Declarative Design: Improving User Efficiency in Salesforce

Declarative Design Given a scenario, describe declarative features that improve user efficiency over a series of steps. ======================================================================================================================= Here\'s a brief overview of the key topics you mentioned, b...

Declarative Design Given a scenario, describe declarative features that improve user efficiency over a series of steps. ======================================================================================================================= Here\'s a brief overview of the key topics you mentioned, based on Salesforce features: 1. **Global Search Functionality**: - **Global Search** in Salesforce allows users to search across all objects, records, and pages within the platform. It enables quick access to relevant information, providing suggestions and filters as you type. This feature is essential for users to quickly find and access data across Salesforce, including custom and standard objects. 2. **Utility Bar**: - The **Utility Bar** is a customizable set of tools that can be added to the bottom of your Salesforce page layout. It allows users to access frequently used tools such as notes, recent records, or quick actions without navigating away from the current page. This improves productivity by providing shortcuts to relevant tools. 3. **Home Page Assistant**: - The **Home Page Assistant** is a Salesforce component designed to help users manage tasks and stay organized. It typically includes an overview of recent activities, tasks, and notifications, providing a quick view of important information and actions that need attention, such as open cases or upcoming events. 4. **Favorites Features**: - **Favorites** in Salesforce allow users to quickly access frequently used records, pages, or reports. By marking records or pages as favorites, users can easily navigate to them without searching or digging through the interface. This feature enhances efficiency and personalization. 5. **Global Actions**: - **Global Actions** are customizable, user-defined actions that can be accessed from anywhere within Salesforce. These actions can include creating new records (e.g., new lead, new opportunity) or executing specific processes (e.g., log a call). They provide a quick way to initiate common tasks from any page in the system. These features help streamline user navigation and task management, contributing to a more efficient Salesforce experience. **Introduction** Salesforce offers several features to enhance user experience and productivity: - **Global Search** lets users quickly find relevant information across objects, records, and files within the org, streamlining their workflow and saving time. - The **Utility Bar** provides easy access to frequently used tools, allowing users to perform common tasks without navigating away from their current page. - **Global Actions** offer an efficient way to perform actions, such as creating new records or logging calls, from any page in Salesforce. - As a social collaboration tool, **Chatter** facilitates real-time communication and collaboration among team members, promoting knowledge sharing and boosting engagement. These features combine to create a more efficient and collaborative Salesforce environment, enhancing both individual productivity and team dynamics. **Actions in Salesforce** Salesforce provides several types of actions to help users streamline their workflow and enhance productivity. These actions are categorized into **Object-Specific Actions**, **Global Actions**, and **Quick Actions**: - **Object-Specific Actions**:\ Object-specific actions are designed to perform tasks directly related to a specific object. They allow users to create or update records that are associated with the object for which the action is created. For example, an object-specific action might allow a user to create a new opportunity directly from the account page. - **Global Actions**:\ Global actions are available throughout Salesforce, including on the home page, and allow users to perform common tasks regardless of the current page. These actions can include creating new records (e.g., a new lead, contact, or case) or logging calls. Global actions are customizable and can be accessed from anywhere in Salesforce, making them highly efficient for frequent tasks. - **Quick Actions**:\ Quick actions are designed to allow users to perform specific tasks or actions directly from a record page layout or related list. They help streamline processes by enabling users to take immediate action, such as sending an email, logging a call, or creating a related record, without having to navigate away from the current page. These actions ensure that users can execute their tasks quickly and efficiently, reducing the time spent switching between different screens or searching for specific tools. **Global Search in Salesforce** Global Search provides users with a quick and efficient way to find the necessary information across Salesforce. It offers several features that enhance productivity and usability: - **Auto-Suggestions and Spelling Corrections**:\ Global Search supports auto-suggestions as you type, helping you quickly find the correct records or objects. Additionally, it provides spelling corrections, ensuring that minor errors in search queries do not hinder