In order to launch MS Office documents from SharePoint, or via the standard CRM 2011 list component, we need to define content types in SharePoint.
Here is a screenshot illustrating my goals from the CRM 2011 UI. The new buttons, when clicked, will launch the appropriate MS Office application
Assumptions
1) A SharePoint site has been created.
2) At least 1 document library exists. In our example, the CRM contact entity has it’s own document library named Contact.
Document Templates
For each type of document, open the corresponding application (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Save a blank document to either your local drive, or you can upload it to site assets. In this case, I created Word2010Template.docx, Excel2010Template.xlsx and PowerPoint2010Template.pptx
Adding Content Types
From the SharePoint site, navigate to Site Actions –> Site Settings
Under Galleries, click ‘Site Content Types’.
Click ‘Create’
Specify a name for the content type. Under Select parent content type from, select ‘Document Content Types’. Under Parent Content Type, select ‘Document’. For the first new content type, we’ll create a new group to hold our custom types. I named it ‘Office Documents’. Click OK.
Next, we add the PowerPoint content type. Perform the above steps but this time, group the type to an existing newly created group: ‘Office Documents’
Adding Content Types to Document Library
On the Contact document library, under Library Tools, click Library Settings
Click ‘Advanced settings’ under General Settings
Under Content Types, check Yes under ‘Allow management of content types’. Click OK.
You’ll be redirected to the document library. Now you should see a section labeled ‘Content Types’. Click on ‘Add from existing content types’.
Under Select site content types from dropdown, select the custom group: ‘Office Documents’.
Move the content types from the left to the right frame. Click OK./
With these new content types added, you can directly launch the MS Office application using the New button.
