Managing User Permissions – Best Practices & What Is Happening To User Profiles

Managing User Permissions in Salesforce has always been quite the challenge. Especially when you are new to Salesforce. The entire topic of data access and security can make you want to bang your head against a wall. The good news is: Salesforce provides cushioning. This means, Salesforce heard you and is making user permission management a fair bit easier. In this article, we’ll discuss what is happening to User Profiles and how you should be using Permission Sets moving forward.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    How Salesforce User Profiles and Permission Sets Fit in With The Data Security Model

    Salesforce’s data security model essentially consists of four layers: 

    The first layer determines a user’s access to the Salesforce organization, like their username and password.

    The second layer determines what users can see and do in Salesforce such as viewing specific types of records (a.k.a. Objects), edit or delete records.

    The third layer specifies whose records users can access. Not only records they own or created, but also records of their colleagues.

    And the fourth layer is all about the level of detail (=fields). How much information should a user be able to see. For example, should a sales user be able to see credit card information? Possibly not! But the finance department may need to.

    You guessed it! User permission management therefore belongs to the second layer of the data security model, even before you determine whose records or what fields they get access to.

    Types of Salesforce User Permissions – What Users Can SEE and DO

    As mentioned earlier, the second layer determines what users can see and do in Salesforce. 

    What users can ‘see’ relates to settings which specify which Apps users will have access to from the App Launcher and which tabs will be available in the navigation bar. Even if you give Users access to the Sales App for example, you can still restrict access to the Opportunities tab if they wouldn’t require access to this particular tab. 

    You can also specify what types of records users can see. For example, Accounts may be differentiated by Customer Accounts vs Partner Accounts. Some users may only need to see one or the other.

    Plus, the ‘see’ permissions also determine how pages and fields will be displayed to users. You can arrange the order of the information, group them, highlight important details etc.

    What users can ‘do’ with what they can ‘see’, is all about what they will be able to do within the Apps, Tabs and Pages they have access to. 

    This includes Standard Object permissions such as creating opportunity records. Or Custom Object permissions such a creating candidate records.

    You also have App Permissions available to choose from. These are permissions only relevant to a specific app to fulfil a particular task, for example converting leads as part of the Marketing App.

    And then there are System Permissions which are cross-object permissions like creating reports or creating list views and so on. This means, these permissions are relevant for all types of records.

    Salesforce Data Security and Access is part of our comprehensive Salesforce Administrator Certification Course. You’ll learn how it all connects to Salesforce Objects, User Setup and more:

    Tools To Assign Salesforce User Permissions

    Let’s go back to the future first and understand how things used to be done, and are partially still going to be done. Then, we’ll look into to the future to see what Salesforce is going to change and make easier.

    The tools available to a System Administrator to manage user permissions are Profiles, Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups. BTW, these are not going to change as such. Phew! 😅

    Let’s start with Profiles and how they have been working up until now: Profiles are used to specify a baseline of permissions users require to do their jobs. Hence, an Admin would pick form the types of SEE and DO permissions to determine this baseline. For example, the Admin would include the Read permission on the Accounts Object.

    Such a Profile will then be assigned to one or more users within a particular job function or department. This means, a Profile is often assigned to multiple users within the same job function or team. 

    Here are the Standard Profiles Salesforce provides out-of-the-box. These have been set up with pre-selected permissions to save the Administrator a lot of time ticking a lot of checkboxes. Standard Profiles are not editable but can be cloned to tailor to specific business requirements. This cloning process creates a so-called Custom Profile, which is simply another version of the Standard Profile.

    Permission Sets are an extension to Profiles, to grant additional permissions for specific job functions, for example the Create Accounts permission. 

    Some organizations are very restrictive about account creations and thus only allow a small number of users, if not only one, to create them. Hence, this type of permission would not be added to a Profile, but to a Permission Set instead.

    Therefore, Permission Sets usually contain only 2-3 permissions and are only created as needed and assigned to individual users at a time.

    This means, the Admin can pick from the same pool of SEE and DO permissions but selects only what is not already available to the User through their assigned Profile.

    The Profile and Permission Set(s) assigned to an individual user essentially determine their total access.

    Permission Set Groups were introduced by Salesforce only a few releases ago, and are used to bundle multiple Permission Sets and assign to selected users. This means, that Administrators no longer have to painstakingly assign Permissions Sets one by one. They can now bundle them into a Permission Set Group and assign the entire group of Permission Sets in one go.

    Here’s an example of two types of Users within the same department. You can see that some Permission Sets are the same for both, but then there’s one Permission Set which is only required by the Sales Manager. Therefore, we created two Permission Set Groups based on each user’s job function, added the required Permission Sets (which had been created beforehand) and then assigned to each User as appropriate. 

    Permission Set Groups can be assigned to multiple users, and that’s exactly why they are so handy. Especially in larger organizations where you may have something like five Sales Managers and 20 Sales Assistants or 20 Sales Representatives, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time when allocating user permissions.

    In summary, up until now you would have done the following:

    1. Set up a Custom Profile containing the minimum permissions, like Read and Edit Accounts (Alert: This part is changing!)
    2. Create Permission Sets by job function – Remember: DON’T add too many permissions into one Permission Set. It’ll be almost impossible to tell what you have added
    3. When you realize you have too many Permission Sets to assign to certain users, you’ll create a Permission Set Group to bundle them and make your life a lot easier

    Complexity of Salesforce User Profiles and Permission Sets

    What happened so far was that System Administrators created a lot of Custom Profiles to allocate business specific permissions. Then they created a lot of Permission Sets for all those additional permissions of each job function. And then they also started creating a lot of Permission Set Groups. 🤯🤯🤯

    There’s suddenly A LOT OF everything!

    What does this mean? If you don’t have a smart document that tells you which Profile and which Permission Set does what and which user has what assigned, you’ll be running far far away. 🏃‍♂️

    Yes, you can create reports or export a file with Dataloader, but it’ll still be rather difficult to put it all together.

    What Will Happen To Salesforce User Profiles

    To reduce the amount of Profiles and to add more flexibility to the way you assign or remove user permissions, Salesforce is planning the following changes starting Spring ’26:

    👉 Removing most (but not all) user permissions from User Profiles. 

    IN LIEU, you will need to use Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups, like you already have. But in the future, you’ll manage MOST user permissions through Permission Sets.

    Here’s what they will remove from Profiles and ONLY make available through Permission Sets:

    👉 ESSENTIALLY, the concept of using Profiles, Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups doesn’t change. Certain permissions like access to Apps, Record Type and Page Layouts will still be managed via Profiles. 

    BUT, the types of permissions managed through Profiles changes so much so that you will no longer have to create so many Custom Profiles.

    Don’t wait for Spring ’26! Start your New BEST PRACTICE already:

    Starting a new best practice already will save you time later moving permissions from Profiles to Permission Sets. Here is what this may look like:

    1. Clone the ‘Minimum Access’ Profile and only use to assign Apps, Record Types and Page Layouts for a particular group of users, like Sales Users or Marketing Users. Nothing else!
    2. Name the cloned profile after the role or job function, use a meaningful naming convention
    3. Create Permission Sets by job function – Remember: DON’T add too many permissions into ONE Permission Set. It’ll be almost impossible to tell what you have added. Rather have more Permission Sets with a very precise description
    4. Bundle job function related Permission Sets into a Permission Set Group, give it a meaningful name, and assign to relevant users

    FINAL STEP, if not even the first, DOCUMENT what you set up!!! It doesn’t have to be a fancy schmancy paid document service, it can be a simple as a Word document to get you started. BUT PLEASE, write it down.

    Our Salesforce Administrator Certification Course takes you through the setup steps and best practices in a logical order. You’ll be a pro in no time!

