As I’ve started at SAP I’ve learned that there is no way to survive unless I learn some very specific acronym (usually with 3 characters …).
Later I’ve learned that there are some specific terms which are still used, although these terms don’t have any real meaning today. One good example is the F4-Help in Web-UI.There is no Search-Help in CRM Web-UI you can open if you press the F4-key.
However my absolute favorite expressions in CRM are “Breadcrumb-Navigation” and “L-Shape”.
If you talk with people at CRM you will hear these expressions very often.
L-Shape is the term we use for the Navigation-Area on the left part of the Screen.
As there is also a navigation-frame on top of the screen someone obviously thought, that this has the shape of the letter “L”. That’s really the case … if you turn your screen 90° to the left.
I like the L-Shape navigation as it is much more intuitive to use and faster in comparison to the Navigation in PC-UI, but I will not turn my screen 90° to the left.
Do you have any Idea, what “Breadcrumb-Navigation” means and why we use this term?
Well, the Breadcrumb-Navigation officially has the name “Page History Menu” and is used to navigate to Overview-Pages and Search-Pages the user already has used.
This is a very useful Framework-Feature. In order to be really consistent you will only navigate in the display-mode of the object.
But why we use the Term “Breadcrumb-Navigation”?
Well, the origin of this is the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel”.
Hansel has used the Breadcrumb to find the way home. That’s a very nice analogy.
BUT if you think about this fairy tale you probably can remember that this was not really successful.
The birds have taken all pieces of bread and Hansel and Gretel were lost in a dark forest.
However, Breadcrumb-Navigation in CRM really works and you will find your way “home” – even with some shortcuts. But you will not find the evil witch.
This is probably disappointing, because Hansel and Gretel finally also found the way home, but with a lot of Gold …
9 Comments