finding relevant information. - **Enhancing User Productivity**:\ With Global Search, users can search across multiple objects and fields, eliminating the need to navigate through various pages or tabs. This functionality allows users to locate relevant records much faster, significantly enhancing productivity and reducing the time spent searching for data. By centralizing search capabilities and making them more intuitive, Global Search improves efficiency and ensures that users can access the information they need without unnecessary delays. **Additional Features of Global Search** Global Search in Salesforce not only helps users find information quickly but also provides additional features that improve the search experience: - **Auto-Suggested Records**:\ As users type in the search box, a list of auto-suggested records for multiple object types is displayed. This feature helps users identify relevant records quickly, reducing the need for full searches. - **Instant Results**:\ Instant results provide users with access to records before completing a full search. As users begin typing their query, Salesforce begins returning relevant results immediately, enabling faster access to important records. - **Recent Items**:\ The **Recent Items** feature displays a list of recently viewed records that match the search term when a user clicks on the search box. This allows users to quickly revisit previously accessed records without needing to search for them again. These features together enhance the Global Search functionality, ensuring users can quickly find and access relevant data, improving efficiency and reducing the time spent searching for information. **Further Features of Global Search** - **Suggested Records**:\ The **Suggested Records** feature lists up to five records that have a name matching the search term. This feature helps users quickly identify and select the most relevant records without having to go through a long list of results. - **Full Search**:\ **Full Search** allows users to search across all searchable objects in Salesforce. When performed, it takes the user to the **Top Results** page, where they can see the most relevant records, sorted by relevance. This broad search is ideal for finding information across different objects. - **Full Object-Specific Search**:\ **Full Object-Specific Search** focuses on searching within a specific object. When a user performs this search, it directs them to the search results page for that object, helping to narrow down results and provide more targeted information. - **Limit Search To**:\ The **Limit Search To** option allows users to restrict the search to a specific object entered in the search box. This is particularly useful when users want to search only within one object (e.g., searching only within the \"Accounts\" object rather than across all objects). These additional search features make it easier for users to find the exact information they need, whether by narrowing results to a specific object or using the suggestions to quickly identify relevant records. **Refining Global Search Results** Global Search in Salesforce offers the ability to refine search results, helping users locate the most relevant records quickly and efficiently. Users can filter results based on different criteria: - **Filter by Amount and Closed Date**:\ For example, if you are looking for **Opportunity** records, you can refine the results by **Amount** and **Closed Date** values. This helps you narrow down opportunities within a specific monetary range or time frame, providing more focused results. - **Refine by Number and/or Date Ranges**:\ Search results can be filtered by setting specific **number ranges** (e.g., opportunity amount) or **date ranges** (e.g., closed date), allowing users to drill down further into the data they need. - **Other Primary Fields**:\ In addition to amounts and dates, users can also filter by **record name**, **owner**, or **email**. For example, filtering opportunities by the **owner** field allows you to focus on records associated with a specific user or team. By using these filters, users can efficiently narrow down their search results, making it easier to find the most relevant records without sifting through unnecessary data. **Utility Bar in Salesforce** The **Utility Bar** in Salesforce is designed to provide users with quick and easy access to frequently used components and utilities, enhancing their efficiency across different pages and apps. - **Fixed Bar at the Bottom**:\ The Utility Bar appears as a fixed bar at the bottom of the **Salesforce Lightning Experience** user interface. It remains visible as users navigate between different pages, providing constant access to the tools and utilities they need, without disrupting their workflow. - **Customization for User Needs**:\ Users can **customize the Utility Bar** to include components that are most relevant to their work. This flexibility allows individuals or teams to add tools such as notes, recent records, or quick actions that best suit their needs. By customizing the Utility Bar, users can streamline their work process and reduce time spent navigating between pages. - **Seamless App Switching**:\ The Utility Bar allows users to easily **switch between different apps** or tools without needing to navigate away from their current page. This feature provides greater fluidity, helping users stay