    How Salesforce Will Help You With The Transition

    Salesforce is making a plan to help you make the move from User Profiles to Permission Sets. Here is what they have announced so far. As always, refer to the Release Notes for any further updates on these:

    Spring ’23 – Salesforce is introducing the ‘User Access Policies’ feature. It will help you ‘migrate’ user permissions based on specific criteria and attributes. HOWEVER, it will be in Beta and only available to orgs with Enterprise and Unlimited Editions (for now).

    Summer ’23 – Field Level Security can be switched to Permission Sets. This is ALREADY in BETA. And is planned to become GA (generally available) in Summer ’23. BEWARE: You must have all your Permission Sets sorted and assigned to Users BEFORE you switch this over. Otherwise, it may get ugly…

    Spring ’24 – Turn off ability to assign retiring (EOL = end of life) permissions on User Profiles.

    Even though Spring ’26 may seem far away, it’ll arrive sooner than you’d like. And then suddenly, you have to migrate hundreds of user profiles. 

    Start with the New Best Practice mentioned earlier. For example, if there is any new Custom Profile you have been asked to create, don’t create it right away. See if the New Best Practice may actually be a valid alternative already.

    Start making a plan for all your Profiles already on how to move the EOL permissions from User Profiles to Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups. Take it step by step, like department by department or job function by job function.

    I hope you found this walk-through helpful. Got a question? Please do leave me a comment below! 👏🏻

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorialsdownloadable Study Workbooksand realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up to our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to the Summer ’23 Release. How do you know what’s new?

    Are you currently preparing for your Salesforce Certification Exam? If so, do you know what’s new in the latest release? The below article will explain how to work through the release notes and identify the topics relevant for the type of exam you are planning to take, based on the Winter’23 release. However, we’ve just moved into Summer’23. Use the below article to understand the concept.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    This article teaches you the concepts of how to work through the Salesforce Release Notes, initially based on the Winter’23 release. HOWEVER! This applies to ANY Salesforce release and the steps below will show you exactly how you’ll identify what’s relevant to prepare for either your Salesforce Certification Exam or your current role as a Salesforce professional.

    🌶️ BEFORE YOU EVEN LOOK AT THE SALESFORCE RELEASE NOTES

    The Release Notes are a VEEEEERY long list of new features or updated features that Salesforce are releasing in that particular release cycle. It can feel very intimidating just looking at the screen. 🤯 At least that’s what it felt like to me the first few times I needed to get my head around the release updates. And that while I was preparing for my very first Salesforce Administrator Certification a few years back. If that wasn’t enough already! Now they also wanted me to understand the Release Notes too. Phew!

    In particular when you are relatively new to Salesforce and are just starting to learn about its features and functionalities, you need to process everything SOMEHOW. Right? Right! You can’t possibly learn and understand everything at the same time.

    Trust me when I tell you: Don’t even try. I did try and almost threw the towel. Therefore: Learn your Salesforce Fundamentals first! Only WHEN you feel at least ‘relatively’ confident, THEN start looking at the Release Notes.

    UNDERSTAND WHICH RELEASE CYCLE YOUR SALESFORCE CERTIFICATION EXAM WILL BE IN

    This is where you ALWAYS need to go back to: The exam guide for the Salesforce Certification you want to take. That’s your single-most source of truth. Whether you are just starting to prepare for your exam or you have booked your exam day already, this page is where you need to check the latest exam relevant knowledge topics AND the exam relevant release cycle.

    The exam release cycle is displayed at the very top of your exam guide. Here’s an example of the exam guide of the Salesforce Certified Administrator. However, this applies to any exam guide:

    🌶️ If you have already booked, or you are planning to book, your exam day in the near future, have a look at the Retake Policy too! It not only explains what happens in case you don’t pass, but it also includes the certification release cycle dates. 

    If the exam close date is around your planned exam day, you may want to plan around it. If possible, try to take the exam within the release cycle, so you don’t have to worry about it (for now). However, if that’s not possible, I’d suggest choosing a date at least 1-2 weeks after the exam launch date, so you have time to not only get familiar with the changes but also practice them in your Trailhead Playground.

    View here: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Retake-Policy-for-Proctored-Multiple-Choice-Exams

    👉 NOTE: The listed dates may vary. Therefore, it’s best to review this page around the planned exam launch and close dates to be sure. And of course, check the exam guide whether it already displays the new cycle.

    HOW TO IDENTIFY WHAT CHANGES ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR SALESFORCE CERTIFICATION EXAM

    And now comes the tricky part. What changes are actually relevant for the particular exam you are preparing for? In this article, I’ll use the Salesforce Certified Administrator as an example. If you are taking any other certification exam, then just apply the same concept.

    First, you need to find the release notes to start with. Of course, you can simply type “Salesforce Release Notes” into your search machine (I mostly use Google) and it will probably come up as the first search result:

    🌶️ Otherwise, I’d recommend to get familiar with the Salesforce Help pages. They are your go-to-place for anything Salesforce features and functionalities for any Salesforce Product, a.k.a. Salesforce Clouds (think Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc.). It’s Salesforce’s system manual, like the manual of your washing machine. 😉

    👉 BOOKMARK IT! Since you’re likely going to need to review the release notes on a regular basis (if you want to be a role-model Salesforce professional), it’s best to bookmark it in your browser, so you don’t have to worry about finding it again.

    And finally, here’s how to pick out the topics relevant to your upcoming exam:

    1 – Look through the Release Notes main menu and focus on the topics that already sound familiar based on the topics listed in your exam guide. Here are the ones I usually look at when it comes to all things Salesforce Administration (declarative).

    2 – Then go through each step-by-step. Expand their sub-topics and see what they entail.

    In most cases it’s sufficient to browse over. However, if you’re really not sure what it’s about, it helps to take a closer look, a.k.a. go into one of your Trailhead Playgrounds and have a look for yourself.

    The Release Notes sometimes include screenshots and a ‘How’, but unfortunately this is not always the case. I’ve often had times where I’ve been scratching my head 🤔 how the heck this features is supposed to work or where exactly in the Setup I need to go. 

    Plus, some of those features are not available in your Tailhead Playground (=Developer Edition. Refer to ‘Where’.) so you can’t actually test it out, but you still need to know about it. HOWEVER, it would usually not be an in-depth exam question, more a general knowledge type of question to test whether you’re familiar with general concepts and general features.

    3 – Repeat this process with each menu item you’ve identified.

    Even though you may be feeling pretty confident with your exam relevant knowledge, it may still feel rather overwhelming. And that’s perfectly normal. The first few months learning Salesforce are the hardest because there’s so much information thrown at you, but know that it takes time and that YOU WILL GET THERE!

    Find out whether you are ready to take the real Salesforce Certification Exam

    If you’re still unsure whether or not you are ready to take the real exam, then you can take Practice Exams. That’s what they are there for. 🤓

    They help you identify the knowledge areas you still need to deepen. And they help you get familiar with the exam format and complexity, because they are similar to the real exam. There’s no better way to prepare!

    Since the Salesforce Certified Administrator Exam is one of the hardest, Salesforce provide you with two Practice Tests. And to give you even more options to practice, we give you an additional 5 Practice Exams. 

    You do not have to take any of these of course, but they can give you a lot of peace of mind because you’ll know what to expect!

    👉 Administrator Certification Prep Interactive Practice Testhttps://developer.salesforce.com/files/ti/thi/THI-000393/administratorpracticetest.html

    👉 Administrator Practice Test: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Administrator-Practice-Test

    👉 WeLearnSalesforce Practice Exam Bundle (incl. 5 Practice Exams, 60 Questions each): https://www.welearnsalesforce.com/courses/salesforce-administrator-certification-practice-exams

    👉 Salesforce Certified Administrator Exam (the real one) – Register via Webassessor: https://webassessor.com/salesforce

    I hope you found this article helpful. Let me know in the comments what you think about the Release Notes. Do you follow the same process or have you identified another way to process the release changes? I’d love to know!

