It’s time for a #LightningFlap 
! In our last post, we covered Account Hierarchies. Lets now look at Activity Timelines. We shall cover:
- What is an Activity Timeline?
- How do I use it?
- Can I turn Activity Timeline off?
- Summary
What is an Activity Timeline?
Salesforce provides the tools to give us a 360-degree view of customers. Activities are key to this. They consist of Tasks, Events & Calendars. These show actions such as follow-ups, emails, and meetings. Each Task/Event can be related to other Salesforce records (e.g. Leads, Contacts, etc). For more on Activities, click here.
In Classic, Activities were shown against a record in ”Open Activities’ and ‘Activity History’:
Lightning Experience introduces Activity Timelines. This shows Activity data in a single, consolidated view:
In other words, it provides a simpler view. Activity records are ordered by their ‘effective date’. More information on this is available here
How do I use it?
When using Activity Timeline, bear in mind:
- Users can apply Filters to Activity data on a record. This is very useful when there is a lot of Activity!
Screenshot of Activity Timeline filter options - You can change fields which are displayed and their order on the Activity Timeline. Click here for instructions
Can I turn activity Timeline off?
If a user does not want to see ‘Activity Timeline’, they can turn it off by following these steps:
- Click on the ‘View Profile’ icon (top right) in Lightning Experience
Screenshot of how to access ‘View Profile’ - Click on ‘Settings’
Screenshot of how to access a user’s Settings - Select: Display & Layout | Record Page Settings. Select ‘Related Lists’ and then ‘Save’.
Screenshot of how a user can turn off Activity Timeline
This will allow a user to see the ‘Open Activities’ & ‘Activity History’ related lists.
To default this for an entire org, follow these steps:
- Go to ‘Setup’
Screenshot of how to access ‘Setup’ - Within Quick Find, type ‘Record Page Settings’
Screenshot of the ‘Record Page Settings’ option within Setup - Scroll down to ‘Default Activities View (desktop only)
- Select the ‘Related Lists’ option
- Click Save
Screenshot of how to select ‘Related Lists’ and Save
Summary
This post has outlined the ‘Activity Timeline’. It empowers users by showing Activity data in a single timeline. This can be customised and turned off as desired. In the next post, we shall explore Lightning Page Layouts.