Customize Microsoft Dynamics GP Building a Customer Portal Using Business Portal White Paper Helps you implement a customer portal and create web pages and web parts specifically designed for your customers. Date: December 12, 2005 www.microsoft.com/dynamics/gp
Table of Contents Introduction...4 What is a customer portal?...4 Why create a customer portal?...5 Customer self-service...5 Increase information access...5 Increased efficiency...6 Reduced administrative costs...6 Elements of a customer portal...6 Order Management...6 Result viewers...7 Data permissions...8 SharePoint features...8 Implementing your customer portal...11 1. Define goals... 11 2. Interview your sales team and customers... 12 3. Identify existing information... 12 4. Identify the elements you ll need to create and set up... 12 5. Consider security... 13 6. Create and set up your customer portal elements... 14 Common procedures...15 Creating a SharePoint web part... 15 Securing a SharePoint web part... 15 Sample pages...16 Home page... 17 Products page... 19 Top Sellers page... 20 New Items page... 22 Item List page... 24 Return Policy page... 26 Customer Survey page... 27 Discussion Board page... 30 My Account page... 32 About Fabrikam page... 33 2
Our People page... 35 Contact Us page... 37 Locations page... 38 Summary...39 3
Introduction Any college-level Management Information Systems textbook will tell you that an extranet is a way to securely share part of your network with outside users such as suppliers, vendors, and customers. What that textbook won t tell you, however, is that an extranet is a way to transform your business. Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal 3.0 can help you transform your business by helping you establish a business-to-business (B2B) commerce site. With extranet support built into Business Portal and with the features of Order Management your customers can now access Business Portal and enter orders, track order status, and view their account information. This white paper will help you implement a customer portal, create web pages and web parts specifically designed for your customers, and establish an online presence that is available to your customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To get started, it s important to understand what this white paper will do and what it won t do. This white paper will: Explain what a customer portal is. Explain the benefits a customer portal provides to you and your customers. Explain the steps you need to take to implement a customer portal. Provide examples of pages and web parts you can create for your customers. This white paper will not: Explain how to set up your network for extranet access. For information about that, you ll need to refer to the Business Portal Installation Guide, available at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. Explain how to secure your extranet environment. For information about that, you ll need to refer to the Business Portal Installation Guide and the Business Portal Administrator s Guide. These manuals are available at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. So now that we ve set expectations, let s get started on your customer portal. What is a customer portal? By definition, a portal is a unified place that connects people to contextually relevant information, services, and applications. A customer portal is a site that caters to your customers needs. It enables your customers to browse your inventory, enter an order, track their order status, and learn more about your company. And because Business Portal is a role-based application, your customers will see only the pages and web parts designed for them such as pages they can use to enter an order or check their account balance. After you create a customer portal, you can develop other specialized pages and web parts that are geared toward other audiences. For example, you can create pages and web parts geared toward your finance team, sales team, or executive team. 4
As you ll see, a customer portal is an important piece of your Business Portal implementation. Why create a customer portal? When you implement a customer portal in your organization, you ll be able to realize several benefits. Here s a look at a few of them: Customer self-service Perhaps the greatest benefit of a customer portal is customer self-service. Enable your customers to enter their own orders, track their order status, and look up their account information. In this Internet day and age, customers do everything online. Enable them to do business online with you, too. Increase information access By implementing a customer portal, you ll provide better service to your customers. For example, customers won t have to wait until the end of the month to find out what their balance is. They won t have to call you to find out what the price of the Fax Machine 5000 is. They won t have to wait until they get your flyer in the mail to find out what items are on sale this week. By implementing a customer portal, you place all of this information at your customers fingertips. 5
Increased efficiency It doesn t get much more efficient than this: A customer accesses your customer portal and enters an order. The order is automatically saved to your Microsoft Dynamics GP database. Your customer doesn t waste time hunting for your phone number and never spends a minute on hold listening to elevator music. Meanwhile, your sales team is free to work on other projects and promotions. Reduced administrative costs As mentioned earlier, you can use Business Portal to create several types of portals such as a customer portal, HR portal, or executive portal. By using Business Portal as the foundation for all of these portals, your IT team can use the same technology, knowledge, and skills to implement each portal. You won t have to spend time and money training your IT team on other systems. Elements of a customer portal Now that we ve highlighted a few reasons why you should implement a customer portal, let s take a look at the elements of a customer portal. Order Management Order Management is the most critical piece of a customer portal. It s a Business Portal application that enables customers to enter orders themselves, using their web browsers. Once an order is placed, it is automatically transferred to Microsoft Dynamics GP for processing. Using Order Management, your customers can: Enter sales orders at any time of the day, any day of the week (as long as the Business Portal web server is running). Track the status of orders they ve entered. 6