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorialsdownloadable Study Workbooksand realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up to our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    TOP 10 SALESFORCE SPRING ’22 RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS

    The Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to Spring ’22. Aren’t we already moving into Summer ’22? That’s right. However, the exam cycles do have a shifted time frame. Salesforce learners need to be able to catch up. And here we go, if you are preparing for your Salesforce Certification Exam, make sure to familiarize yourself with the current release notes. Here are my TOP 10.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    #1 Collaborative Forecast Setup Becomes More Effective

    This makes so much sense. Salesforce is combining Forecast Settings and Forecast Types into one screen. You won’t find a separate menu item for Forecast Types anymore. And that’s not all.

    The Forecast Settings include a few new features, such as the display of Quota-related information. You get two new columns by default, the “Gap to Quota” and the “Pipeline Coverage”.

    Tip: Enable “Show quotas” in order to see the option to enable “Show gap to quota and pipeline coverage”.

    #2 Display Historical Trending on Forecast Tab

    You’ll love this one for sure! You may be familiar with Historical Trending which is used to track changes on records such as Forecast Items. Historical Trending is usually used in reports to analyze such changes. However, in regards to Forecast Items, you can now enable the display of upward or downward trends on the Forecast Tab. This may even make the creation of corresponding reports redundant. #admintimesaver 👏🏻

    Tip: Historical Trending is not enabled by default. Make sure to enable it first. Once it’s ready you’ll receive an email. After which Forecast Users will find respective Display Options on the Forecast Tab to choose from.

    #3 Selecting The Right Report Types Becomes So Much Easier

    When creating a new report from scratch, the very first thing you need to choose is the Report Type. If you get it wrong, you’ll have to start all over. 🤯 Salesforce makes this easier by showing you Recently Used Report Types.

    And the best part is you can now hide Report Types which should not be used at all. This feature was already available in Salesforce Classic, and finally found its way into Lightning Experience. What took them so long? 🤔

    Tip: You need to enable this feature under Reports and Dashboards Settings by ticking the checkbox “Enable Recommended Report Types”

    #4 Inline Editing in Reports Gets Even Better

    Similar to List Views, inline editing can be a double-edged sword. On the one side, inline editing can be very practical allowing Users to make changes right from the Report without having to open the record. On the other side though, related information might get overseen and not updated. This is being improved now. Whenever you update one field on a record that is relevant to another field on the same record, this related field will be highlighted.

    Note: This feature is still in Beta and may or may not become Generally Available.

    Tip: If you haven’t already, enable “Inline Editing in Reports” in the Reports and Dashboards Settings.

    #5 Personal Data Protection In An Online World Becomes Even More Important

    You already have all these data security and access tools available to prevent unauthorized access to specific types of data. However, there’s been a gap around User Data such as Names, Addresses, Emails, etc., especially in Experience Cloud Site Users. They should not necessarily be able to see each other’s details. Therefore, make sure to enable “Enhanced Personal Information Management” in the User Management Settings.

    Note: This replaces the “Hide Personal Information” feature, which you will need to disable again if you had it turned on.

    #6 Sharing Rules Become More Sophisticated

    In regards to data protection, you can now include or exclude specific records which are associated with High-Volume Community Users or System Users.

    Tip: By default, the Sharing Rule automatically includes these records. If this is not desired, ensure to deselect the checkbox “Include records owned by users who can’t have an assigned role”.

    #7 Smarter Manage Permission Set Group Assignments with Expiration Dates

    Keeping an overview of who is assigned to what Permission Set or Permission Set Group is hard enough. Permission Set Groups even allow you to add expiration dates which is awesome. You can now not only see the list of Users with an expiry date, but you can now also search and filter Users.

    Note: This feature is currently in Beta, and may or may not become Generally Available.

    Tip: Enable “Permission Set & Permission Set Group Assignments with Expiration Dates” in the User Management Settings in order to assign and manage expirations.

    #8 Identify Sloooooowwww Record Pages

    Since the introduction of Lightning Experience, Users have been complaining about slow page loads. This impacts user adoption significantly and Salesforce has already made a number of improvements around this issue. The Lightning Usage App already includes a section around “Slowest Desktop Record Pages”. However, while you are building out Lightning Record Pages, you are now automatically prompted when the system recognized pages that could run more efficiently.

    No tip, just keep an eye out. 😉

    #9 Our Love For Flow Is Growing

    Almost no other Salesforce development tool has seen so many improvements in such a short time as the Flow Builder does. We all know by now that Flow will become your go-to automation tool and Salesforce is making sure, you won’t have such a hard time. From all the new updates, here are my Top 3:

    Auto-Layout becomes Generally Available

    When you create a new Flow it is automatically set to Auto-Layout. However, if you prefer, you can switch it back to Freeform. I still personally prefer Freeform because I like to see all Elements and Resources in the panel on the left. #oldhabitsdiehard However, the Auto-Layout is just perfect for Flow Newbies or if you prefer a more guided approach.

    Use Flow Trigger Explorer to see all Flows associated to a specific Object

    One of the issues with having too many automation tools is that you don’t really know what automation is already in place for one particular Object.

    The Flow Trigger Explorer has been put in place to take some of that guesswork out. Of course, it can only look at Flows, but for Record-Triggered Flows, it shows you if there are other Flows already in place for the same Object. Almost too good to be true, but it’s right there. 😉

    No tip, just click on “Open Flow Trigger Explorer…”.

    Determine Run Order of Record-Triggered Flows

    How do you know which Flow runs first when you have multiple Flows for the same Object? Good question. Problem solved with the “Trigger Order” field which you can determine when you save a Flow. If the Flow was saved already, just go to the Flow Properties.

    Note: The Flows must use the same trigger, either before-save or after-save.

    And there’s heaps more. Make sure to check out the other Flow updates too.

    #10 Convert Workflow Rules to Flow

    A little warning first: Don’t try this one in a real Production Org, test this out in a Sandbox or Developer Org first! Plus, this is currently in Beta and may require fine-tuning. However, it’s certainly worth giving it a go.

    It’s time we face it: Workflow Rules and Processes are going to be retired. While they will still be around for another (probably long) while, you won’t be able to create new ones anymore. You will only be able to edit existing ones. This means, you still need to know how Workflow Rules and Processes work. But, you will also need to learn more about Flow and how to migrate Workflow Rules and Processes to Flow Builder. Salesforce is starting to provide you with migration tools. Here’s one for Workflow Rules:

    You will find a new Setup menu item “Migrate to Flow”. Select the Rules you wish to migrate and the system will do the work for you. Once the migration is completed, you will be able to test the functionality in Flow Builder. Voila!

    There are so many more features to explore. Go check them out and remember you can earn points for learning all about them: Spring ’22 Release Highlights

    Let us know in the comments which features you enjoy the most. We’d love to hear from you!

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorials, downloadable Study Workbooks and realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up to our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    Restriction Rules – Yet Another Data Security Management Tool?

    Hell YESSS! Nothing is more important than protecting your customer’s sensitive data you are storing in your Salesforce Org. You can land in prison if you don’t. Ok, I’m being overdramatic, but nevertheless, data protection is a serious topic. So how about we break down the entire model and see how the Restriction Rules fit in? Let’s go!

    Hell YESSS! Nothing is more important than protecting your customer’s sensitive data you are storing in your Salesforce Org. You can land in prison if you don’t. Ok, I’m being overdramatic, but nevertheless, data protection is a serious topic. And your data security toolset just got a new addition. 🤯

    Whether you are a new Admin, experienced Admin, App Builder, Product Owner or otherwise involved with the Salesforce Setup, understanding how to protect sensitive data stored in Salesforce is probably one of the most important aspects of setting up and managing a Salesforce Org.

    We all know that the Data Security Model is already rather complex and now you have been given yet another tool. So how about we break down the entire model and see how the Restriction Rules fit in? Let’s go!

