite/mypage.aspx?parameter1=value&parameter2=value">

Recovering from errors

The import tool performs validations on the site map. If errors occur, the default site map is applied and an error message is displayed. You must fix the errors in the site map and import it again. However, it’s still possible that some errors might occur.

See Also

Change application navigation using the SiteMap
Pass parameters to a URL using the SiteMap
Control access to the Customer Center
SiteMap XML reference
SiteMap schema