Result viewers A result viewer is a Business Portal web part you can use to display back office data. The back office data displayed in a result viewer is for display only. Result viewers provide a safe way to display back office data without worrying about a customer modifying or deleting the data. Result viewers can communicate with each other by publishing and subscribing to data. For example, if you select an item in the Items result viewer, detailed information about that item is published to the Item Description, Item Details, and Item Price result viewers. 7
Data permissions In order to display data in a result viewer, Business Portal must access your back office Microsoft SQL Server tables. A data permission defines which columns and rows are accessed from each SQL table. For example, the Customer-All data permission accesses all columns and rows in the customer table. The Customer-Restricted Self data permission accesses only the row that applies to the user who is currently logged on. This means when Aaron Fitz logs on to Business Portal, he ll see only his account information. Business Portal provides several data permissions that restrict data to the user who is currently logged on. These data permissions have Restricted Self at the end of their names. Use these data permissions when creating result viewers that display customer-specific information, such as account balances. SharePoint features Business Portal is built on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, an innovative collaboration and productivity tool. This architecture allows you to use SharePoint features, such as picture libraries and announcement lists on your Business Portal pages. Here s a brief overview of some of the features you can use in your customer portal: 8
Picture library A picture library is a collection of pictures you can share with your customers. You can use it to promote particular items, such as your top sellers or new releases. Document library A document library is a collection of files you can share with your customers. For example, it s a great way to share your return policy with your customers. 9
Announcements list An announcement list is an effective way to communicate with your customers and keep them informed of recent news and updates. When you post an announcement, you can specify how long you want the announcement posted by entering an expiration date. Discussion board Discussion boards provide a forum for conversing about topics that interest your customers. Customers can post questions and share tips with other customers. The discussion board provides several features that help enhance usability. For example, customers can easily sort and filter discussions, and create alerts so they are notified of changes to the discussion board. 10
Surveys Surveys are a simple and easy way to collect customer feedback. With just a few clicks, customers can rate your products and services and submit comments and suggestions. When you create a survey, you can indicate whether customers can respond to the survey more than once, and whether survey responses are anonymous. Implementing your customer portal The following steps will help guide you through the implementation of your customer portal. 1. Define goals The first step in implementing your customer portal is to define the goals you want to achieve. Write these goals down they ll help guide your implementation. The goals you identify will help you determine the pages you need to create and the content you need to make available. For example, you might implement a customer portal because: You want to create an online shopping experience for customers. You want customers to be able to view their order status information online. You want to free up time for your salespeople. 11
2. Interview your sales team and customers The second step in implementing your customer portal is to interview your sales team and a few key customers. When you interview your sales team, ask: What questions do customers often call about? What information should we provide to customers online? When you interview your customers, find out: What information do they need that they currently don t have access to? How can you make them aware of your site and encourage them to use it? 3. Identify existing information The next step in implementing your customer portal is to do a content inventory. A content inventory is a way to identify what information you already have that you could easily make available online to customers. For example, consider your price list or return policy. Are they formatted as Microsoft Word documents that you could easily post in a document library? To begin your content inventory, create a list of the content you already have that you want to make available in your customer portal. List the content, where it s currently located, what format it s in, and who maintains it. Here s an example: 4. Identify the elements you ll need to create and set up The fourth step in implementing your customer portal is to identify the portal elements you ll need to create and set up. This list should help you identify: Who is going to install and set up Order Management What new pages you need to create Where each page will be located in the menu structure What web parts will be on each page Who will create each page 12