    Salesforce Data Security Model & Where Restriction Rules Fit In

    Now, as I mentioned above, the Data Security Model is complex and consists of many layers. In general, we have four layers/levels:

    Organization-level = This is where you manage the first entry point of a Salesforce User, their login to the system. This includes things like IP Ranges, Login Hours, Password Policy, and so on. Anything that authenticates the User BEFORE they get access to Salesforce.

    Object-level = This is what the User will have access to AFTER they successfully logged in. All Salesforce data is stored on Salesforce records that belong to Salesforce Objects. Hence, you will typically use tools like User Profiles, Permission Sets, and Permission Set Groups to manage access to Salesforce Objects.

    Record-level = This is where things really start to get interesting with managing access to records that contain all that sensitive or not-to-sensitive data. Therefore, you want to be very careful which records Users should have access to. The baseline tools you’ll have available, are Organization-Wide Defaults (OWD), Role Hierarchy, Sharing Rules, Team Sharing, and Manual Sharing. PLUS, you guessed it, Restriction Rules.

    Record-level sharing is the most complex of all our four layers, so here is how they are built up:

    Field-level = Is all about managing access to the individual data types (= fields) stored on Salesforce records. You can choose between No access, Read access or Read/Write access.

    Now that you know WHERE Restriction Rules fit in, we’ll discuss HOW they work.

    HOW Do Salesforce Restriction Rules Work

    While your baseline Record-level Sharing Model pretty much opens up access to records, Restriction Rules take away access. In other words, they limit the User’s record access to a sub-set of records they used to have access to. It’s like setting a permanent filter to display only pre-defined records. Why would you need to do that? Good question! We’ll look at some examples shortly.

    Now, Restriction Rules can also be used for Objects that do not support any or some of the Record-level Sharing tools.

    Let’s look at some examples for both scenarios:

    An example where Restriction Rules limit access:

    Let’s say you have a Recruiting Team, of which the Recruiting Assistants have access to Positions of the status “Open”. They have hired a Junior Recruiting Assistant, to support with open Positions which need to be filled by the end of the month.

    We’re assuming the OWDs for Position is set to “Private”, a Role Hierarchy has been set up including the Role “Recruiting Assistant”, and a Sharing Rule is in place which shares all open Positions with the Recruiting Assistant Role. This Role is also assigned to the Junior Recruiting Assistant. What now?

    Well, the Junior Recruiting Assistant has been assigned the Title “Junior Recruiting Assistant” on the corresponding User Record. And this is where we bring in the Restriction Rule. You will use the Restriction Rule to only display open Positions with a Close Date of the current end of the month, to Users with the Title “Junior Recruiting Assistant”.

    This may look like this:

    The result is this: The Junior Recruiting Assistant already had access to all open Positions because of the Sharing Rule. Of these open Positions, the Restriction Rule limits access to open Positions that contain the date of the current end of month.

    Why could you not solve this with a Sharing Rule? Because Sharing Rules don’t support sharing based on User Criteria which are not Role-related. You could use a workaround though, like adding another Role “Junior Recruiting Assistant” to the Role Hierarchy and using this to create a secondary Sharing Rule. However, this makes the Role Hierarchy more complex and will have additional implications on other Sharing Rules, Reports, etc.

    As a Salesforce Administrator, you always want to find the least complex but most effective solution. 🤓 Now, you have one, and that is Restriction Rules.

    An example where Restriction Rules are the only option:

    We’ll use the “Activity” Object which does not support Sharing Rules.

    First up, the Object “Activity” relates to “Tasks” and “Events”, and supports OWDs such as “Private” and “Controlled by Parent”. If we chose “Controlled by Parent”, Users who have access to the associated Parent record (what you select in the “Related To” field), maybe “Account”, can see ALL tasks and events of the Accounts they have access to. You can’t restrict access to certain Tasks or Events of those Accounts, even if you selected the OWD “Private”. The latter would limit access to Tasks/Events a User owns.  You wouldn’t be able to open up access to specific Tasks/Events Users do not own, because Sharing Rules are not supported.

    How do we fix this? Exactly, with Restriction Rules. Let’s look at a more specific example:

    Let’s say you wanted Users of the Marketing Department to only have access to Tasks which have been marked as “Marketing Follow-up”. Again, we’ll use the OWD “Controlled by Parent” as the baseline setting.

    Next, we’ll go to the Object Manager and select “Task” and then select “Restriction Rules”. From here, you’ll determine a meaningful Rule Name, specify the User Criteria (like the Department field on the User Record) and then specify the Record Criteria (like the checkbox field “Marketing Follow-up”).

    This may look like this:

    The result will be: The Marketing Users used to have access to all Tasks of their Accounts because of the OWD “Controlled by Parent” on the Activity Object, but now get a limited view to Tasks marked as “Marketing Follow-up” because of the Restriction Rule.

    What Else You Need To Know About Salesforce Restriction Rules

    Restriction Rules have only been made GA (Generally Available) in Salesforce’s Winter’22 Release. They still have a number of limitations around where and how you can use them. As always, keep an eye on the Release Notes for updates around the capabilities of Restriction Rules.

    Here are some of the key items you currently need to consider before you set up Restriction Rules:

    • Only support Custom Objects and the following Standard Objects: Contracts, Events, Tasks, Time Sheets and Time Sheet Entries
    • Enterprise and Developer Editions only support up to 2 Restriction Rules per Object, Performance and Unlimited Editions up to 5
    • One Restriction Rule per Object per User
    • User Criteria and Record Criteria are limited to a small number of data types (e.g. boolean, date, string)
    • You can’t add more than one User criteria or more than one Record Criteria
    • The Operator is limited to “Equals”
    • Recently Viewed List Views still show records a User may have previously had access to, however when a User attempts to open the record, they will get an error

    Make sure to familiarize yourself with the full list of considerations: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.security_restriction_rule_considerations.htm&type=5

    While the capabilities of Restriction Rules are still rather limited, they already open up great opportunities for System Administrators. They have been put in place for a reason. 🤓

    Let me know in the comments if you have been using Restriction Rules and how they have been working for you.

    If you want to learn more about Salesforce’s Data Security Model, it’s part of our Salesforce Administrator Certification Course. You can sign up for a Free Preview first to get to know our Video Tutorials, Study Workbooks, and Practice Exams.

    TOP 10 SALESFORCE WINTER’22 RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS

    The Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to Winter ’22. That’s right! Even though all Salesforce Orgs are already well into the Winter ’22 release cycle, the Salesforce Certification Exam cycles follow a slightly shifted time frame to give you a chance to catch up.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    The Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to Winter ’22. That’s right! Even though all  Salesforce Orgs are already well into the Winter ’22 release cycle, the Salesforce Certification Exam cycles follow a slightly shifted time frame to give you a chance to catch up.

    Whether or not you are planning to get a Salesforce Certification, keeping up-to-date on the latest Salesforce features gives you a competitive advantage. Let’s get to know the TOP 10 Salesforce Release Highlights that we believe are most important to YOU:

    #1 Flow Builder becomes less scary

    For many Admins or Salesforce beginners, Flow Builder can feel very overwhelming. But, it really doesn’t have to be. As with everything, it just needs time and practice for you to become confident. Plus, Salesforce is adding more and more click-not-code features into Flow Builder with every release, truly making Flow Builder so much easier to work with.

    Developing Flow Builder is one of Salesforce’s priority items. Please note that you still need to be familiar with Workflow Rules and Process Builder because many Salesforce Customers have many of those in place. Check out my article on Why You Should Still Learn Workflow Rules and Process Builder.

    And because Flow Builder is a priority, there are so many exciting updates, here is a list of some of my favorites:

    Subflow Element in Record-Triggered Flow

    Rollback Pending Record Changes When A Flow Element Fails

    Outbound Message Available for Record-Triggered Flow

    Avoid Creating Incompatible Resources from Choice Components

    Choose More Options When You Debug a Flow

    #2 Manage Record Access with Restriction Rules

    The Record Sharing Model consists of Org-Wide Defaults, Role Hierarchy, Sharing Rules, Team and Manual Sharing. You will now have another tool at your hands to manage any remaining exemptions with Restriction Rules. Restriction Rules were previously in Beta and have now become generally available which is awesome.