focused on their tasks and access tools quickly, without interrupting their workflow. **Utility Bar and UX Design in Salesforce** The **Utility Bar** plays a crucial role in enhancing the overall **user experience** (UX) in Salesforce by improving accessibility, consistency, and ease of use for various actions and utilities. - **Access to Frequent Actions**:\ The Utility Bar provides **quick access to frequently used tools**, reducing the need for users to navigate to different pages. This saves time and improves efficiency by keeping essential tools readily available. - **Consistency and Familiarity**:\ The Utility Bar maintains **consistency across different pages and apps**, offering a familiar experience for users. Its presence ensures that users can easily locate and use important tools and features, creating a unified interface across the platform. - **Customizability**:\ Users can **customize the Utility Bar** to suit their specific needs by adding relevant components related to their daily tasks. This flexibility allows for a **personalized user experience**, ensuring that the tools most important to individual users or teams are always within reach. - **Minimize Context Switching**:\ The Utility Bar allows users to **perform specific tasks** without needing to navigate away from their current page. By reducing the need for context switching, it helps users stay focused on their work and increases productivity. **Home Page Assistant Overview** The **Home Page Assistant** is a standard Lightning component available on the Home Page. It provides sales users with an overview of key updates regarding their leads and opportunities throughout the day. **Types of Updates Displayed:** 1. **Leads Assigned to the User Today** - Displays leads that have been assigned to the user on the current day. 2. **Opportunities with No Activity in 30 Days** - Shows opportunities that have had no activity for the past 30 days. 3. **Opportunities with Overdue Tasks** - Lists opportunities where associated tasks are overdue. 4. **Opportunities with No Open Activity** - Highlights opportunities that have no open activities. 5. **Overdue Opportunities** - Displays opportunities that are past their expected close date. **Number of Updates:** - The Assistant will show **up to 10 updates** at a time. - **Leads updates** will be displayed before **opportunity updates**. **Actions Available:** - **Global Actions**:\ Global actions can be displayed in the Assistant, allowing users to perform the following actions: 1. Create a new task 2. Create a new event 3. Send an email - These actions need to be included in the **related global publisher layouts** to appear in the Assistant. This feature is designed to streamline a sales user\'s workflow by providing timely updates and allowing quick actions directly from the Home Page. **Home Page Assistant** The **Home Page Assistant** is a Lightning component that displays key updates about leads and opportunities directly on the Home Page, allowing sales users to stay informed and take action. **Key Features:** - **Leads & Opportunities Updates**: Displays updates on important aspects of leads and opportunities, helping users stay on top of their workflow. - **Quick Actions**: Enables the user to take immediate actions such as creating tasks, events, or sending emails. By providing timely, relevant updates, the Home Page Assistant enhances user efficiency and ensures that critical information is easily accessible. **Favorites Feature in Salesforce** The **Favorites** feature allows users to easily navigate to individual records, lists, groups, and other frequently accessed pages within Salesforce. It simplifies access to important or regularly used pages by creating shortcuts. **Key Features:** - **Shortcuts to Pages**:\ The Favorites feature works like a browser\'s bookmark functionality. It allows users to quickly save and access pages that are important to them within Salesforce. **Using the Favorites Feature:** - **Adding to Favorites**:\ To add a page to the Favorites list, users can click the **Add Favorite (star)** button located in the feature section of the page. - **Removing from Favorites**:\ If a page is already in the Favorites list, the star button will be highlighted. Clicking the button again will **remove** the page from the Favorites list. This feature is designed to streamline navigation, ensuring that users can quickly access the pages they use most frequently without needing to search for them each time. **Favorites Section Access** The **Favorites** section can be accessed from the **upper right corner** of the screen, where users can manage their frequently accessed pages. **How to Use:** 1. **Adding a Page to Favorites**: - Click the **star button** next to the page or section you want to add to your Favorites list. 2. **Removing a Page from Favorites**: - If the page is already in the Favorites list, the star button will be highlighted. - Clicking the star button again will **remove** the page from the Favorites list. This feature is a convenient way to keep important pages within easy reach, helping users navigate Salesforce with greater efficiency. **Accessing and Managing the Favorites List** 1. **Viewing Your Favorites List**: - Click the **dropdown (arrow)** button next to the **Favorites** section to display the items in your Favorites list. 2. **Editing Favorites**: - From the **Favorites list**, you