It’s nearly time for the last Salesforce Release of 2021! It has come around quickly. Let’s take a look at some of the best bits of Winter ’22!
NOTE: At the time of writing, the Winter ’22 Release Notes are in Preview. Details are subject to change.
Table of Contents
Analytics Enhancements
Report Run Page: Inline Editing (Beta)
Winter ’22, extends the Beta release. Users can update text, number, checkbox, date, picklist and lookups, via Reports.
If you are familiar with List View inline editing, you may wonder where this differs. Here are some differences:
- Report Inline Editing supports multiple Record Types. List Views do not
- Report Inline Editing supports data and updates to multiple objects in a single view. List Views do not
- List Views allow you to update multiple records at once. Report Inline Editing is one record at a time
There are limitations. For example, Tasks and Events are not supported. Nonetheless, this is still powerful. Reports can now be actionable. Correct data issues directly within Reports, rather than editing records individually. Don’t forget to refresh the Report to see your changes! Click here for more information.
Dynamic Gauges For Dashboards (Beta)
Winter’22 introduces ‘Dynamic Gauges’ for Dashboards in Beta. This allows percentage based segments in gauges. Prior to this, only static segments were possible. There are many use cases. For example, less need to create multiple gauges with different segments /targets. This could also be powerful alongside Dashboard Filters.
For more information on Dynamic Gauges, click here.
User Engagement
Targeted Prompts
Use Targeted Prompts to relate In-App Guidance prompts to specific page components. This is a great feature to signpost guidance to users. Want to see more? Click here for our feature on Targeted Prompts.
Record Type specific In-App Guidance
You can ensure prompts are targeted to specific Record Types. This helps us show process specific prompts. For example, display prompts about Record Type specific picklist values (e.g. Statuses) and Page Layouts. In other words, provide even clearer guidance for users. Great for adoption and training! Click here for more info.
Customisation
Dynamic Interactions and Dynamic Actions Bar
Salesforce is investing heavily in Lightning pages. This helps to boost adoption and user productivity.
Dynamic Forms control what fields are displayed on pages and when (Custom Objects only). Both Dynamic Interactions and Dynamic Action Bars take the power of Lightning Pages to the next level.
- Dynamic Interactions:
- Create custom Lightning Web Components which interact with others on a Lightning Page.
- Users interact with one component (e.g. click) and other components can be updated
- Dynamic Actions Bar (Pilot):
- For no/low code orgs, the Dynamic Actions Bar opens up this
- Only for App Pages currently. Configure actions on a page which update other compatible components. For example, a user clicks a button to control which object’s data appears on a List View component
Sharing
Restriction Rules (Generally Available)
Summer ’21 introduced Restriction Rules in Beta. In Winter ’22, it is Generally Available. Moreover, they can now be configured within setup! Previously, Restriction Rules were only available via the Tooling and Metadata API.
Restriction Rules limit records users can see. These work alongside other sharing features (e.g. Organization-Wide Defaults, Sharing Rules, etc). This is helpful when restricting access to sensitive data.
For more information on Restriction Rules check out these articles:
Einstein
Einstein Search (enabled by Default)
Einstein Search is the next generation of Salesforce search. It provides enhanced capabilities, such as personalised results, natural language search and actionable results (click here for more info). In Winter ’22, Einstein Search is enabled by default. Click here for the Release Notes.
Control which objects users see in Einstein Search (Beta)
Control which objects are searched by Einstein, on a Profile specific basis. For example, if you know certain groups of users (e.g. Sales) will go to certain objects, you can set this on their profile. This works alongside Einstein’s analysis of the user’s activity. You can specify up to 5 objects. For the best performance, 3 or less are recommended. Click here for more information.
Flow
Flows have received many enhancements in Winter ’22. In fact, there are so many it would take quite a while to cover them all! Here are some of the best bits.
- Calling Subflows from Record-Triggered Flows
- Record-Triggered Flows can now call Subflows. Rather than having very large, complex flows for an object, we can break the logic down into smaller components. This helps us reuse logic and simplify designs
- Roll Back Pending Record Changes
- Ever built a Flow and wished you could easily perform a roll back? For example, if creating an Account and Contact and an error occurred during the Contact creation. In this scenario, you are stuck with the Account. Now you can avoid these scenarios! Use the new ‘Roll Back Records’ element to roll back all pending changes
- View All Triggering Objects and Platform Events for Triggered Flows
- A new field ‘Triggered Object or Platform Event Label’ is visible in Flow List Views. You can see what Object or Platform Event is triggering the Flow. No more opening and looking through Flows to see what triggers it!
- Flow Orchestrator (Beta)
- Use Flow Orchestrator to build complex, multi-stage processes (e.g. complex approvals). Users interact with the new ‘Work Guide’ component on Lightning Pages.
- To see more of this feature, please refer to this guide
- Change Record Field Values Temporarily While Debugging
- Record-Triggered Flows allow you to temporarily set sample values to debug a Flow. No need to update records to test different scenarios!
Summary
Winter ’22 contains many exciting new features. There is something for everyone. This article only contains a handful of features so be sure to keep your eyes peeled!
Bonus Penguin Fact
In the last post, we talked about the smallest Penguin species, the Little Penguin. Now, for the current largest species! The Emperor Penguin. Native to Antarctica, is typically 1.1-1.3m tall and weighs roughly 23kg.
These iconic birds are big, but are dwarfed by earlier Penguin species. Be sure to check out our next post to find out more!
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