What I like about SharePoint is that sometimes it fills like a Swiss Army Knife. It can do it all; you just need to configure it properly. One of the common requests I have been getting over the years from clients and my loyal blog followers was the requirement to use SharePoint as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. I will be upfront; if you are looking for sophisticated functionality, workflows, etc., you will be better off using a third-party CRM. However, if you just want to store and organize basic information on your contacts, clients (customers), and deals/opportunities, you can use SharePoint, with a bit of configuration. So below, I would like to outline the steps on how to properly set up a CRM in SharePoint Online by using just the out-of-the-box features.

Step 1: Understand the limitations

For our CRM “solution” to work, the lists we will create in the next step need to reside on the same site. There is a reason for that since we will be connecting them together, and since we are only relying on SharePoint out of the box here, all lists need to be on the same site.

So go ahead and create a site that will house your lists; I recommend a Communication Site.

Step 2: Create lists of Clients, Customers, and Deals

Once the site is created, it is time to create lists. I documented lists extensively previously; here is a link to an article that describes different ways to create lists.

Go ahead and create three lists: Clients, Customers, Deals

Custom List of Clients

Custom List of Contacts

Make sure to use common columns in all lists

For our future CRM to work, we need to have the same column of information in any two lists to tie the two together later. For example, if you have a list of companies and then a separate list of contacts within a company, that second contact list needs to have a column that contains Client names as well (so we can tie it/associate it to the Client list).

Step 3: Create a Document Library for Client Documents

This step is optional, but if you also want to tie documents stored by a specific client or contact, we can do that too. Just like with the list above, make sure that the Document Library has a column containing the list of clients so that all documents can be tagged against a client name and this library can once again be associated with the other lists.

Step 4: Embed all the lists and libraries onto the same page

Not only do all the lists and libraries need to reside on the same site, but they also need to exist on the same page. This is necessary for the next Step (Dynamic Filtering) to work. So go ahead and add all the lists and libraries created above to the SharePoint page.

Step 5: Set up Dynamic Filtering

Next, the most exciting step – we need to set up the Dynamic Filtering feature. I explained it in greater detail here. This will allow our CRM to choose an entry from one list (i.e., Client from Clients List) and dynamically filter Contacts and Contracts based on our selection. Once again, check out this article for step-by-step instructions on how to set up Dynamic Filtering.

The result

When it is all set and one, this is what a CRM might look like.

The post How to build a simple CRM in SharePoint Online appeared first on SharePoint Maven.

Today I want to describe a feature in modern SharePoint that allows you to connect two lists and libraries and dynamically filter them based on the value selected from one of the lists or libraries. I know this all sounds a bit confusing, so let Dr. Zelfond explain this.

Use Case

Perhaps it first makes sense to explain what I am talking about. Say you have two lists. One is a list of clients with the corresponding client information (client name, address, status, etc.).

Another list is a list of contacts for each client (client name, first and last name of contact, email address, and phone number).

I want to be able to view both lists at once on a SharePoint page, but the way I want this to work, I want to select a client name from the Clients list, and I want the second list to automatically filter the contacts based on client name selected from the first one. Thanks to the dynamic filtering option we now got in SharePoint Online, we can do this. Let me explain.

How to connect and dynamically filter lists and libraries in SharePoint Online

1. Edit the Page and add both lists to the page, side-by-side
2. Once added, it should look like this
3. Edit the page again, and select the list you want to be filtered based on the choice made in another list (in my case, Contacts). Click the pencil icon.
4. Next, enable the Dynamic filtering toggle. You will see several drop-downs appearing underneath. In the first drop-down, choose the column in the list you want automatically filtered. In my case, I want my Contacts list to be filtered by Company Name. Next, choose the list or library where you will filter the information. In my case, it is a Clients list. Finally, select a column that you will filter in that second list. In my case, it is Client Name. So essentially, the column in the first drop-down and the column in the third drop-down have to match in terms of the information they contain (Company Name = Client Name). Click Apply.
5. Republish the page

How dynamic filtering works

Now that we connected two lists via dynamic filtering let’s see how it works. Click on any row from List 1, and you will notice that List 2 is filtered based on the selection made.

Use Cases for using dynamic filtering

Dynamically connect a list to a list

You can quickly build a quick CRM within SharePoint, by connecting a list of clients with a list of contacts (just as I described above) and even deals/opportunities all presented on the same page.

Dynamically connect a list to a library

You can maintain a list of clients and then have a document library with, say, contracts, all tagged against a given client name, and then have those contracts filtered automatically based on a client selected from the list.