The following list is an example showing the customer portal elements that need to be created and configured, and who is assigned to each task. 5. Consider security Security is one of the most important issues you need to consider when implementing a software program, especially one that displays sensitive information, such as a customer s balance or credit limit. In this step of your customer portal implementation, you need to plan how you are going to control access to information so the right people see the right information. Here are a few points to remember when setting up security for your customer portal. For complete security information, see the Business Portal Administrator s Guide. Users One of the first steps in setting up Business Portal is to add users and assign them to roles. Adding users You must set up Windows domain accounts for your customers who will be accessing Business Portal. For more information about setting up these accounts, see the Business Portal Administrator s Guide available at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. Assigning users to roles Roles allow you to control access to data, tasks, and pages in Business Portal. You ll need to assign your customers to the Customer role. The Customer role is an advanced role. An advanced role maps a Business Portal user to a specific ID in Microsoft Dynamics GP (in this case, a customer ID). For example, Dan Wilson will be accessing your customer portal to enter orders for his company, Northwind Traders. Therefore, you ll need to assign Dan to the Customer advanced role and specify his Microsoft Dynamics GP customer ID in this case, NORTHWIN001. 13
You ll also need to assign Dan to the Order Management Customer role. By assigning Dan this role, you give him access to the Orders page, which is where he can begin entering his order. Data permissions As mentioned earlier, in order to display data in a result viewer, Business Portal must access your back office SQL tables. A data permission defines which columns and rows are accessed from each SQL table. Business Portal provides several data permissions that restrict data to the currently logged on user. These data permissions have Restricted Self at the end of their names. Use these data permissions when creating result viewers that display customer-specific information, such as account balances. Pages Each page in Business Portal is assigned to a specific role or roles. When you create a new page, you can select which role or roles can access it. When you create pages for your customer portal, be sure to assign them to the Customer role. SharePoint features SharePoint features, such as picture libraries and discussion boards, can be displayed as web parts on Business Portal pages. By default, they are locked down to external users, such as customers. This means customers cannot view their contents. When creating your customer portal, you ll most likely want to give customers view access and write access to particular SharePoint web parts. View access We recommend giving customers view access to picture libraries, document libraries, and announcement lists. Write access We recommend giving customers write access to surveys and discussion boards. (This enables them to respond to survey questions and participate in discussions.) For information on how to give customers view or write access to SharePoint web parts, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 6. Create and set up your customer portal elements The next step in the process is to create and set up the elements you identified in step 4. For complete step-by-step instructions refer to the following manuals: Business Portal Administrator s Guide Explains how to set up users, roles, and data permissions. It also explains how to create pages and web parts. Order Management Administrator s Guide Explains how to install and set up Order Management. These manuals are available on the Business Portal CD. You can also access these manuals on the Web at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. 14
Common procedures When implementing your customer portal, you ll most likely be adding several SharePoint web parts. To help you along with this process, we ve included some common procedures you may want to refer to. Creating a SharePoint web part The following steps explain how to create a SharePoint web part. HINT: Although these steps show how to create a picture library, they also apply to other SharePoint features, such as announcement lists, surveys, and discussion boards. 1. Open Business Portal and go to the Create Page page (Site Settings > General Settings > Create). 2. Click Picture Library. 3. Follow the instructions displayed to create your picture library. 4. After you have created the picture library, go to the Business Portal page where you d like to display it. 5. Click Modify Shared Page > Add Web Parts > Browse. The Add Web Parts tool pane appears. 6. Select BusinessPortal Gallery and browse through the web parts listed until you find your picture library. 7. Select your picture library and drag it onto the page. Securing a SharePoint web part By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down to external users. This means customers cannot view their contents. However, you ll most likely want to give users view access rights to picture libraries, document libraries, and announcements lists; and write access rights to surveys and discussion boards. The following steps show how we modified the security for the Top Sellers picture library so that customers could view its contents. HINT: Although these steps show how to modify security for a picture library, they also apply to other SharePoint features, such as announcements lists, surveys, and discussion boards. 1. Open Business Portal and go to the Documents and Lists page (Site Settings > Document Libraries and Lists > Manage Document Libraries). 2. Click the Top Sellers picture library. The Top Sellers picture library appears. 3. Click Modify settings and columns. 4. The Customize Top Sellers page appears. Click Change permissions for this picture library. 5. The Change Permissions: Top Sellers page appears. Click Add Users. 6. The Add Users: Top Sellers page appears. To set up permissions for a specific user, enter the user s e- mail address. Or, to set up permissions for a group of users, enter a cross-site group name. In this example, we wanted Fabrikam customers to be able to view the contents of the Top Sellers picture library. Therefore, we entered the cross-site group name, BP Customer 1. 15
