Dynamics crm 2011 online - how to create a custom code that is run once?

Question

I want to create a dynamics crm solution that will be imported by the customer. After import, the user must complete some settings in a custom entity. After this, a specific code must run for these new settings, but only once. I cannot use custom workflows because it has to work in the online crm too. The best would have been to have a synchronous plugin that is registered to execute when the settings are saved. I cannot do this because plugins can be registered for a limited set of entities, custom entities are not supported (am I right on this?).

What alternatives do I have?

Answer 1

Using a Configuration Page for your solution might make it easier for the user to configure. Instead of making the user manually set up a configuration entity, use Javascript in the Configuration Page web resource to hit the REST endpoint and do the setup for you. You might also be able to run your custom setup code using Javascript (or use a plugin on the configuration entity as ckeller has confirmed). Here's a link about the special Configuration Page:

http://mahenderpal.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/step-by-step-adding-configuration-page-in-solution-ms-crm-2011/