can access the **edit** option, allowing you to modify your list---such as removing or rearranging your saved favorites. This makes it easy to manage your shortcuts and ensure that your Favorites list is always up to date with the pages you access most often. **Activity Management in Salesforce** Activities in Salesforce consist of **Tasks** and **Events**, which are key components of task and calendar management. **Tasks** - **Description**: A **Task** is a to-do item that can be assigned a **due date**. - **Usage**: Used to track things that need to be done, with an optional deadline. **Events** - **Description**: **Events** are scheduled calendar events that have a specific **duration**. - **Usage**: Used to track appointments, meetings, and other time-bound events. **Specifying Activities** - **Creating Activities**: Activities can be created: 1. From a **parent record** (such as an Account or Opportunity). 2. From the **Task, Event, and Calendar** object home page. - **Related Activities**: Activities can be related to records like **Accounts**, **Contacts**, **Cases**, and **Opportunities** for better context and tracking. - **Standalone Activities**: Tasks or Events can also be created independently as **personal** tasks or events. **Recurrence** - **Repeat Tasks & Events**: Both Tasks and Events can be set to **repeat** with configurable options, such as frequency (e.g., daily, weekly) and the last occurrence. **Customization** - **Customization Options**: Tasks and Events can be customized with: 1. **Custom fields** 2. **Validation rules** 3. **Record types** 4. **Page layouts** **Copying Activities** - **Create Follow-Up**: Tasks and Events can be copied using the **'Create Follow-Up Task'** or **'Create Follow-Up Event'** buttons, making it easy to duplicate activities with similar details. **Task List View** - **Access**: The task list view can be accessed from the **Tasks tab**. - **Standard Views**: You can view: 1. **Today\'s tasks** 2. **Open tasks** 3. **Overdue tasks** 4. **Recently completed tasks** - **In-Line Editing**: Task fields can be edited directly within the list view for quicker updates. The fields displayed can also be customized. **Visibility** - **User Visibility**: Users can see their own tasks, while **managers** can view their team\'s tasks for better oversight and management. This system streamlines the management of tasks and events within Salesforce, making it easier to stay organized and track activities across different records. **Group Tasks in Salesforce** A **Group Task** allows a single task to be assigned to multiple users, streamlining task management for collaborative efforts. **Key Features of Group Tasks:** 1. **Assignment Limit**:\ A Group Task can be assigned to up to **200 users** at once. 2. **Individual Task Creation**: - For each user selected, a **separate copy** of the task is created. Each user will have their own independent version of the task in their task list. 3. **Total Task Display**: - Before the task is created, the **total number of tasks** to be created is displayed, based on the number of users selected. **Creating a Group Task:** 1. **Assigning to Multiple Users**: - A task can be assigned to **multiple users and groups** by selecting the relevant users and groups when creating the task. 2. **Total Number of Tasks**: - The **total number of tasks** to be created (based on the number of users selected) will be shown before the task is finalized. This feature is particularly useful for situations where a task needs to be completed by multiple team members or departments, ensuring that each person has a personalized version of the task to track. **To Do List Component** The **To Do List** component is a default utility item in Salesforce that provides users with a comprehensive way to manage their tasks. **Key Features:** 1. **View and Organize Tasks**: - Users can view all of their tasks in a single list. - Tasks can be **sorted** by different criteria (e.g., due date, priority). - Tasks can be **labeled** and **organized** into categories for better tracking and management. 2. **Reordering Tasks**: - Tasks can be **re-ordered** via **drag and drop** to adjust their priority or change the order in which they should be addressed. 3. **Actionable Tasks**: - Users can take actions directly from the To Do List, such as marking tasks as complete, editing tasks, or creating follow-up tasks. **Supported Editions:** - The To Do List component is available in the following Salesforce editions: - **Enterprise** - **Professional** - **Unlimited** - It is supported when **Sales Cloud** is enabled. The To Do List component provides a streamlined way to stay on top of tasks, helping users stay organized and efficient. It is especially useful for managing personal tasks as well as team-wide activities in Salesforce. **Calendars in Salesforce** Calendars provide a visual way to track and manage events, with options for both personal and public event management. **Key Features** - **File Attachments** - When creating an event and associating a file, anyone with access to the event can view the attached file. - **Personal Calendar** - Every user has a **personal calendar**, which can be accessed by the owner and shared with other users. - **Public Calendars** - **Admins** can create **public calendars** to manage group activities, and users can access or share them based on