Chatter Actions

Mor Ventura4/3/2017

Agenda• Chatter Actions:

• What?• Where?• Types?• How?

• Implementation:• Live demo! (We will configure a chatter action!)• Limitations• Tips and practical usages

Disclosure

Chatter Action may also be named as• Publisher Actions• Actions• Quick Actions• Global Actions

In Spring '15 they are now to be known as Quick Action, but we’ll still use ‘Chatter Action’

Take a Micro Moment..“Salesforce Chatter Mobile Makes Every Moment Count

New Chatter Mobile is the world’s first social and mobile application that will allow employees to take any business action instantly, from anywhere... With the new customizable publisher, companies will be able to create actions that empower employees to perform custom business activities... Now, employees will get valuable work done in every micro-moment—all from the Chatter feed.”

Salesforce press release - July 2013

What are Chatter Actions?

Chatter Actions let you create standard or custom actions (e.g., create a record) and place them in one of the following:

• The Chatter Feed on the Homepage• Chatter Tab• Chatter Groups• Record Detail Pages

The Chatter Feed on the Homepage

Chatter Tab

Chatter Groups

Record Detail Pages

Where Can I Use Chatter Action?• Chatter Actions are available in:

• Salesforce Classic• Lightning Experience• Salesforce1

EVERYWHERE!

Salesforce Classic

Lightning Experience

Salesforce1

Why is This a Big Deal?

You can create records without even being on the corresponding object’s record detail page!

… But Chatter Actions aren’t limited to creating new records only!

Chatter Action TypesHere are the different Chatter Action types: • Standard Actions & Productivity Actions (Global actions)• Custom Actions• Mobile Smart Actions

In order to start working with the actions, we just need to enable them from the “Chatter Setting”- stay tuned to see how...

Standard ActionsAuto included when ‘Chatter’ is enabled in your organization:

• Post• File• Link• Poll• Question• Announcements (Groups)

Productivity Actions or Global Actions

Actions that can be used across all of the objects within your org. Some of the Global Actions that come out-of-the-box include:

• Log a Call• New Account• New Case• New Chatter Group• New Note• New Task

Custom ActionsFrom a specific object, you can create custom actions from the following types:

• Log a Call • Use custom VF page (options are essentially limitless

when taking the Visualforce route.)

Custom Actions• Create a record - Unlike the the Quick Create and Create New features on the home page, Create actions respect your validation rules and field requiredness, and you can choose each action’s fields.

• Update a record -You can choose by field or set of fields to update, with a short pre-defined and organized layout!

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

1. Settings & Permissions2. Object Detail Page3. Define action4. Layout and pre-defined values

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

Step 1 : Settings & Permissions - • Enable ‘Chatter’ and ‘Actions in the Publisher’ from Setup > Chatter

Setting

• Enable feed tracking for the Objects for which you want to make actions:

Setup> Feed Tracking : Click on the object > Check ‘Enable feed tracking’

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?Step 2: Enable in the object detail page level- • From the Object Go to ‘Buttons, Links, and Actions’ section > Click on

‘New Action’

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

Step 3: Generate the Action -• Select from the picklist the requested action type: Create a

record, Log a Call, Custom Visualforce, Update a record.• Name the action and choose label• If desired, you can add a success message!

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?Step 4: Layout -

• Just like in Page Layout, Chatter Actions have their own Layout!

• Of course, the Chatter Action layout will be much more exhaustive than Page Layout.

• Customize the action layout with the fields that you want users to see when they use the action, via simple drag & drop.

• Click ‘Save’.

How to Create Custom Chatter Actions?

Tell Me Mor(e)!• Predefined FieldsUsing predefined field values to set a value for a field:

• Ensures consistency.• Makes it faster and easier for users to create records.• Mobile Users - Don’t like to fill in a lot of required fields > get things done >

move on to their next task.• Offers a better way to use fewer fields in action layouts.• Makes the actions easier and quicker to use.

★Predefined Fields1. Click the name of an action.2. On the action detail page, click New in the Predefined Field

Values list. 3. Select the field you want to predefine a value for and specify

the value for the field.4. Click Save.

★Predefined Fields

★Predefined Fields

Use Case• We are working on an eCommerce organization and would like to

follow our customer's satisfaction by surveys.• Each survey includes different questions and fields.

Use Case Our boss asked us to implement the following:

1. Quick way to generate customer survey from the Account object:• The Action will be named ‘Take a Survey’.• The action will include only the basic and mandatory fields:

Survey Name, Deal Name, Initial Call Description, Sales Rep, and Quality Ranking.

• After saving, Survey Status value will be ‘New’ and the Sales rep will be ‘Gil’.

• A success message will appear.

Use Case 2. A quick way to trigger the following actions:

• Close Survey - Change ‘Survey Status’ to ‘Closed’.• Add to newsletter - Check the ‘Receive Newsletter?’

checkbox

3. A quick way to create new Case from Account

Use Case - Solution - 1st Request1. Make sure permissions for Chatter settings are enabled + Account object is

open to Feed tracking2. From Account object page > ‘Actions and buttons’> click on ‘New

action’ • Action type - ‘Create a new record’• Target Object - Survey• Label - ‘Take a Survey’• Success Message - ‘Survey Submitted!’

3. Drag to the layout the following fields: Survey Name, Initial Call Description, Deal Name, Initial Contact Date, and Country.

4. Save layout.5. In the ‘Predefined Field Values’ section click New > Select ‘Sales rep’

default value to ‘Gil’ and ‘Survey Status’ to ‘New’.6. Add the Quick action to the ‘Publisher action’ in the object layout.

Use Case - Solution - 2nd RequestFor the 2 final actions:1. Create a new action ‘Close Survey’

• Action type- update a record.• Layout- don’t include any field.• Predefined values - set ‘survey Status’ to Close.

2. Create new action ‘Add to newsletter’• Action type- update a record.• Layout- don’t include any field.• Predefined values- Check the ‘Receive Newsletter?’

checkbox.

Tips and Practical Usages1.You can change the Chatter actions order in the object page

layout, or in the chatter setting.2.Place emphasis on the power of using quick actions via

Salesforce1, e.g. to your customers:• Use it to Close Issues.• Convert Leads.• Working hours report.• Log calls or any other custom action from mobile.

3.Smart Implementations - Refer to different sections in the records using different buttons to make it more organized.

4.Define processes by buttons and replace forms.5.Use the Visualforce page!

Limitations• You cannot set predefined values for Rich Text Areas and Multi

Select Picklists• In Lightning - The only current global actions for the moment

are Post and Link.• Custom buttons that call JavaScript aren’t supported in

Lightning Experience.• Chatter actions view is limited to view 3 actions only.

Other actions will appear underneath the “more” arrow.

Links and Cool Stuff• https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?

id=enabling_actions.htm&language=en_US• http://resources.docs.salesforce.com/202/16/en-us/sfdc/pdf/actio

ns_impl_guide.pdf

• https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=collab_topics_records_admin.htm&language=en_US

• https://tdd.instawiki.com/display/SF/Quick+Actions • http://www.cloudcraze.com/get-in-on-the-action-introduction-to-s

alesforce-com-publisher-actions/

Questions??