    While your baseline Record Sharing Model pretty much opens up access to records, restriction rules take away access. It’s like setting a filter criteria to display only selected records of those that a User already had access to.

    Tip: Restriction Rules are currently only available for custom objects, contracts, tasks and events.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #3 Use Session Activation for entire Permission Set Groups

    This feature was only available for individual Permission Sets and can now be used for entire Permission Set Groups. Permission Set Groups are used to allow assigned Users to complete very specific tasks. Access to these permissions can be limited to pre-defined sessions like a certain time frame during a workday. This is typically applied when highly sensitive data is involved.

    No Tip, just use it. 😉

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #4 Permission Set Groups assignments with Expiration Dates

    I can’t believe it’s finally here, even though it’s currently in Beta. So let’s hope it stays for good. Managing the many Profiles and Permission Sets plus Permission Set Groups is hard enough, but removing permissions when no longer needed just adds to the pile. You can now have permissions sort of remove themselves by setting an expiration date. It can be used for both individual Permission Sets or entire Permission Set Groups. Once enabled you’ll find another button at the top. Go check it out!

    Tip: Must be enabled in Setup under User Management Settings.

    Source: welearnsalesforce.com

    #5 Einstein Search is now available by default

    With each release, Salesforce’s own AI tool Einstein becomes even smarter. One of which is Einstein Search. It has been available for a while though but now it’s turned on by default, and most importantly, at no extra cost. Einstein Search supports three key features: Personalization, Natural Language Search and Recommended Results.

    Tip: Einstein Search features can be enabled/disabled in the Setup under Einstein Search Settings. Note: Developer Orgs/Trailhead Playgrounds are not supported.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #6 Gauge Charts in Dashboards respond dynamically

    Charts used in Dashboards reference the data of the underlying report. However, when you apply a Gauge Chart the KPIs you wish to track against the data in the report, need to be defined manually. Therefore, the targets stay static. With the new ‘Dynamic Gauge Chart’ feature, you can make the entire Gauge Chart respond dynamically based on the filter criteria specified in the underlying report.

    Note: This feature is currently in Beta and may not become generally available.

    Tip: In order to make use of the Dynamic Gauge Chart, you need to enable this feature in the Setup under Reports and Dashboards Settings.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #7 Even more Inline Editing in your Reports

    Not sure why this is in Beta, Inline Editing in Reports is not new but is being improved. I guess Salesforce is still finetuning its capabilities. With this release, Users can even inline edit date, picklist or lookup type of fields (not all but most of them 😉).

    Tip: Inline Editing must be enabled in Setup under Reports and Dashboards Settings.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #8 Expand Your Collaborative Forecasts

    Forecasting becomes more flexible. Salesforce has added a new category called “Most Likely” which sits in-between Commit and Best Case.

    Tip: In Object Manager, select Opportunities and open the field ‘Forecast Category’. Note: You can label the field with any name you like, however it won’t match the category and can confuse yourself and the Forecast Users. And don’t forget to match relevant Opportunity Stages to this new Forecast Category!

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #9 Territory Assignments Rules run on selected Accounts only

    Territory Assignment Rules typically run through all your Accounts which can take a fair amount of time. No more! You now have the option to choose a subset of Accounts only.

    No tip, just enjoy the new pop-up when you click the Run Assignment Rules button.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #10 Change the Sort Order of Upcoming and Overdue Activities

    This may not be as exciting for Admins as it may be for Users. This one is a great addition for any Sales or other User who relies on Task and Event management. Salesforce has added an option to sort the list of Upcoming and Overdue Activities by oldest or newest.

    No tip, just use it.  😉

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    There are so many more features to explore. Go check them out and remember you can earn points for learning all about them: Winter ’22 Release Highlights

    Let us know in the comments which feature you enjoy the most. We’d love to hear from you!

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorials, downloadable Study Workbooks and realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up for our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    Should you still learn Workflow Rules and Process Builder?

    Salesforce has announced they will no longer develop and even deprecate Workflow Rules and Process Builder entirely. But, what does this mean for you? Here is what you need to know about what’s going to happen.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    During Salesforce’s super event Dreamforce 2021, they have announced they will no longer develop Workflow Rules and Process Builder. 🤯 They are even planning to deprecate these two tools entirely. All their future development efforts will be all-in on Flow Builder.

    Now let’s all take a deep breath. 🧘🏻‍♀️ You don’t have to freak out just yet, or ever. Salesforce knows that many of their customers have hundreds if not thousands of Workflow Rules and Process Builders in place. Moving everything over into Flow is not going to happen over night.

    In this blog article, we will discuss the following:

    • What is going to happen?
    • What does this mean for you as a Salesforce Administrator?
    • How do you deepen your Salesforce Automation Knowledge?
    • Learn Workflow Rules
    • Learn Process Builder
    • Learn Flow Builder

    What is going to happen?

    Patrick Stokes, GM Platform of Salesforce, has announced the following pre-liminary timeline. This is an early announcement and may be changed (Safe Harbor):

    • Spring ’22 release (version 236): Provide Workflow migration tool
    • Summer ’22 release (version 238): Provide Process Builder migration tool
    • Winter ’23 release (version 240): You will no longer be able to create new Workflow Rules or Process Builders. BUT… you will be able to edit old existing ones.
    Source: https://www.salesforce.com/plus/experience/Dreamforce_2021/series/Admin/episode/episode-15 (Go to 25:21 minutes to hear it for yourself)

    All of this means, every Salesforce Administrator or other User who is involved in creating and managing automation tools like Workflow Rules and Process Builders, needs to know what each tool is and how it is set up. Because… you will need to be able to update and maintain them at the very least. Existing Workflows and Processes will be around for another while.

    Even though the migration tools will be made available, it’s yet to see how reliable these are and how well they are going to work. If the company you are or will be working for, uses many complex Workflow Rules or Process Builders, the migration might not be as simple as running a migration tool. The more complex their Workflows or Processes are, the more time and budget will be required to perform the migration.

    Now, what does this mean for you as a Salesforce Administrator?

    First of all, no need to panic. You still have plenty of time! 😅 You have time to skill up and learn Workflow Rules, Process Builder as well as Flow Builder, unless you are already familiar and confident using each.

    These tools are not rocket science, which means everyone can learn them. While Flow Builder is the most complex of the three, which may make you want to bang your head against a wall, Salesforce is also making it much more easy to use. Phew! With each new release they have and will be implementing more and more ready-to-use features into Flow Builder removing the need to use any code.

    This means, Flow Builder will become really easy and most importantly fun to use. You’ll see, once you get started using it, it’s amazing what you can do with it.

    How do you deepen your Salesforce Automation Knowledge?

    Below are two options for you. One, if you are new to Salesforce, and another, if you are already experienced.

    In case you are rather new to the whole Salesforce Administration world, you will need to learn your basics first. With the basic knowledge and skills, it’ll make it much easier to understand how automation tools like Workflow Rules, Process Builder and Flow Builder as well as many others, impact business processes managed through Salesforce’s user interface. These are very powerful tools and want to be set up in the right way, in the right context of the everyday Salesforce user experience.

    Therefore, if you are a newbie, head over to Trailhead and learn all things Salesforce Administrator. We’ve put together a comprehensive Trailmix for you. It’s based on the official Salesforce Certified Administrator Exam Guide, however we’ve filled some gaps and added a little more logic to the order.

    For those of you who prefer a bit more guidance, we have even collated everything into a well-structured easy to follow Salesforce Administrator Certification Video Course. It includes all the fundamental features and functionalities of the Salesforce platform including Workflow Rules, Process Builder and Flow Builder.

