IT’S HERE! One of the most requested features in the history of Salesforce is exiting Beta with the Spring ’22 Release. You can start using this game-changing functionality now! Before you do, allow us to share this brief overview of what inline report editing is, how it works, and what its current limitations are.
Salesforce Inline Report Editing Basics
Salesforce Reports vs. List Views
To ensure we are clear from the start, let’s review the difference between a Salesforce report and a Salesforce list view. Generally, a list view is used to quickly segment records of the same object (i.e., accounts, contacts, leads, etc.), and act on them by drilling into them and updating their fields. A report summarizes record data for analysis from multiple objects and can export to Excel. Report data can be grouped, summarized, and have custom calculations built on it that are not possible in list views. Until now, list views could inline edit and take direct action on records directly. Reports could not. That’s where inline report editing comes in.
Check out this example of an opportunities list view:
And this example of an opportunities report:
What Does Inline Editing Mean?
Inline editing is the ability to change the value of a field without navigating into the record itself. This function has been available in list views for a few years and is now available from reports as well.
Here’s a real life example of inline editing from an audit of an opportunities pipeline report.
Scenario: I’m a Sales Team member at Block Imaging (ForceMedic’s sister company). I need to audit my opportunities pipeline to ensure I have the following:
Accurate close dates for my open opportunities (the date that I believe the Opportunity will be closed won or closed lost by)
Accurate stages for my open opportunities
In reviewing the My Opportunity Pipeline report, I find an opportunity called Dickinson Mobile Generators that needs attention because:
The opportunity close date is in the past (as I write this) and thus invalid.
I sent a proposal and price quote on this opportunity. The stage field needs to be updated to reflect this.
Before inline report editing was a thing, I would need to manually drill into the opportunity record to change the stage and the close date fields. Now, I can make the changes right from the My Opportunity Pipeline report without going to the record itself at all!
Using Inline Report Editing
Let’s test drive inline report editing by changing the opportunity stage and close date.
As shown above, I need to change the stage field and the close date field on the Dickinson Mobile Generators opportunity. The changes I need to make are:
Stage field from Qualification to Proposal/Price Quote
Close Date field from 3/12/2021 to 4/3/2022
I can do this right from the My Opportunity Pipeline report by following these steps:
Stage Field Change:
Click the pencil icon on the desired stage field
Use the drop-down menu to change the stage from Qualification to Proposal/Price Quote
Click [Save]
The stage has been changed on the opportunity record Dickenson Mobile Generators
Close Date Field Change:
Follow the same steps as above to change the close date field, except instead of using a drop-down menu for step 2 we will use the calendar functionality to update the close date to April 3, 2022, aka 4/3/2022.
Click the pencil icon on the desired close date field
Use the calendar function to choose a new close date
Choose April 3, 2022, aka 4/3/2022
Click [Save]
The close date is updated to 4/3/2022 on the opportunity record Dickenson Mobile Generators
And with that, we have made two updates to the Dickenson Mobile Generators Opportunity:
Modified the stage from Qualification to Proposal/Price Quote
Modified the close date from March 12, 2021, to April 3, 2022, aka 3/12/2021 to 4/3/2022
Limitations of the Feature
The inline report editing functionality has been in Beta since the Summer ’21 release, and Salesforce has slowly enabled additional functionality around it as they prepare to make it available to users with the Spring ’22 release. As of now, the following limitations are in play:
Inline report editing is not available for reports in Salesforce Classic.
The following fields and field types do not support inline editing:
Task and Event object fields
Owner fields
System fields, such as Record ID and Created Date
Compound fields, including name and address fields
Encrypted text fields
Formula fields
Polymorphic fields
Standard fields of type auto number, rollup summary, record type, master-detail, long text area, rich text, and hierarchy
Fields in a Salesforce object that do not have a record type
Only one field at a time can be edited right now.
With the Spring ’22 Release, Salesforce states we will be able to edit multiple fields at once so stay tuned for updates regarding that functionality!
Inline Report Editing Is LIVE
The ability to use inline report editing is active for all users with the Spring ’22 Release! With the time savings and convenience you’ll enjoy, we think you’ll be on the edge of your seat to see where future releases take this new feature. If you have questions about how to maximize the potential of this, or any other, Salesforce feature, the crew at ForceMedic Design would love to help. Give us a shout with the contact button at the top or bottom of the page!
The Salesforce list view is the way most of navigate in and out of records. While list views can be enhanced with filters, charts, sharing settings, and field specificity, their weakness is the need to navigate back and forth between a list view and a Salesforce record dozens of times a day. This constant clicking was a real productivity drain when executed over and over and over again. Then, split view came to town.
Salesforce Split View Defined
Split view is a type of list view available in Salesforce Lightning Experience that ‘pins’ your list view of choice to the left side of the screen, showing your chosen record’s details on the same screen. It is useful for navigating records in sequence rather than having to go back-and-forth to a list view and its records.
Access and Use
To modify any list view you are in from the tabular (i.e. “normal”) view, navigate to the “Display As” icon and choose the “Split View” option.
Once you have activated the list view, click on a record to view it on the same screen. If you find the new view takes up too much screen real state, you can use the arrow icon to collapse or expand.
