Hi Jennifer,
There isn't an easy way to do this. It is going to require some manipulation of CRM files which is unsupported. However, I can understand the need here and want to ensure you get a solution. I will explain the roundabouts how you can achieve this.
Step 1: Extract the crmlistcomponent.wsp contents
You have to modify the crmgrid.css file found within the crmlistcomponent.wsp file (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5283). To get to this file, you have to first extract the contents of the .wsp file.
1. Rename crmlistcomponent.wsp to crmlistcomponent.cab
2. Extract the files
Step 2: Modify the crmgrid.css file to expand the column width
1. Once the file has been extracted, locate the following file:
..\crmlistcomponent\Layouts\crmgrid.css
2. Open the file with Notepad
3. Locate the following section and add the highlighted section:
.ms-crm-List-DataColumnHeader
{
padding-left: 20px;
width: 1000px;
}
Note: 1000px is a very large column width but with some tinkering, you can set it to your desired width.
Step 3: Get the contents back into .wsp format
I grabbed the first couple of steps from the following SharePoint forum article:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/sharepointdevelopment/thread/0dd0bf72-638a-4840-9540-f6d0307bb786
1. Download and use DDFGenerator from CodePlex
So, my new friend on Twitter @tigertoy pointed me to a project on CodePlex called DDFGenerator. It’s simply an executable. All you have to do is download this executable, execute it from the command line and give it the Path to the directory structure created by 7 Zip (or whatever program you used). This will generate your DDF file for you.
One quick note, the DDF Generator does not put an entry in the DDF to set the WSP file name. So, make your life easier, open up the .DDF file and add the following line along with the ther .Set lines:
.Set CabinetNameTemplate=SolutionName.WSP
This will make sure your WSP file is named properly with the correct extension. If you don’t do this it will create a cab file called “1.cab” when you run MakeCab.exe in the next step and you will have to rename it to your solution name. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind.
2. Run MakeCab to create .CAB File
Now all you have to do is run MakeCab to generate your WSP file using the DDF you generated. This also will be run from the command line and will look something like:
MakeCab.exe /F <ddfFilename.ddf>
3. After the .CAB file is created, rename it to crmlistcomponent.wsp
Step 4: Upload new solution
Delete the existing crmlistcomponent.wsp solution within SharePoint and import the new one
I hope this helps you. If you require detailed step for step instructions, feel free to contact our Advisory Services team.