    Source: https://www.welearnsalesforce.com/bundles/salesforce-administrator-certification-course

    If you are already experienced and maybe even hold the Salesforce Administrator Credential, you may also want to consider refreshing your knowledge and dive deeper into advanced topics. Our Salesforce Advanced Administrator Certification Course would be the perfect addition for you.

    However, if you really just want to skill up on Workflow Rules, Process Builder and Flow Builder, then you can simply focus your learning efforts on these recommended learning resources:

    Learn Workflow Rules

    Workflow Rules haven’t been receiving much love from Salesforce for a while. So you won’t find anything on Trailhead. But there’s plenty of resources available on Salesforce Help, plus they are pretty easy to set up:

    Salesforce Help | Create a Workflow Rule

    Learn Process Builder

    Did you know that Process Builder actually uses Flow under the hood? Meaning Flow Builder has been around for much longer but used to be rather complex to be set up. Process Builder has a very intuitive user interface, and with Flow Builder receiving so many awesome upgrades, the transition to Flow Builder won’t be too hard. Here’s a nice Trailhead Project for you:

    Trailhead | Automate with Process Builder

    Learn Flow Builder

    No need to be scared of Flow Builder. It will indeed require a bit more practice and patience. But it’s the most powerful of the three with the most capabilities. Here’s a great Trailhead Module for you to get started with Flow:

    Trailhead | Flow Builder

    What do you think about Salesforce removing Workflow Rules and Process Builder? We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments.

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorials, downloadable Study Workbooks and realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up to our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    TOP 10 SALESFORCE SUMMER’21 RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS

    The Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to Summer ’21. While you might already get excited about the Winter ’22 features, make sure to get familiar with the release highlights of the current Summer ’21 release.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    The Salesforce Certification Exams have just switched over to Summer ’21. What? Isn’t everyone already talking about Winter ’22? That’s right. However, we’re still in Summer ’21. The Salesforce Certification Exam cycles follow a slightly shifted time frame to give you a chance to catch up.

    Whether or not you are planning to get certified, keeping up-to-date on the latest Salesforce features gives you a competitive advantage.

    At WeLearnSalesforce we follow a declarative-first development approach which is in-line with what Salesforce recommends. It’s therefore with great excitement to see that Salesforce are adding more and more click-not-code functionality.

    Here are my TOP 10 Summer ’21 favorites:

    #1 Enable Topics for Objects in Lightning Experience Setup

    Not only does Salesforce focus on integrating more click-not-code features, they also focus on providing the necessary productivity tools. Some of these tools already existed in the old Salesforce Classic interface and were loved by many, but haven’t gotten transferred over into Lightning. This included ‘Topics for Objects’ which is now available in Lightning Experience too. One less item to cross off your ‘Switch-to-Classic-items’ list.

    Tip: Enable ‘Topics for Objects’ from Setup, then add ‘Topic’ component to Lightning Record Pages

    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com

    #2 Power Up Recently Viewed Lists with Customizable Actions

    There wasn’t much you could do with ‘Recently Viewed’ List Views apart from seeing a list of recent records. It’s now being recognized as a fully worthy list view and also allows Custom Actions to be made available.

    Tip: From the Object Manager, select ‘Search Layouts for Salesforce Classic’ in order to manage which buttons appear on List Views. Even though it says Classic, it applies to Lightning Experience too. 😉

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #3 Inline Editing in Reports (BETA)

    For those Salesforce End Users who have been using inline editing on List Views, they will love this feature being available from within Reports too. Previously, you were able to include the record ID in the report to allow Users to open a record in a separate window for editing. This is no longer necessary. Just make updates right in the Report viewer.

    Tip: This is currently in BETA. While you don’t necessarily need to contact Salesforce to use features in BETA, for this one though you will.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #4 Auto Add Fields to Custom Report Types

    You might have noticed a new checkbox ‘Auto add to custom report type’ when creating Custom Fields. In organizations where you work with tons of Custom Report Types, this feature is super handy to have.

    Tip: It’s pre-selected by default, which I personally think is a little too pro-active of Salesforce. You may have Custom Report Types where you do not want to add the field to, so you have to remember to deselect this checkbox.

    Source: welearnsalesforce.com

    #5 Download a Dashboard Image

    You can now download an image of an entire Dashboard, not just an individual Dashboard component. This is a great addition and perfect to use in PowerPoint presentations or any other place.

    No tip. Just use it. 🙂

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #6 See Record Access Reasons

    Have you been using the Sharing button in Classic? Not only is the Sharing button now natively available for many Objects in Lightning Experience, you can now also see the Sharing Hierarchy. You can choose to view the access shares using the ‘Sharing’ button or using the dedicated ‘Sharing Hierarchy’ button which Salesforce have added for your convenience. I’d say it’s one button too many but probably more intuitive to use for some.

    Tip: You can see the Sharing and Sharing Hierarchy buttons when you are either the System Administrator, the Record Owner or a User in a Role above the Record Owner.

    Source: welearnsalesforce.com

    #7 Set Expirations for Assignments on Permissions in Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups (Beta)

    Managing assignments of Permission Sets with Permission Set Groups has already been a major improvement. You can now even add an expiry date to the assignment to auto-expire the permissions. So you don’t have to worry about keeping track manually.

    Tip: This is also currently in Beta. As a Customer you can opt to try this service at your own discretion.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #8 Dynamic Actions Bar for Your App Page (Pilot)

    Dynamic Actions are getting even more dynamic. While you can dynamically adjust the action buttons in the Highlights Panel on Lightning Record Page, you can now add additional action items onto your record pages.

    Tip: This is currently in Pilot and only available to selected customers. Enquire with your Salesforce Customer Support Rep.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #9 Build Multicolumn Screens in Flow Builder

    Building meaningful Screen Flows can be so rewarding. With each release Salesforce are adding tons of new features to Flow Builder. One of which is that you can now add more than one column to your Screen elements. This not only gives you more freedom to build out Screen elements but also adapts dynamically to smaller screens like mobile devices.

    Tip: Use the ‘Section’ component, add your columns, then drag other components into each column.

    Source: help.salesforce.com

    #10 Find Failed Flows Faster

    When you have dozens or more Processes and Flows set up, you had to search your inbox to find the error emails for the ones that failed. No more tedious searching, you can now go straight to where the ‘Paused Flow Interviews’ were. This has been rename to ‘Paused and Failed Flow Interviews’.

    Tip: Switch the List View selection to view either Paused or Failed Flow Interviews.

    Source: welearnsalesforce.com

    There are so many more features to explore. Go check them out and remember you can earn points for learning all about them: Summer ’21 Release Highlights

    Let us know in the comments which features you enjoy the most. We’d love to hear from you!

    WHAT ELSE…

    We make learning simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorials, downloadable Study Workbooks and realistic Practice Exams.

    And if you are brand new to the world of Salesforce, make sure to sign up to our FREE 21-Day Salesforce Beginners Challenge.

    TOP 10 SALESFORCE SPRING’21 RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS

    The Salesforce Spring’21 Release has arrived, most Salesforce Orgs have been updated. As always, we encourage you to keep up-to-date on the latest and greatest Salesforce features. So, here are our Top 10 Favorites.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    The Spring’21 Release has arrived, most Salesforce Orgs have been updated. Your Trailhead Playgrounds are usually the last ones to receive the updates.

    If you want to find out which version your Salesforce Org is on, you can go to https://status.salesforce.com, search for your Org’s instance and view the details.

    Trust I Status v 
salesforce 
Search Instance, Domain, Pod, or MID 
Home 
INSTANCE 
EU18 
CURRENT STATUS 
Current Status By Service 
OVERALL SYSTEM 
CORE SERVICE 
LIVE AGENT 
HISTORY 
MAINTENANCE 
SEARCH 
Available 
ANALYTICS 
Subscribe 
Instance Details 
Version 
spring '21 Patch 7.5 
Region 
EMEA 
Maintenance Window O 
Saturdays 
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM PST 
Products 
Salesforce Services
    Source: status.salesforce.com

    BTW, if you are not sure which instance your Salesforce Org belongs to, check the Company Information page in the Setup.

