An interesting one with version 6 of Sage. Several of our clients have removed all of the email addresses from a company in the logic that we never actually email a company - we always email a specific person, or someone in a specific role. This is fair enough, and indeed is something we do in house. With previous versions of Sage you could simply remove all the email translations in the link_compphon family, and the emailaddress tab on the company entity would not show any email addresses to be filled in.
However, which Sage CRM version 6, the "Business" email on a companyhas address MUST exist in the system, or the phone/email tab on the company entity will generate a javascript error when you try to update a phone number or email address. This is due to backend changes in the database structure, but is well worth knowing.
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Monday, 10 December 2007
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Backing up a CRM system
I was asked today what needs to be considered when backing up a CRM system so that it can be restored from a backup in an emergency.
This is a serious question for any CRM user - no-one like to think they may lose their data and all their work, but in addition a customised system would be difficult to replace if no complete backup is taken.
The question we have to ask is "how much work would I be happy typing in again". For many users, this means a nightly backup, so that we can always restore to the previous night. However, for some users, this is not enough and a more frequent backup policy is required. There are a number of differing ways we can approach this issue, but first we have to understand what needs to be backed up.
Your CRM data is held in two places. firstly, there is the database, which holds the vast majority of all the cusotmisations, and all of your user and configuration data. This is a SQL database and is easily backed up using SQL tools. However, there is another area that foten gets missed. When the system is customised by adding new entities or bespoke functionality, custom ASP pages are created. These also need to be backed up for a complete backup of the system. These can be found in the "CustomPages" folder which you will find inside the wwwroot folder underneath the CRM installation on the web server. You must ensure that these files get backed up whenever changes are made to them.
The database itself can be backed up as frequently as you require. I know one client that backs it up every 30 minutes. As long as there is no real impact on performance of the server, there is no reason not to do this if you absolutely insist on having up to date information. For a complete solution, you can always ensure you have the SQL database set to the "full data recovery model" which will include all transactions in the SQL log. A SQL database administrator could then selectively restore the database up to a period 2 minutes ago if they have the appropriate skills!
My recommendation is a nightly backup of the database, with backups kept for a full week, so that you can go back to any point in the last seven days.
Visit Centurion for more expert advice
This is a serious question for any CRM user - no-one like to think they may lose their data and all their work, but in addition a customised system would be difficult to replace if no complete backup is taken.
The question we have to ask is "how much work would I be happy typing in again". For many users, this means a nightly backup, so that we can always restore to the previous night. However, for some users, this is not enough and a more frequent backup policy is required. There are a number of differing ways we can approach this issue, but first we have to understand what needs to be backed up.
Your CRM data is held in two places. firstly, there is the database, which holds the vast majority of all the cusotmisations, and all of your user and configuration data. This is a SQL database and is easily backed up using SQL tools. However, there is another area that foten gets missed. When the system is customised by adding new entities or bespoke functionality, custom ASP pages are created. These also need to be backed up for a complete backup of the system. These can be found in the "CustomPages" folder which you will find inside the wwwroot folder underneath the CRM installation on the web server. You must ensure that these files get backed up whenever changes are made to them.
The database itself can be backed up as frequently as you require. I know one client that backs it up every 30 minutes. As long as there is no real impact on performance of the server, there is no reason not to do this if you absolutely insist on having up to date information. For a complete solution, you can always ensure you have the SQL database set to the "full data recovery model" which will include all transactions in the SQL log. A SQL database administrator could then selectively restore the database up to a period 2 minutes ago if they have the appropriate skills!
My recommendation is a nightly backup of the database, with backups kept for a full week, so that you can go back to any point in the last seven days.
Visit Centurion for more expert advice
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
"You must recreate views manually" Error
When you are developing or implementing a CRM system, you will almost certainly stumble across this error from time to time. It is one of those worrying ones that doesn't give you the information you need to diagnose the problem, but luckily, there are a few likely causes you are welcome to try before picking up the phone and calling us for support.
Firstly, odds are this problem is caused by a problem connecting to the database. Open up the registry by going to run and typing "regedit" and look for the following keys
HKEY_Localmachine\Software\Eware
In there, you will find the registry keys for the Database Server and Database Name. Ensure these are correct. It may be that the system cannot login due to the SQL login being incorrect, or having an incorrect password, and it is well worth blanking out the password in both the registry and in SQL to resolve this (I have described this procedure in another post).