Considerations
There are some considerations regarding split view that assist in understanding its nuances.
You’ll see the first four columns (fields) that you have on the list view from which it was created. In the example we are using, the My Closed Won Opportunities This Quarter list view has four columns that will display:
Opportunity Name
Account Name
Stage
Close Date
If the Salesforce App you are using is not configured for Lightning, it will not allow for split view in this circumstance. Look for an (i) icon in the upper right corner of your screen. If you see it, you’re not configured for Lightning.
You cannot filter fields from here. You need to return to the tabular view to do so.
Split View is PHAT
The ability to see my list of records and navigate to them on the same screen is a game changer. It was super annoying clicking back and forth between screens all the live-long day. Then split view came along and was all “Hey, I got you bruh.” I highly recommend giving this feature a whirl to take the next step in becoming a Salesforce Ninja!
Salesforce debuts a comprehensive release of new features and apps three times per year (Winter, Spring, Summer). These bring all sorts of goodies to the platform. The Salesforce Winter 2022 release is here and there are several new features we’d like to put on your radar.
It’s part of our job at ForceMedic to review these new features and ensure they play nicely with our build. The following three play very well and we think you’ll love them too!
3 New Salesforce Features for 2022
Inline Editing of Report Data
The ability to update data through inline editing on reports has been in beta for 6 months. Now it’s finally being released for all Salesforce orgs, platform-wide. As a result, we can update reports more efficiently because we don’t lose our place clicking back and forth. On October 2nd, we can edit date, picklist, and lookup fields without leaving a report to find the record and update fields from there. This could save hours in productivity.
Email Template Builder Updates
Salesforce made a lot of updates to the Email Template Builder over the last several releases. Several more are coming in the Winter 2022 release. These offer more options in creating and using custom email templates.
Add Rows and Columns to Your Email Templates
Use the Layout component to easily add a row to your Email Template Builder or Email Content Builder template. Select a layout with no columns or a set of up to four.
Add Column Padding
Padding between columns in Email Template Builder gives them definition. Before, you could pad content in an individual column. Now, you can evenly pad space between all columns.
Add Indentations to Emails Templates
Indenting creates visual variety and organizes text in your templates. Varying indents emphasize text and make it easier for email recipients to notice it.
Create Longer Subject Lines
The Subject field in Lightning email templates and email templates from Email Template Builder can now be up to 1,000 characters, up from 230 characters. As a result, you can engage readers with more descriptive or eye-catching subject lines.
Send List Emails via Your Email Provider (BETA)
List emails let us run marketing campaigns from Salesforce to as many Contact or Lead records as we want (up to 5,000 emails per day). These emails were once sent using only Salesforce, and the system was notorious for formatting issues, bounces, and spam flags.
Because of these issues, Salesforce is running a pilot program that sends list emails through Outlook. Now, the Lightning for Outlook app links these email campaigns to our Lead/Contact records. This give a 360-degree view of communications we have engaged with those records on.
Excited for the Salesforce Winter 2022 Release?
The team at ForceMedic is always excited about a new Salesforce release, but we hope we’ve built some excitement on your end too. If you’d like to learn more about working these, or any other, features into the way you use Salesforce, we’d love to help! Please contact ForceMedic Design to learn more.
Did you know that in Salesforce Lightning, you can directly reference recently accessed Salesforce records in Chatter by using the forward slash ( / )? The ability to directly tag records in Salesforce Chatter is an important tool for streamlining communications and increasing sales team synergy. Directions on how to do this are below.
1. Enter a forward slash (/) in the body of a Chatter post.
Entering a forward slash into your Chatter post tells Salesforce where you want to insert your link.
2. Start entering the record name.
Begin typing the name of the record you want to link and Salesforce will begin populating a list of recently viewed records with names that contain those words.
3. Select a record from the list.
IMPORTANT: Records on the list are returned as the result of a search, and the search returns only the records that you’ve looked at recently. So, if you’ve never viewed or interacted with a particular record, or if it’s been a very long time since you have, it will not appear on the list.
4. Finish writing your post or comment and click Share.
The users who can access the record can also see the record name as a link within the Chatter post. The users who can’t access the record, due to their assigned role or permissions-based limitations, will see a Record Not Available message instead of a link to the record.
Using these direct links to tag records in Salesforce Chatter will make your team’s communication clearer, cleaner, and faster! If you would like to know more about this or any other Salesforce functionality, bookmark this page for more tips (weekly) on using Salesforce more efficiently and effectively. If you’d like to dive even deeper and explore system integrations or custom tools, please contact ForceMedic Design, where we love talking platform development.
Creating list views in Salesforce is one of the most helpful skills a user can have. A list view is an underused tool that lets you see particular segments of your data quickly. People often confuse list views with Salesforce reports but, instead of spending the time to build an entire report when you really only need to sort by one field, why not create a list view?
Here are some examples of when to use list views:
You need a list of contacts in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois who are interested in a specific product
You want a list of all your won opportunities from this quarter
You need a list of all open cases that are over one week old
If you want a quicker way to sort your data, let’s jump right in and get you building your own list views. Follow along with the video below for step-by-step instructions. Happy listing!