    As always, even if you don’t have to complete any maintenance modules, you should keep up-to-date on the latest and greatest Salesforce features. Make sure to check the Certification Maintenance Schedule so you don’t miss yours!

    You may have seen this message across the original Release Notes page:

    The Salesforce Release Notes are moving! Check them out on Salesforce Help! This website will not be accessible after July 2021. Learn more.
    Source: releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com

    The Release Notes are moving all the way into Salesforce Help. It’s best to bookmark the page in your browser, so you can easily find them again.

    And without further ado, here are our Top 10 favorite features:

    #1 Catch Potential Duplicates Before Saving

    Duplicates are a pain in the b… so the good news is, Duplicate Management is getting better and better. In combination with Dynamic Forms, Users will already get an alert while they create or edit a Lightning Record Page. On other pages, Users will only get an alert after they hit the Save button.

    Tip: Set up Matching and Duplicate Rules for the relevant Object.

    New Favorite 
Information 
* Favorite Name 
I-bedroom 1st floor 
Contact 
Search Contacts... 
* Property 
Search Properties... 
A Similar Records Exist 
5 
Q 
Q 
This record looks like an existing record. Make 
sure to check any potential duplicate records 
Property Type 
--None-- 
Bedrooms 
--None-- 
Lot Size 
--None-- 
t Modified By 
before saving. 
View Duplicates 
For Businesses 
Cancel 
Save & New 
Save
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    #2 Accounts can now be added as Campaign Members

    Still in BETA and may not last, but for now we are super happy it’s here, and very much hope it will stay on. Accounts can finally be added as Campaign Members. This means you start planning your Marketing Campaigns using List Views and Reports based on Accounts instead of individual names which you may not have yet.

    Tip: Enable Accounts as Campaign Members in the Setup.

    Campaign Members 
Add Leads 
Add Contacts 
Number of Members 
2 
View All 
Add Accounts 
Manage Campaign Members 
Import Leads and Contacts 
Send List Email
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    #3 Collaborative Forecasts adjustments now available on the Salesforce Mobile App

    If you are working in a competitive sales driven environment and you are on the go most of the time, you’ve certainly had your frustrations with your Salesforce mobile access. There is one more item which has been enabled: your Forecast predictions. Some days are more productive than others and you want to be able to track your progress in real-time. Now you can adjust your Forecast numbers on the fly to the next Customer.

    No tip, just use it. 😉

    Forecasts 
O 
Adjust 
December FY 2020 
Jennifer Lauren 
S30K 
Left in Quota 
Quota Attained 
Quota 
Closed 
Commit Forecast 
Best Case Forecast 
Open Pipeline 
O 
Change Period 
4 
Days Left 
S100,ooo.oo 
S70,ooo.oo > 
$70,000.00 > 
$70,002.00 > 
S140,ooo.oo > 
Chatter 
Today 
Dashboards 
o 
Tasks 
Menu
    Source: help.salesforce.com
    #4 Opportunity Products can be referenced on other Objects too

    Opportunity Products are the specific Products which are added as line items on an Opportunity, referred to as ‘OpportunityLineItem’. There wasn’t much else you could do with it. Now, you can. You can reference these OpportunityLineItems on other Objects. Let’s say you have a Shipment Object and want to reference the specific OpportunityLineItem which is being shipped, you can create a Lookup Relationship and select the Opportunity Product.

    Tip: Create a Lookup Relationship field on a Custom Object and select ‘Opportunity Product’ from the Related To picklist.

    Shipment 
New Relationship 
Step 2. Choose the related object 
Select the other object to which this object is related. 
Help for this Page 
Step 2
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    #5 Convert Leads to a Business and Person Account simultaneously

    This is for Salesforce Orgs that have Person Accounts enabled. When you convert a Lead and the Company field is left blank, it turns the Lead into a Person Account automatically. However, sometimes you need both the Business and Individual. Just think about bank accounts or insurance accounts where you have couples or families and you need to bundle the individuals into “Family” accounts. You can now have the converted individual Lead added to Business Account. It does require a Custom Flow though. There are new arguments made available for LeadConvert() class.

    Tip: Enable the Contacts to Multiple Accounts feature if you haven’t already.

    #6 Lightning Sync to be replaced with Einstein Activity Capture

    We all love syncing our inbox and calendar with Salesforce, and while Lighting Sync did the job, Einstein Activity Capture is the future. And the future is arriving faster than you’d think. Hence, Lightning Sync won’t get anymore support. Einstein Activity Capture is the way to go.

    Tip: Disable Lighting Sync before you enable Einstein Activity Capture. Do it carefully, you don’t want to create a mess. 😉

    #7 Add Multiple Fields to Your Reports

    Really? This one was a mystery to me. What Classic Reports could do so nicely long ago, Lightning Reports couldn’t. Creating Reports from scratch with Lightning was really something to get used to, if you were like me, moving from Classic to Lightning. Another milestone with Reports has been reached, you can now select multiple Fields to add to your Report.

    No tip, just go for it. 😉

    REPORT v 
All Opportunities 
Search all fields... 
Close Date 
Close Date (2) 
Close Month 
Opportunities 
Outline 
Groups 
E GROUP ROWS 
Add group... 
Columns 
Add column... 
Account Name 
Opportunity Name 
Y Filters 
A 
A 
A 
A 
A 
A 
A 
A 
Last Stage Change Date 
Next Step 
Stage 
Probability (%) 
Fiscal Period 
Fiscal Year 
Age 
Stage Duration 
Forecast Category 
Opportunity ID 
Last Activity 
Description 
Has Products 
Created Date 
Last Modified Date 
Private 
Primary Campaign Source 
Opportunity Owner Information (13) 
Opportunity Owner 
Owner Role 
Opportunity Owner Alias 
Stage 
# Amount 
# Probability (%) 
Close Date 
Type 
Stage 
Already Added 
Forecast Category 
Has Products 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
Previewing 
Account 
Dickensc 
United C 
Express L 
GenePoil 
Grand HC 
United C 
United C 
Grand HC 
Edge Cor 
Universit 
Pyramid 
Express L 
GenePoil 
GenePoil 
United C 
Edge Cor 
Edge Cor 
United C 
Grand HC 
United C
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    #8 Salesforce Mobile now has a Home Page

    The Home page used to be a privilege of the Desktop User Interface, and now it can be set up for the Salesforce Mobile menu as well. This is in Beta and only for iOS Users but totally worth checking it out.

    Tip: Set up a Custom Attribute in the Manage Connected Apps settings for the relevant mobile app, e.g., the Salesforce for iOS.

    PLATFORM TOOLS 
Apps 
App Manager 
AppExchange Marketplace 
Connected Apps 
Connected Apps OAuth 
Usage 
Manage Connected Apps 
user provisioning settings 
Enable User Provisioning 
Trusted IP Range for OAuth 
Web Server Flow 
No application-defined IP ranges 
Custom Attributes 
Action Attribute key 
Edit I Del 
New 
Attribute value 
"true"
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com
    10:19 q 
Home 
My Calendar 
Today 
10:00 • 11:00 AM 
Client Meeting 
11:00 - 12:00 PM 
Roadmap sync 
All Events 
Calendars 
Is this card usefuP 
Tasks 
Upcoming 
O Call Jennifer West 
All Tasks 
New Task 
-4 
Yes 
Yes 
Accounts 
Edit 
No 
No 
Is this card usefuP 
Report 
Cynoa•gns 
Leads
    Source: help.salesforce.com
    #9 Standard Read Only Profile becomes a Custom Profile

    Salesforce has been extending the permissions available in this Read Only Profile over time. Since it used to be a Standard Profile it was not editable. This is going to change. Salesforce will turn this into a Custom Profile. It’s never been a good idea to assign Standard Profiles to your Users anyways, unless you have signed up for a Salesforce Edition which does not support Custom Profiles. Now, this change will be automated, you don’t really have to do much. BUT, the Metadata API is changed from ‘ReadOnly’ to ‘Read Only’. Therefore, if you are referencing this in Apex code, calls, files etc. you will need to change the reference.