Once you have removed all possibility of the problem being related to the login, then things get a little trickier. It is worth dropping the vSentinel view in the database via SQL enterprise Manager, as this will force CRM to recreate all the views as the error suggests.
If all else fails at this point, it's time to call support.
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Firstly, odds are this problem is caused by a problem connecting to the database. Open up the registry by going to run and typing "regedit" and look for the following keys
HKEY_Localmachine\Software\Eware
In there, you will find the registry keys for the Database Server and Database Name. Ensure these are correct. It may be that the system cannot login due to the SQL login being incorrect, or having an incorrect password, and it is well worth blanking out the password in both the registry and in SQL to resolve this (I have described this procedure in another post).
Once you have removed all possibility of the problem being related to the login, then things get a little trickier. It is worth dropping the vSentinel view in the database via SQL enterprise Manager, as this will force CRM to recreate all the views as the error suggests.
If all else fails at this point, it's time to call support.
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Adding a password to the SQL sa user account
This is another that came as a result of a support request. If you change the SQL password of the login used by CRM, CRM will stop functioning correctly. So, if you DO have to change this password, follow this procedure to ensure everything happens smoothly
1. First, change the password in CRM by going to Administration, System and then database. Update the "Database Password" field on this screen
2. Now log everyone out of CRM and change the password in SQL to match the password in step1
3. finally restart IIS and try logging in
If for any reason you cannot login, you will have to blank out the password in SQL so that you can get back into the system to try again, as CRM encrypts the password in the registry so that you cannot enter it manually. To do this, ensure that you set the password in SQL to be blank, and then blank out the following registry key
HKET_LocalMachine\Software\eWare\Configuration\Databasepassword
Both CRM and SQL will now have a blank password, and you should be able to get back into the system.
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1. First, change the password in CRM by going to Administration, System and then database. Update the "Database Password" field on this screen
2. Now log everyone out of CRM and change the password in SQL to match the password in step1
3. finally restart IIS and try logging in
If for any reason you cannot login, you will have to blank out the password in SQL so that you can get back into the system to try again, as CRM encrypts the password in the registry so that you cannot enter it manually. To do this, ensure that you set the password in SQL to be blank, and then blank out the following registry key
HKET_LocalMachine\Software\eWare\Configuration\Databasepassword
Both CRM and SQL will now have a blank password, and you should be able to get back into the system.
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Moving the Global Library
Today's tip comes from a support request we have recently had. The question was "Can we move the CRM library to a different location as we are running out of room?". The good news is that this is a simple task. To move the CRM library follow these steps
1. Get all users out of CRM
2. Copy the entire Library folder from the current location to the new one
3. In CRM, go to Administration, Email and Documents, Documents and Reports configuration
4. In the Field "Physical root directory for mail merged documents:" enter the new path
5. In the field "d:\SAGECRM\Library\" enter the new path
Critically, don't forget the "\" at the end of the path for both fields or the system will not function correctly.
When you have finished, simply restart the IIS Admin service and let your users know they can log back into the system.
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1. Get all users out of CRM
2. Copy the entire Library folder from the current location to the new one
3. In CRM, go to Administration, Email and Documents, Documents and Reports configuration
4. In the Field "Physical root directory for mail merged documents:" enter the new path
5. In the field "d:\SAGECRM\Library\" enter the new path
Critically, don't forget the "\" at the end of the path for both fields or the system will not function correctly.
When you have finished, simply restart the IIS Admin service and let your users know they can log back into the system.
Visit Centurion for more expert advice
Monday, 3 December 2007
Adding New Phone Types
Here's a quick one for people looking to add new phone numbers to a person. Don't add a phone field to the person table, becuase you won't be able to add the new field correctly to the appropriate screens. The phone fields in CRM exist as "translations" and to create a new phone type, all you need to do is create a new translation. For example, let's say you want to create a new phone type called "alternative" and have it appear on both the summary tab and on the phone/email tab. Go to Administration - Customisation - Translations. Create a new translation with the following properties
Caption Code = 'Alternative'
CaptionFamily = 'LinkPersPhon'
CaptionFamilyType = 'Links'
USTranslation = 'Alternative'
UKTranslation = 'Alternative'
Save the new translation, and hey presto on the person you will have a new phone type. Easy!
Caption Code = 'Alternative'
CaptionFamily = 'LinkPersPhon'
CaptionFamilyType = 'Links'
USTranslation = 'Alternative'
UKTranslation = 'Alternative'
Save the new translation, and hey presto on the person you will have a new phone type. Easy!
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