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Must-Follow Blogs and Forums for Business Central

Kery Nguyen
By Kery Nguyen

2024-03-10

Here's my personally curated list of blogs and communities that have repeatedly rescued me and my team from seemingly impossible situations. These aren't just places with the most posts or followers—they're the places where actual solutions happen.

Blogs That Solve Real Business Central Problems

After bookmarking dozens of blogs over the years, these five stand out for consistently delivering actionable advice from people who clearly work with BC daily:

1. Luc van Vugt's "Think About IT"

Website: think-about-it.net

What makes it essential: Luc doesn't just explain how things work; he explains why they work that way. His deep architectural understanding of BC shows in every post.

Best for: When you need to understand the "why" behind Business Central's behavior, not just the "how."

Post that saved me: "Understanding the Event Firing Order in Business Central" explained a baffling issue where my event subscribers weren't firing when expected. Turns out the sequence matters tremendously, and Luc's post laid it out clearly with diagrams that finally made it click.

Posting frequency: 2-3 times monthly, but each post is substantial and well-researched.

2. Stefano Demiliani's Blog

Website: demiliani.com

What makes it essential: Stefano dives into the technical aspects of BC development that Microsoft's docs often gloss over. He's especially strong on AL development patterns and Azure integration.

Best for: AL developers who need practical examples of modern development approaches.

Post that saved me: "Handling Document Attachments in Business Central" explained crucial details about the Document Attachment API that were missing from official documentation, saving a critical project that needed to manage thousands of attached PDFs.

Posting frequency: Weekly, with a mix of technical deep-dives and news analysis.

3. James Crowter's "Simply Dynamics"

Website: simplydynamics.com/blog

What makes it essential: James bridges the gap between business needs and technical implementation. His posts often start with a business problem and walk through the entire solution process.

Best for: Implementation leads and solution architects who need to connect business requirements to BC capabilities.

Post that saved me: "Designing Approval Workflows That Users Actually Use" transformed how I approach approval implementations, focusing on user experience rather than just technical requirements.

Posting frequency: Monthly, but posts are comprehensive and practical.

4. Waldo's Blog

Website: waldo.be

What makes it essential: Nobody explains BC development patterns as clearly as Waldo. His code examples are always production-ready, not simplified for the sake of brevity.

Best for: Developers who want to write better, more maintainable AL code.

Post that saved me: "AL Code Actions and Code Analyzers" introduced me to tools that automatically found problems in my extension code, catching issues before they became production bugs.

Posting frequency: Varies, but averages 2-3 posts monthly with substantial code examples.

5. AJ Kauffmann's "Dynamics NAV" (Despite the name, now primarily Business Central)

Website: navinsights.net

What makes it essential: AJ focuses on the financial aspects of Business Central, which is refreshing in a space dominated by technical content. He explains complex accounting processes in BC with remarkable clarity.

Best for: Finance-focused users and consultants who need to understand BC's accounting engine.

Post that saved me: "Why Your Trial Balance Sometimes Doesn't Balance" walked through the exact steps to diagnose and fix a reconciliation issue that had stumped our entire team.

Posting frequency: About monthly, with occasional gaps but high-quality content.

The Forums Where Problems Actually Get Solved

Unlike the polished content of blogs, forums are where the messy reality of daily BC work gets sorted out. These are the communities I turn to when facing truly peculiar problems:

1. Dynamics User Group (DUG)

Website: dynamicsuser.net

Why it's valuable: This long-standing community includes members who have worked with the product since its Navision days. The collective knowledge here is staggering, particularly around complex customizations.

Response quality: Answers often come from MVPs and long-time BC developers, with detailed explanations and code samples.

Best for: Deeply technical questions, especially those involving legacy code or migration challenges.

Success story: When a client's data migration from NAV 2009 to BC kept failing due to undocumented constraints, a DUG member provided a custom PowerShell script that identified and resolved all the blocker issues within hours.

Pro tip: Search before posting—there's a good chance your question has already been answered here over the years.

2. BC/NAV Tech Days Forum

Website: bctechdays.com/forum

Why it's valuable: This community emerged from the BC/NAV Tech Days conference and includes many of the most experienced BC developers in the world. Technical depth here is unmatched.

Response quality: Highly technical, code-focused, with minimal "have you tried restarting" suggestions.

Best for: AL development challenges, extension design patterns, and BC architecture questions.

Success story: Posted about a perplexing performance issue with a custom report. Within a day, received three different optimization approaches, complete with code samples and performance metrics from the community members' own testing.

Pro tip: This forum rewards showing your work. Post what you've already tried for better responses.