Notes

• You can dynamically connect two lists or two libraries or a list and a library
• The column headings do not need to match. For example, I can have a Client Name heading in list/library 1 and a Customer Name in list/library 2. The main thing is that the choices/information in those columns must match!
• Related to the above, the text/choices need to match 100% for this work. For example, if in list 1 you spelled out ABC Inc. and in list 2 you called the same company ABC, Inc. (with a coma), those do not match, and dynamic filtering won’t pick it up.

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One of the most powerful ways to “spice up” a list or a library is to create some rules that will notify you of the changes happening in that list or library. Thanks to the recent changes made by Microsoft, we can do so quite easily now. So in this article, I would like to explain how you can create Rules on a list or library.

Lists vs. Libraries

First, let’s get terminology out of the way here. If you are wondering about the difference between a list and a library – you might want to check out this article first.

The old SharePoint alerts

It is important to note that this Rules feature is not new. For ages, we had the Alerts feature, which I described back in 2015. The alerts allowed you to set up personal notifications based on changes within a list or library (i.e., a document deleted from a document library or a list item changed or added). So think about the Rules feature as the modern equivalent (replacement) of alerts.

How to create rules on a list or library

It does not matter whether you create a rule on a list or a library; the process is the same. So for this example, I will use a list of projects I have to create a rule and then call out nuances related to the Rules on a Document Library.

1. Under Automate, choose Rules, then Create a rule
2. You will be presented with four scenarios that will trigger the email notification: A column changes, A column value changes, A new item is created, An item is deleted. Most of those are self-explanatory. Let me choose A column value changes to demonstrate how it works.
3. You will be presented with the wizard you need to complete to set up a rule
4. In my case, I want to set up an alert when the Status of a Project changes to Closed, send an email. So this shows the completed rule. Click Create once completed.
5. It will now show the rule created. From this point on, you will be getting emails that fit this trigger.

How to manage Rules on a list or a library

1. If you ever want to manage the rules you created, just click on Automate > Rules > Manage rules
2. From there, you can either temporarily disable a rule via the toggle switch
3. Or delete the rule altogether after you click on it

Rules limitations and nuances

• There is a limit of 15 rules you can create per list or library
• You can’t customize the email messages sent
• There is no way to introduce additional logic into notification without reverting to Power Automate
• The rule cannot be created on a column that has multiple lines of text
• If you are creating a rule on a Document Library, A column changes and A column value changes triggers probably only make sense if you use metadata in a document library. Otherwise, you will have a very limited selection of system metadata columns to choose from.

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As your users create teams, sites, lists, and libraries in your Microsoft 365 environment, the content becomes somewhat decentralized. There is nothing wrong with this model; it is just a fact and a byproduct of modern flat architecture. That said, there are use cases where you must display content from one site (i.e., a specific list or document library) on another site. In today’s post, I want to share a trick allowing you to display lists and libraries from other SharePoint sites.

To make this happen, we will rely on the mighty Embed Web Part I blogged about a while back. The web part allows you to embed content from other websites, that are not part of Microsoft 365 (i.e., CRM dashboard, videos from video hosting platforms, etc.). However, today we will use the same web part to embed content from another SharePoint site.

Here is a use case. I have a document library of company policies residing on one of my SharePoint sites, and I would like to embed it on the Quality Site as well.

Policies Library on a Policies Site

How to display lists and libraries from other SharePoint sites

1. Navigate to another site where you want to embed a list or library, and click the Edit button to edit the page
2. Click the plus sign to add web parts and choose Embed Web Part
3. Paste the URL of the Document Library inside the Embed window
4. In the step above, make sure to enter the full URL of the actual view of a list or library you want to embed. Otherwise, it will give you an error message when you try to display lists and libraries from other SharePoint sites.
5. Click Republish to publish the changes to the page
6. The library will now be displayed on another site
7. You can use the above technique to display lists from one site on another as well.

The post How to display lists and libraries from other SharePoint sites using the Embed widget appeared first on SharePoint Maven.

Quite a common requirement you hear from users is the ability to connect data from separate lists and libraries in SharePoint. For example, you might have two lists, one for the client name and another for contacts within that client, and you need to connect the two. Or, you have a document library containing company policies tagged with a department name, a custom list of department names, and other information about departments. You need to filter one list based on a selection of another list. So in this article, I wanted to explain two options we have when it comes to connecting multiple lists and libraries. The options I describe below are not competing with one another. They are used in different use cases and just represent different ways to connect the lists.