For more information about cross-site group names, see the Business Portal Administrator s Guide. 7. Select the appropriate permissions. In our example, we selected View items. 8. Click Next. 9. Confirm the user names and indicate whether you want to send an e-mail notification to the user or users. 10. Click Finish. Sample pages To give you some ideas of how you can implement the customer portal elements we ve discussed in this paper, here are some sample pages. Home page Products page Top Sellers page New Items page Item List page Return Policy page Customer Survey page Discussion Board page My Account page About Fabrikam page Our People page Contact Us page Locations page 16
Home page Business Portal ships with an internal and external version of the Home page. The internal page is for your employees. The external page is for users outside your company, such as customers and vendors. The following sample page shows how you can, with just a few easy customizations, make the external version of the Home page more visually appealing, and provide key information to your customers. Here s how we customized this page: 1. Added the External Home Page to the navigation menu By default, the external version of the Home page is not displayed in the navigation menu to the Business Portal administrator. We added it to the menu so that we could access and customize it. 2. Created the Item of the Week web part The Item of the Week web part is a SharePoint picture library. Each week it spotlights an item we have on sale. To create this picture library, we: Uploaded an image of our featured item. Wrote a description of the item. Added the Regular Price and Sale Price columns. 17
Modified the picture library so that only the Thumbnail, Description, Regular Price, and Sale Price columns are displayed. 3. Modified the Company News web part The Company News web part is a SharePoint announcements list. It s an out-of-the-box feature of the external Home page. To customize this web part, we: Changed the title to News from Fabrikam. Replaced the default sample announcements with our own Fabrikam-specific announcements. 4. Added the Our Mission web part The Our Mission web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that displays our company mission statement. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Our Mission. 5. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. To enable our customers to view the contents of the Item of the Week and News from Fabrikam web parts, we had to modify the security of those web parts. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view the contents of those web parts. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 6. Removed the External Home Page from the navigation menu Once we finished customizing the external version of the Home page, we removed it from the navigation menu. When customers log on to Business Portal, the external version of the Home page will be displayed to them. 18
Products page The Products page is our welcome page to the products area of Business Portal. It steers customers to our top selling items, new items, item list, and return policy. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Products. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Products web part The Products web part is a summary web part. It provides descriptions and links to pages in the products area. For information on how to create a summary web part, see the Business Portal Integration Guide. The Business Portal Integration Guide is available at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. 3. Created the Superior Office Furniture and Equipment web part The Superior Office Furniture and Equipment web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that displays the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Superior Office Furniture and Equipment. 19
Top Sellers page The Top Sellers page highlights our best-selling items. It s a great way to guide customers, who may be unsure of what to order, to your most popular items. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Top Sellers. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Top Sellers web part The Top Sellers web part is a SharePoint picture library. It highlights our best-selling items. To create this picture library, we: Uploaded images of our best-selling items. Wrote descriptions of the items. Added the Item Price column. Added the To Order column. Modified the picture library so that only the Thumbnail, Description, and Item Price, and To Order columns are displayed. 20
Modified the Top Sellers web part so that the web part s borders are not displayed. 3. Provided links to Order Management The To Order column contains links to the Item Details page, which is part of Order Management. For example, the office chair s Order Now! link opens the Item Details page that displays the office chair. The office chair s Order Now! Link opens this URL. 4. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. To enable our customers to view the contents of the Top Sellers web part, we had to modify the security of the web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view the contents of the web part. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 21
New Items page Want to make sure customers are aware of the new items you re offering? Create a New Items page to showcase the latest and greatest additions to your inventory. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called New Items. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the New Items web part The New Items web part is a SharePoint picture library. It highlights items that have been added recently to inventory. To create this picture library, we: Uploaded images of our newest items. Wrote descriptions of the items. Added the Item Price column. Added the To Order column. 22