3. Reddit's r/Dynamics365BC

Website: reddit.com/r/Dynamics365BC

Why it's valuable: Unlike more formal forums, the Reddit community includes users at all levels. Questions range from "how do I start" to deep technical challenges.

Response quality: Varies widely, but pragmatic and direct. Less formal than other forums, which can be refreshing.

Best for: Quick reality checks, general direction, and connecting with other users facing similar challenges.

Success story: Posted a question at 2 AM about a strange licensing issue affecting user access. Had three potential solutions by breakfast, one of which worked perfectly.

Pro tip: The Reddit community appreciates screenshots and clear problem statements. The more specific your question, the better the responses.

4. Microsoft Q&A for Dynamics 365

Website: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/tags/69/dynamics-365-business-central

Why it's valuable: Microsoft employees sometimes monitor this forum, providing "official" answers to questions. It's the closest thing to getting support without a support contract.

Response quality: When Microsoft staff respond, answers are authoritative but sometimes overly cautious. Community answers vary in quality.

Best for: Questions about licensing, supportability, and official feature roadmaps.

Success story: Asked about an undocumented API limitation and received a response from a Microsoft engineer who not only explained the current limitation but shared a workaround and mentioned it would be fixed in the next major release.

Pro tip: Flag your question with the correct version of Business Central for more accurate responses.

5. GitHub Issues for AL

Website: github.com/microsoft/AL

Why it's valuable: This isn't a traditional forum, but the GitHub issues section for the AL language is where the most technical BC developers discuss language features, bugs, and workarounds.

Response quality: Extremely technical, code-focused, and precise. No fluff whatsoever.

Best for: AL language questions, compiler issues, and VS Code extension problems.

Success story: Found a workaround for a compiler bug that was preventing our extension from building properly. The community had not only identified the bug but developed three different workarounds depending on the specific scenario.

Pro tip: Search closed issues too—many problems have been resolved but the threads contain valuable information.

Finding Your BC Tribe on Social Media

While structured forums provide answers to specific questions, social media offers different value—staying current and building professional connections:

1. Twitter's #MSDyn365BC Community

The #MSDyn365BC hashtag on Twitter connects you with a global community of users, partners, and Microsoft employees. Unlike forums focused on problems, Twitter highlights new features, event announcements, and quick tips.

Who to follow:

Value beyond answers: Twitter is where breaking news about BC often appears first—from sudden service issues to unexpected feature announcements.

2. LinkedIn Groups and Hashtags

LinkedIn hosts several Business Central groups, plus active discussion under hashtags like #MSDyn365BC and #BusinessCentral.

Top groups:

  • Dynamics 365 Business Central User Group
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Business Central Professionals

Different perspective: LinkedIn discussions often focus on business impact rather than technical details—useful for understanding how others justify and measure BC projects.

3. YouTube Channels Worth Subscribing To

For visual learners, these YouTube channels deliver BC knowledge in video format:

  • Waldo's msdn.waldo.be - Deep technical walkthroughs
  • Stefano Demiliani's Channel - Architecture and implementation demonstrations
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Official tutorials and update overviews

When videos work better than text: Complex UI workflows, Power BI integration setup, and visual demonstrations of new features are all better understood through video.

Creating Your Personal BC Learning System

After years in the BC ecosystem, I've developed a system for managing all this community knowledge:

  1. Subscribe to 3-5 key blogs (not more, or you'll get overwhelmed)
  2. Join 2-3 forums where you actively participate
  3. Create a dedicated bookmark folder for solved problems you might face again
  4. Contribute back by answering questions once you've developed expertise

Most importantly, recognize that Business Central knowledge has a half-life. What was true three versions ago may not apply today. The community helps you stay current in ways official documentation often can't.

Beyond Consumption: Why You Should Contribute

The BC community thrives because people share knowledge. Consider contributing through:

  • Answering forum questions in your areas of expertise
  • Writing blog posts about challenges you've overcome
  • Sharing code samples on GitHub
  • Speaking at user groups or virtual events

My own journey from BC novice to expert accelerated dramatically once I started contributing. Explaining concepts to others forces you to deepen your own understanding.

Final Thoughts: The Community as Your Extended Team

The greatest value of these communities isn't just finding answers—it's connecting with people who become part of your professional network. I've hired developers I met on forums, found clients through community connections, and built friendships that span continents.

Don't see these resources as just information sources. They're your extended team—people who face the same challenges you do and are generous enough to share their solutions.

What starts with a desperate search for an error message solution can evolve into relationships that enhance your entire career. The Business Central community isn't just helpful—it's essential to professional success with the platform.

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