Option 1: Lookup column

The first option is to create a Lookup column. Lookup columns allow for an excellent way to connect data from two different lists and libraries. I described the mechanism in this article. Essentially, it creates a hyperlink from a field in one list/library to a row in another list/library, thus allowing you to obtain additional information from a related table.

When to use the Lookup column

• When you want to connect a record in one list/library with a record in another list/library for a better user experience

Option 2: Dynamic filtering

The other option is to rely on the dynamic filtering feature. Unlike the Lookup column, this option does not link two records from two different lists/libraries. Instead, it allows filtering one list/library based on the record selection from another list/library. I shared step-by-step instructions on it in this article.

When to use Dynamic filtering

• When you want to filter two different lists/libraries based on a selection of a specific record in one of the lists/libraries
• When you do not want to go through the trouble of manually linking records between lists and want to just display them manually on the page based on filtering

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One of the frequent requirements on Intranet sites is to display some sort of charts/graphs. In addition to spicing up the look and feel of a page, the charts provide some valuable insight and information. Usually, the data and corresponding graphs/reports reside in Power BI or 3^rd party databases. However, sometimes you just need to display a really simple graph, based on just a few data points. Moreover, with the revamp of the Microsoft Lists app, lists have become a popular choice for data storage among SharePoint and Teams users. So in case your data resides in a list, there is a hidden gem in SharePoint called Quick Chart Web Part, which will allow you to build and display a graph on a SharePoint page. Let me explain.

What is a List?

Before I explain how to create a chart, it is important to understand the components that are necessary to make this happen. In case you are wondering what a Microsoft List is – check out this post first.

What is a Chart?

If you are wondering what a chart is, I suggest you return to the third grade of elementary school. 😀. Yep, you probably should not have stared out the window, when the teacher explained those concepts. Thank God for Wikipedia.

What is a Quick Chart Web Part?

A Quick Chart Web Part is an out-of-the-box Web Part that exists in SharePoint and allows us to either build simple charts “on the fly” or display them based on data in the SharePoint list (the topic of this post). I introduced the Quick Chart Web Part in one of my previous blog posts.

Use Case

I have a list of Projects stored in a custom list, as shown below. In addition to project names, I have start and end dates, budget, and project status columns.

How to create a Chart from a list in SharePoint Online

1. On the site where the list was created, click the Edit button in the upper-right-hand-corner to edit the page
2. Add a new section and choose the column layout you would like to have (I suggest 1 column, so there is plenty of real estate on a screen for the chart)
3. Click the plus sign, then choose Quick Chart from the list of available web parts
4. You will see the web part added to the page. Click the pencil icon to configure its settings.
5. On the right-hand side that opens up, choose the chart type. Two choices are available: Column (Bar) Chart and Pie Chart.
6. Next, choose the source of data. In our case, select the radio button next to “Get data from a list or library on the site.” Then, choose the column from a list that will represent values (Y-Axis) and the column that will represent X-Axis. In my case, the Title (Project Name) is X-Axis, and the Budget is Y-Axis). In case you get an error: No list available on this site, read the Notes section at the bottom of this article.
7. Next, type in the labels for the Axis above. You may type any text that makes sense to you/chart you have.
8. Finally, give your chart a name (in my case, I called it Project Dashboard)
9. Click Republish in the upper-right-hand corner to republish the page.

Important Notes about Quick Chart Web Part in SharePoint Online

Below, I would like to summarize a few important notes and limits when it comes to using list data with Quick Chart Web Part in SharePoint Online.

Data from Document Libraries

Quick Chart Web Part is not limited to getting data from just the list. You can also get data from document libraries as well! Here is an example/use case. I have a Document Library called Invoices, where I track the amounts and statuses of project invoices.

If I choose the Invoices library as a source and select a File name for X-Axis and Amount for Y-Axis…

…it will produce a nice graph/chart as well.

Limit of 50 data points on a list

If your list or library contains more than 50 items, you will get the following warning when connecting them via the Quick Chart Web Part: Only 50 items in this list will be displayed. Sorting options may affect which items are displayed. Essentially what that means is that Quick Chart Web Part only allows a max of 50 data points to be displayed.

“No list available on this site” error message

You might see the following error message when trying to connect your chart with the List: No list available on this site. Alternatively, it will allow you to get data from other lists and libraries but won’t display your list on a site in a source of data drop-down column.

The reason for this is that in order for the list or library to be a valid source of data for Quick Chart Web Part, it must have at least 1 (one) text column (for X-Axis), and either 1 (one) number or currency column (for Y-Axis). Unless both of the above conditions are satisfied, you will get the above error message/scenario.

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