Modified the picture library so that only the Thumbnail, Description, Item Price, and To Order columns are displayed. Modified the New Items web part so that the web part s borders are not displayed. 3. Provided links to Order Management The To Order column contains links to the Item Details page, which is part of Order Management. For example, the office table s Order Now! link opens the Item Details page that displays the office table. The office table s Order Now! Link opens this URL. 4. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. To enable our customers to view the contents of the New Items web part, we had to modify the security of the web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view the contents of the web part. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 23
Item List page The Item List page lists our entire inventory along with details about each item. The result viewer web parts on this page communicate with each other. For example, when you select an item in the Items web part, data about that specific item is displayed in the Item Description, Item Details, and Item Price web parts. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Item List. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 24
2. Created the publishing web part The Items web part is a publishing result viewer web part. This means that when you select an item in this web part, data about that item is displayed in the other result viewers on the page. The Items web part was created by dragging the Primary Publishing Result Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. We then configured it to display a query containing item names and numbers. The query displayed in this web part is based on the Item-All data permission. In order for customers to view this query, we had to give the Customer role access to the Item-All data permission. You can give specific roles access to data permissions on Business Portal s Manage Data Permissions page. 3. Created the subscribing web parts The Item Description, Item Details, and Item Price web parts are subscribing result viewer web parts. This means that when you select an item from the Items web part, data about that item is displayed in the subscribing web parts. These web parts were created by dragging the Form Result Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. We then configured each web part to display a query containing item data. In order for customers to view the data in these web parts, we had to give the Customer role access to the Item-All and Item-Currency data permissions. You can give specific roles access to data permissions on Business Portal s Manage Data Permissions page. 25
Return Policy page When selling items over the Web, it s important that your web site has all the information your customers will need, including your return policy. The following information explains how you can easily post your return policy and other important documents. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Return Policy. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Read our Return Policy and Quality Guarantee web part The Read our Return Policy and Quality Guarantee web part is a SharePoint document library. To create this document library, we uploaded our return policy and quality guarantee Word documents. 3. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. 26
To enable our customers to view the contents of the Read our Return Policy and Quality Guarantee web part, we had to modify the security of the web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view the contents of the web part. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. Customer Survey page Want to know what your customers really think? Using SharePoint s survey feature, you can easily create a survey your customers can respond to. The sample Customer Survey page provides basic information to customers about the survey and how it is administered. When customers are ready to begin the survey they click the Respond to this Survey link. Once customers click the Respond to this Survey link, they can begin providing their feedback. Here s a look at some questions we asked in our sample survey: 27
Here s how the Customer Survey page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Customer Survey. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Added the We Want to Hear from You! web part The We Want to Hear from You! web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains general information about the survey. This.htm page explains why we re conducting the survey and informs customers that all survey responses are anonymous. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to We Want to Hear from You!. 28
3. Created the survey Our survey contains questions geared toward measuring customer satisfaction. While creating this survey, we made the following selections: User names will not be shown in survey results. Multiple responses per user are not allowed. Users can read only their own responses. 4. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. To enable our customers to respond to the survey, we had to modify the security of the Customer Survey web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view and respond to survey questions. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 29
Discussion Board page The Discussion Board page is a great way to build the Fabrikam community. Fabrikam customers can communicate with other Fabrikam customers, as well as Fabrikam employees and vendors. It s a great place to post questions and share tips. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Discussion Board. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer, Employee, and Vendor roles so that customers, employees, and vendors can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Welcome to the Fabrikam Discussion Board web part The Welcome to the Fabrikam Discussion Board web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Welcome to the Fabrikam Discussion Board. 30
3. Created the Discussion Board web part The Discussion Board web part is a SharePoint discussion board. It s a great way for customers to post questions and answers, share tips, and communicate with others in the Fabrikam community. 4. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. To enable customers, employees, and vendors to respond to the survey, we had to modify the security of the Discussion Board web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1, BP Employee 1, and BP Vendor 1 cross-site groups have permission to view and post discussions. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 31
