How to Add a Custom Button to a Dashboard Page Ribbon in Dynamics 365

Sometimes, client requests challenge us to push the boundaries of what we think is possible in Dynamics 365. A perfect example is adding a custom button directly to a dashboard ribbon—a feature that’s not typically supported out-of-the-box. Here’s a detailed guide on how to achieve this, drawing inspiration from a helpful article I found on LinkedIn.

Users frequently operate from the dashboard in Dynamics 365, making it a prime location for quick-access functionalities. Unfortunately, unlike entities where ribbon commands facilitate adding custom buttons to forms, views, or subgrids, dashboards don’t directly support table-related ribbons.

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The Solution: Adding a Button to the Dashboard Ribbon

Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing a Dashboard Button

1. Create a New Solution

• Navigate to the Solutions area in your Dynamics 365 environment.
• Create a new solution and add ‘Application Ribbons’ as a component. You can do this by selecting Client Extensions > Add Existing > Application Ribbons.

2. Modify the Ribbon

• Open your solution using the Ribbon Workbench tool.
• In the home section of the Ribbon Workbench, look for a section labeled Mscrm.DashboardTab.
• Add your custom button in this section.

3. Publish Your Solution

• Normally, publishing your solution would suffice, and your button would appear. However, dashboards require additional steps to render custom buttons.

4. Enable Dashboard Customization

• To make the button visible on the dashboard, you need to update the organization setting clientfeatureset. This requires setting the FCB.DashboardCustomizableRibbon feature to true.
• Update the setting with the following XML
  <clientfeatures> <clientfeature xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-Instance"> <name>FCB.DashboardCustomizableRibbon</name> <value>true</value> </clientfeature> </clientfeatures>
• For guidance on updating this setting, refer to this post on modifying org settings with Power Automate.

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Adding a custom button to the dashboard ribbon in Dynamics 365 is not straightforward and involves a little more than the usual ribbon customization. However, by following these steps, you can enhance user experience by reducing navigation efforts and integrating essential functionalities directly onto the dashboard.