permissions. - **Public Calendar Sharing** - Public calendars and resources can be shared with: - Manager-subordinate groups - Public groups - Roles & internal subordinates - Users - By default, no sharing is set up. **Calendar Interface** - A list of **personal** and **public calendars** is visible on the **calendar page**, allowing users to easily navigate between different calendars. **Public Calendars & Resources** - **Public Calendars** - Used to manage group activities, such as team meetings or company-wide events. - **Resource Calendars** - Used to schedule shared resources, like conference rooms or equipment, ensuring proper management and availability. This setup helps manage events and shared resources efficiently, offering flexible access and sharing options. **Quick Actions in Salesforce** Quick actions allow users to perform specific tasks or actions directly from the Salesforce page layout or related lists, enhancing productivity and streamlining common tasks. **Key Features of Quick Actions** - **Streamlining Common Tasks** - Quick actions can be customized to perform various tasks, such as: - Creating a new record - Updating fields - Sending an email - Creating a task - And more... - They save time by allowing users to quickly perform actions without leaving the current page. **Types of Actions** 1. **Custom Actions** - Newly created or customized actions tailored to specific needs. They can be: - **Global** (available across all records) - **Object-specific** (e.g., Create a Record, Send an Email, Log a Call) - Custom actions can invoke: - **Lightning components** - **Flows** - **Visualforce pages** - **Canvas apps** 2. **Default Actions** - Predefined actions by Salesforce for specific objects. For example, on the **Account** object, default actions include **New Task**, **New Contact**, etc. **Mobile Smart Actions** - **Mobile Smart Actions** are preconfigured actions similar to default actions. They: - Appear as a single action element in the page layout editor. - Are designed for use in the **Salesforce mobile app** only. - Common actions include **New Task**, **New Contact**, **New Opportunity**, etc. **Productivity Actions** - **Productivity Actions** are predefined actions attached to a limited set of objects, designed to improve efficiency. Examples include: - **Send Email** - **Log a Call** - **View Website** These actions are available across various objects and are designed to improve user productivity by simplifying routine tasks. Quick actions enhance user workflows in Salesforce by providing easy access to frequently used tasks, improving efficiency and reducing the number of steps required to perform common operations. **Types of Quick Actions** Quick actions in Salesforce can be categorized into **Global** and **Object-Specific** actions, each with different use cases and placement. **Global Quick Actions** - **Characteristics**: - No automatic relationship with any specific record. - Available universally across Salesforce. - Can be found on the **(+) icon** in the Salesforce header. - **Examples**: - **Create Actions** - **Log a Call** - **Custom Actions** **Object-Specific Quick Actions** - **Characteristics**: - Automatically associated with related records. - Found on the **record detail page** of a specific object. - **Examples**: - **Create Actions** - **Log a Call** - **Update Actions** - **Custom Actions** This distinction allows Salesforce to provide both broad and specific task management capabilities, offering flexibility to users based on their workflow needs. **Global Actions in Salesforce** **Global Actions** are versatile actions that can be created to perform a variety of tasks across Salesforce. They provide a fast and efficient way to complete tasks from anywhere within the platform. **Types of Global Actions** Global actions can be created to perform the following tasks: 1. **Create a Standard Object Record** - Examples: Account, Campaign, Case, Contact, Lead, Contract, Event, Group, Opportunity, Task, Question. 2. **Create a Custom Object Record** 3. **Log a Call** 4. **Send an Email** 5. **Display a Visualforce Page** 6. **Display a Custom Canvas** 7. **Launch a Lightning Component** **Accessing Global Actions** - **Desktop**:\ Global actions can be accessed by clicking the **Global Actions menu icon** in the Salesforce header. - **Mobile**:\ In the Salesforce mobile app, global actions can be accessed in the **action bar** on the **Feed** and **People** pages. Global actions provide a streamlined way to perform common tasks quickly, regardless of where users are within Salesforce. **Object-Specific Actions in the Salesforce App** Object-specific actions can be used by users to quickly create or update records, log calls, etc. in the context of a particular object. **RECORD CREATION & RELATIONSHIP** Create records that are automatically associated with related records. **ACTION TYPES** Possible action types are: - Create a record - Send email - Log a call - Custom Visualforce - Update a record - Lightning component (Aura and Lightning web components) - Flow **SUPPORTED OBJECTS FOR CREATE ACTIONS** Examples of supported objects for create a record actions: - Account - Asset - Campaign - Case - Contact - Custom Objects - Group - Lead - Opportunity **Object-Specific Actions for Account** Below are some of the example object-specific actions for the **Account** object: **Account Layout for Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience** - The positions of the actions in the **Salesforce mobile app action bar** can be customized in the object's page layout editor. **Object-Specific Action Layout** The layout of an object-specific action determines the fields that will be displayed when the action is initiated. 