    #10 Manual Sharing has arrived in Lightning

    Yeah! This has been a handy feature in Classic already. I call this the “last resort” sharing option which you can use when a record isn’t already shared through the Role Hierarchy, Sharing Rules or other sharing settings. It allows Users to choose if and with whom they want to share a particular and possibly sensitive record.

    If you wanted to use this in Lighting you had to install an app from the AppExchange and make numerous customizations to get the action button onto record pages.

    Tip: The Sharing action button only appears if the Org-Wide Defaults for the Object are not already Public Read/Write.

    Source: salesforce.com

    Getting up-to-speed on all these exciting release features is only half as exciting if you cannot earn any points to add to your shiny Trailblazer Profile. Therefore, check out more Salesforce Spring’21 Release Highlights with this Trailhead Module:

    https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/modules/spring-21-release-highlights

    There’s so much more to explore, we can’t possibly put it all in one article. What are your favorite new features? Let us know in the comments.

    WHAT ELSE…

    Are you a Salesforce Beginner or want to freshen up on your Admin skills? Then check out our complete Salesforce Administrator Certification Course. It covers all the basics you need to know as a successful Salesforce professional with lots of hands-on exercises.

    WeLearnSalesforce Administrator Certification Course
    WeLearnSalesforce Administrator Certification Course

    And if you are not sure what you know or don’t know, how about you test your knowledge with our realistic Practice Exams. You get lots of business scenarios and the results include detailed explanations and plenty of learning resources.

    WeLearnSalesforce Practice Exams - Salesforce Administrator Certification
    WeLearnSalesforce Practice Exams – Salesforce Administrator Certification

    TOP 10 SALESFORCE WINTER ’21 RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS

    The Winter ’21 release cycle is in full swing. And we wouldn’t be WeLearnSalesforce if we wouldn’t encourage you to keep up-to-date on your Admin skills. And so, we want to share our favorite Winter ’21 Release Highlights with you.

    Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

    It’s been an interesting year so far with a lot of changes for many of us. This includes your Salesforce career decisions and learning strategies. It’s all about keeping up with the new features and enhancements.

    Earlier this year, Salesforce announced that certifications now only require one maintenance module per year. This means, you no longer have to stress about three deadlines, only one. For the curious amongst you, Salesforce will offer two optional badges three times per year so you can still keep your skills sharp during the entire year. Make sure to check the Certification Maintenance Schedule.

    The Winter ’21 release cycle is in full swing. And we wouldn’t be WeLearnSalesforce if we wouldn’t encourage you to keep up-to-date on your Admin skills. And so, we want to share our favorite Winter ’21 Release Highlights with you:

    #1 Email Template Builder

    Designing Emails in Lightning got an exciting upgrade: the Email Template Builder. Just like the Lightning App Builder, you can drag and drop components to the Email Template layout. This makes creating Email Templates so much easier and fun too.

    Tip: Create a Permission Set with the “Access Drag-and-Drop Content Builder” permission and assign to relevant Users.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Email Template Builder
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #2 Flow Auto-Layout

    Creating Flows feel scary? Well, they can seem difficult to achieve, however Salesforce is making your flow life easier with each release. One of a number of exciting flow updates is the Auto-Layout feature. Instead of using the free form layout you can switch to the new Auto-Layout and have the Flow structure itself. So you don’t have to worry about chaotic flow alignments anymore.

    No Tip, just use it. 😉

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Flow Auto Layout
    WeLearnSalesforce Blog – Release Notes – Flow Auto Layout

    #3 Dynamic Forms and Actions

    These awesome new features are now generally available to everyone in most editions. With Dynamic Forms you can pretty much integrate the Lightning App Builder with your Page Layout Editor, allowing you to choose which page layout sections and fields should appear where and under what circumstances. You can add filter criteria to display relevant information when needed. And this includes Action buttons like Edit, Delete, New Task etc. that you can add to your pages dynamically as required.

    Tip: You will need to migrate existing Lightning Record Pages to a Dynamic Form first, or you can create one from scratch without the need to migrate. But don’t worry, you can get help from the in-app tips window.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Dynamic Forms and Actions
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #4 Analyze Lightning Page Performance

    Loading Lightning Record Pages can feel like watching grass grow. However, there is good news. You will now find a new button in your Lighting App Builder “Analyze”. This will populate a window with an assessment of the current page and offer recommendations with improvements.

    No Tip, just use it. 😉

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Analyse Lightning Page Performance
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #5 Deleted Fields

    No more switching to Classic in order to access deleted fields that you want to undelete or erase or just check out. One more feature that is now fully integrated with Lightning. Woohoo!

    No tip, just use it. 😉

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Delete Fields
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #6 Subscribe to Reports as Email Attachment

    Finally! Users can now choose to have the report attached to the email as a file. Until now, Users were only able to view the Report as a table in the email body. This was a long awaited update.

    Tip: You need to enable this feature in the Report and Dashboard Settings.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Subscribe to Reports as Email Attachment
    Source: trailhead.salesforce.com

    #7 Auto Add Fields to Custom Report Types

    Maintaining Custom Report Types can be cumbersome if not frustrating. This includes adding new custom fields, which had to be done manually. This is over! You can now have new custom fields automatically added to your Custom Report Types. If you want to.

    Tip: You need to enable this feature in the Report and Dashboard Settings.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Auto Add Fields to Custom Report Types
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #8 Find Changed Deals

    Monitoring changes to deals has only been available through Historical Trending Reports. Now, you can easily view changes to Close Dates or Amounts right from your Opportunity List or Kanban Views.

    Tip: This will be available for customers with the Unlimited Edition and needs to be enabled in the Opportunity Settings.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Find Changed Deals
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #9 Einstein Opportunity Scoring

    Many Einstein features are paid, this one is no longer. Opportunity Scoring are now available to everyone. For those of you that don’t know what it is: The Opportunity Score indicates how likely a deal is to close and shows (on hover) which factors contribute to this score.

    Tip: You need to turn it on in the Einstein Sales Assisted Setup.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Einstein Opportunity Scoring
    Source: https://releasenotes.docs.salesforce.com/

    #10 Salesforce Anywhere App

    A whole new Salesforce App? Yes indeed. And it’s looking amazing. With this entirely new app, your Salesforce Users will be able to receive update notifications for changes on records. Users will also be able to access a chat window to share updates, even use video or voice messaging. And Users will be able to share links to records and take immediate actions. All from within the same window.

    Tip: To integrate with your Production org and if you don’t have access yet, you can sign up with Salesforce through this form.

    WeLearnSalesforce Blog - Release Notes - Salesforce Anywhere App
    Source: salesforce.com/products

    Getting up-to-speed on all these exciting release features is only half as exciting if you cannot earn any points to add to your shiny Trailblazer Profile. Therefore, check out more Winter ’21 Release Highlights with this Trailhead Module: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/modules/winter-21-release-highlights

    There’s so much more to explore, we can’t possibly put it all in one article. What are your favorite new features? Let us know in the comments.

    WHAT ELSE…

    Are you a Salesforce Beginner or want to freshen up on your Admin skills? Then check out our complete Salesforce Administrator Certification Course. It covers all the basics you need to know as a successful Salesforce professional with lots of hands-on exercises.

    WeLearnSalesforce Administrator Certification Course
    WeLearnSalesforce Administrator Certification Course

    And if you are not sure what you know or don’t know, how about you test your knowledge with our realistic Practice Exams. You get lots of business scenarios and the results include detailed explanations and plenty of learning resources.

    WeLearnSalesforce Practice Exams - Salesforce Administrator Certification
    WeLearnSalesforce Practice Exams – Salesforce Administrator Certification