My Account page The My Account page is a great self-service tool for customers. They can access their account information themselves, any time of day, any day of the week. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called My Account. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so that customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Customer Card web part The Customer Card web part was created by dragging the Form Result Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. We then configured it to display a query based on the Customer-Restricted Self data permission. 3. Created the Balance Information web part The Balance Information web part was created by dragging the Form Result Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. We then configured it to display a query based on the ReceivablesSummary-Restricted Self data permission. 32
About Fabrikam page Give your customers insight into what your business is all about. The About Fabrikam page provides a brief overview of the company and displays a message from the CEO. The About Fabrikam page also directs customers to other pages in the About Fabrikam area. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called About Fabrikam. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the About Us web part The About Us web part is a summary web part. It provides descriptions and links to pages in the About Fabrikam area. For information on how to create a summary web part, see the Business Portal Integration Guide. The Business Portal Integration Guide is available at http://mbs.microsoft.com/public/gponline. 33
3. Created the Our Company web part The Our Company web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Our Company. 4. Created the A Message From Our CEO web part The A Message From Our CEO web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to A Message From Our CEO. 34
Our People page The Our People page shows you the faces behind the Fabrikam name. This page displays our team members as well as their contact information. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Our People. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 35
2. Created the Our People picture library The Our People web part is a SharePoint picture library. It provides customers with a way to learn more about the people they do business with. We ve customized this picture library to display the name, title, phone number, e-mail address, and an interesting fact about each Fabrikam employee. We also modified the Our People web part so that the web part s borders are not displayed. 3. Modified security By default, SharePoint web parts are locked down. External users, such as customers, cannot view their contents. To enable our customers to view the contents of the Our People web part, we had to modify the security of the web part. We modified security so that the BP Customer 1 cross-site group has permission to view the contents of the web part. For step-by-step instructions, see Securing a SharePoint web part. 36
Contact Us page Make it easy for your customers to contact you. The following Contact Us page shows how you can make your customers aware of all the avenues they can use to contact you. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Contact Us. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Contact Us web part The Contact Us web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Contact Us. Modified the Contact Us web part so that the web part s borders are not displayed. 37
Locations page The following sample page is a great way to make your customers aware of your physical presence in the world. Here s how this page was created: 1. Created the page We created a new portal page called Locations. While creating this page, we assigned it to the Customer role so customers can access the page. We also chose the Header, Footer, 3 Columns page layout. 2. Created the Locations web part The Locations web part was created by dragging the Page Viewer web part (from the Business Portal web part gallery) onto the page. Then we: Created an.htm page that contains the content for the web part. Configured the Page Viewer web part to point to the.htm page we created. Renamed the web part to Locations. Modified the Locations web part so that the web part s borders are not displayed. 38
Summary Throughout this paper you ve found ideas and tips on how to customize Business Portal to provide an online buying experience for your customers. Specifically, you ve learned: What a customer portal is The benefits a customer portal can provide How to implement a customer portal Business Portal 3.0 can help you transform your business by helping you establish a B2B commerce site. With extranet support built into Business Portal and with the features of Order Management your customers can now access Business Portal and enter orders, track their order status, and view their account information. Now it s time for you to take the ideas and concepts you ve learned in this white paper and put them into practice in your own organization. In no time at all, you ll establish an online presence that is available to your customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In no time at all, you ll transform your business. Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like and with familiar Microsoft software, automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes in a way that helps you drive business success. U.S. and Canada Toll Free 1-888-477-7989 Worldwide +1-701-281-6500 www.microsoft.com/dynamics The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, this document should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property. 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, the Microsoft Dynamics Logo, Microsoft Dynamics, SharePoint, Visual and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, FRx Software Corporation, or Microsoft Business Solutions ApS in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft Business l i d f i b idi i f i f i 39