1. **Layout Per Action** - When an action is created, there is always a corresponding layout that can be customized based on requirements. 2. **Arrange Field Order** - Fields can be **added**, **removed**, or **reordered** on the action layout. 3. **Display Actions in the UI** - To display the action in the user interface, it needs to be added to the **Publisher Actions section** of the object\'s page layout. **Override Global Publisher Layout** - The **'Override global publisher layout'** option must be selected when adding new object-specific actions for the first time on an object's page layout. - This option allows users to set a customized list of actions on **Lightning Experience** and **mobile app pages**. The layout and customization of object-specific actions allow for tailored user experiences, ensuring that actions appear in the most efficient and relevant way for each user. **Summary of the Basic Chatter Features** **FEATURE** **DESCRIPTION** ------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Chatter Feeds** A sorted list of activities (e.g. posts, comments, or record updates) related to a person or a record. Files and links can be commented as posts to collaborate with other users. Enable feed tracking for objects to allow tracking changes on records. Post polls to conduct surveys. **Chatter File** A file of up to 2GB can be attached to a post or comment. **Chatter Follow Records or Users** Records or Chatter users can be 'followed' so that other users can be notified and see their feed updates. **Chatter Groups** Create public or private groups to collaborate with specific people. Invite customers to private groups to work with external users. **Chatter Like** A vote of approval to like a post or comment. **Chatter Poll** A way of collecting feedback related to a particular question. **Chatter Profiles** Information about a Salesforce user. **Chatter Share** Share a post with followers or a group. **Chatter Messages** Get secure and private conversations with other Chatter users. (Classic UI) **Chatter Topics** Add topics to Chatter posts and records. View all posts about a topic. Find and endorse people knowledgeable about a topic. **Publisher Actions** Create quick actions and add them to the Chatter publisher. These basic Chatter features provide a wide range of collaboration tools, enabling users to communicate, share content, gather feedback, and track changes within Salesforce. **Posts in Salesforce** Posts are updates or comments made on a particular record or within a group. They are an essential part of Chatter communication, allowing users to interact with records and colleagues efficiently. **Key Features of Posts** - **Post Attachment**\ Files and links can be associated with posts, allowing for richer communication and easy access to related content. - **Bookmarked Posts**\ Any number of posts can be bookmarked and found again quickly in the **bookmark feed** in the left sidebar. This feature helps users keep track of important or frequently referenced posts. - **Posting a File**\ When a file is posted on a record\'s Chatter feed, it is: - Automatically added to the **Notes & Attachments** related list. - Stored in **Files** for easy access. - **A Draft Post**\ Posts can be saved as drafts. All unpublished feed items are saved as drafts until they are published or deleted. - **Pinning a Post in a Feed**\ Posts can be pinned to the top of the feed to increase visibility of critical information, ensuring important updates are not overlooked. - **Linking a Record**\ When posting or commenting in Chatter, users can link relevant records by: - Entering a forward slash (/) and typing the record name. - This allows for quick and easy linking of relevant records in the Chatter feed. These features enhance the flexibility and visibility of posts within Salesforce, making collaboration and record tracking more efficient. **Dashboards in Salesforce** Dashboards are visual representations of data from multiple reports, all displayed in one location. They offer insights into business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) through various visual components. **Key Features of Dashboards** - **Source Reports**\ Dashboards can display data from multiple reports. The same report can be added more than once, using different visual components (called dashboard widgets) to provide different views of the data. The report itself can be opened directly from the widgets on the dashboard. - **Widgets** - Up to **25 widgets** can be added to a dashboard. - This includes a maximum of: - **20 charts and tables** - **2 images** - \*\*25 rich text widgets **Customizability** - **Resizing**: Widgets can be easily resized and may span across multiple rows and columns. - **Auto-Arrangement**: When a widget is dragged around the grid, other widgets will automatically rearrange and fit around each other. **Widget Features** - **Chart**: A chart from the source report can be used directly on the dashboard without editing. - **Dashboard Filter**: Filters can be added to the dashboard to refine the displayed data. **Searching for Dashboards** - **Global Search**: The global search bar can be used to access a specific dashboard by typing in keywords from the dashboard's name. - **Favorites**: Dashboards can be added to the **Favorites list** for quick access from any location in the Salesforce org. - **Folders**: In the **Dashboards tab**, sort and quick search tools are provided within a selected dashboard folder to filter results in the Dashboards table. **Purpose and Benefits of Dashboards** - **Central Repository**: Dashboards provide a central location for multiple reports. - **Data Insights**: Allows users to analyze the data from a report in different ways. - **Ease of Use**: Requires no extensive technical skills to build. - **Consistency**: Dashboards can be configured to ensure that all viewers see the same data. - **Overview of Metrics**: Dashboards present an overview of important metrics and KPIs for specific areas of business. - **Business Insights**: Dashboards provide actionable insights to help inform data-driven decisions. - **Snapshot Data**: Dashboards display snapshot data as of the last time the dashboard was refreshed. **Dashboard Widgets** - **Chart or Table** - A **chart** provides a graphical representation of data (e.g., horizontal bar, vertical bar, line, pie, donut, funnel, or scatter charts). - A **table** widget displays data in a list format (e.g., top opportunities by amount). - **Text** - Rich text widgets support various formatting options such as font styles, sizes, colors, bullet points, and alignment. - **Image** - The **image widget** displays visual content, like logos or product images, to enhance the dashboard's presentation. - **Visualforce** - A **Visualforce page** widget is used when a custom component is needed or when information not available in another widget type must be displayed. Dashboards are a powerful way to bring together multiple data points in one easy-to-digest view, improving decision-making and business analysis within Salesforce. **Reports in Salesforce** A **report** in Salesforce is a set of data that meets defined criteria, providing valuable insights into your business operations. Reports allow users to analyze data, track performance, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. **Purpose of Reports** - **Data Analysis**\ Reports allow users to analyze data by summarizing, grouping, and filtering it based on specific criteria to identify trends, patterns, and business insights. - **Performance Tracking**\ Reports help track business and user performance against key metrics, facilitating data-driven decisions and highlighting areas for improvement. - **Up-to-Date Information Accessibility**\ Salesforce reports can be shared with specific users or groups and scheduled to run automatically, ensuring users have access to the latest information when they need it. **Benefits of Reports** - **Data Visibility**\ Provides a holistic view of business operations, trends, and patterns to support decision-making. - **Customization**\ Reports can be customized through filters, groupings, and visualizations to meet specific needs or answer targeted business questions. - **Collaboration**\ Sharing reports within the organization ensures all teams have access to the same, up-to-date information. - **Informed Decisions**\ Organizations can make data-driven decisions based on real-time insights derived from reports. **Creating Reports** To build a report in **Lightning Experience**, the **Lightning Report Builder** is used. It can be accessed in the **Reports tab** and offers the following features: - **Report Type**\ The report type determines which records and fields are available for the report. - **Report Fields**\ When editing a report, fields can be added or removed to customize the content of the report. - **Summarization**\ Columns can be summarized using aggregate functions like Sum, Average, Max, Min, or Median. - **Grouping Data**\ Records can be grouped by rows and columns without choosing a specific report format. - **Report Filters**\ Reports include standard filters (e.g., **\'Show Me\'** and **\'Date\'**) depending on the report type. These can be customized to refine data results. - **Report Charts**\ A chart can be added to a report if at least one group has been added. This provides a graphical representation of the data. - **Streamlined Report Creation**\ The Lightning Report Builder allows for easy, multi-field selection. Users can select multiple fields and drag them to the **Columns list** or directly into the **report preview pane** for streamlined report creation. **Report Limitations** - **Preview Report** - In preview mode, the report builder calculates totals and summaries on a subset of data. - **Tabular Reports** (no grouping) display up to **50 rows** in the preview. - **Grouped Reports** (summary or matrix) display up to **20 rows**. - **Run Report** - **Tabular Reports**: Limited to **2,000 rows**. - **Grouped Reports**: Limited to **2,000 groupings** when 'Show Details' is disabled. - **Matrix Reports**: Limited to **400,000 summarized values**. For more rows, the report can be **exported** as an **Excel** or **CSV file**. Reports are a powerful tool in Salesforce, offering users the ability to track and analyze data, monitor performance, and make informed business decisions, all while providing an easy-to-use interface for customization and collaboration.