Salesforce’s Winter ’24 release notes are now available! Looking for a quick overview of the key features packed into this release? Look no further! Let’s get started.
Analytics
- View Report and Dashboard Asset Details From the Analytics Tab. The new ‘Analytics Details’ section in the ‘Analytics Tab’, allows us to see a Report’s or Dashboard’s related metadata (e.g. Created By/Date, Last Modified By/Date, Last Viewed and Source).
- Refine Your Search Results with Sort. Column header sorting is now supported for results found within the ‘Analytics Tab’.
- Open Reports and Dashboards in Multiple Tabs from the Analytics Tab. Reports and Dashboards can now be viewed in separate tabs when accessing via the ‘Analytics Tab’.
- Transfer Ownership of Lightning Dashboards (Beta). Users with the relevant permissions can now transfer Dashboards to another user. This removes the need to clone.
- Visualize Lightning Reports with Summary Formulas as You Create Them. Lightning Experience’s Enhanced Summary Formula Builder makes it easy to preview the formulas and set parameters. This brings parity with functionality in Salesforce Classic.
Permissions & Sharing
Winter ‘ 24 introduces several enhancements to Permissions and Sharing. These help with reporting, monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Report on Custom Permission Set and Permission Set Group Assignments. The new ‘Permission Set Assignment’ custom report type makes it easy to report on Permission Set and Permission Set Group assignments.
- See Who Has Access to Accounts from Manual Shares and Account Teams with Reports. The new ‘Account Share’ custom report type allows reporting on Account shares (e.g. manual or account team).
- View Public Group Members with Reports. Report on Public Group Membership (users, roles and other groups) with the new ‘Group Member’ custom report type.
- See What’s Enabled in a Permission Set More Easily (Beta). Use the new ‘View Summary (Beta)’ button in Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups to view which object, user and field permissions are included.
- See How Many Permission Set Groups a Permission Set Is Added To. The ‘Permission Set Groups Added To’ field within Permission Sets counts the number of Permission Set Groups it has been assigned to. This makes impact analysis easier.
- See API Names for Object and Field Permissions in Permission Sets. View API names and labels for fields and objects in Permission Sets. This helps avoid confusion with similarly named components!
- Troubleshoot Permission Set Group Errors. View the cause of the most recent error in a Permission Set Group and manually trigger a recalculation once resolved.
- Audit Public Group Membership Changes with Event Monitoring. A new event type (Group Membership) is available in Event Monitoring. Monitor when public group members are added or removed.
- Troubleshoot Insufficient Access Errors with Event Monitoring. Another new event type (Insufficient Access). Monitor and review when users are unable to access or transfer Accounts, Cases, Contacts or Opportunities.
Lightning App Builder: Dynamic Forms
Dynamic Forms allow greater control over the content and layout of pages in Salesforce. Specifically, the ability to easily set up field sections and to show or hide fields/sections in lightning record pages. Winter ’24 continues the rollout of Dynamic Forms by allowing us to:
- Use Dynamic Forms on LWC-Enabled Standard Objects. Hundreds of LWC enabled standard objects, as well as custom objects now support Dynamic Forms. Some standard objects, such as Campaigns, Products & Tasks remain unsupported.
- Give Your Mobile Users the Dynamic Forms Experience (Generally Available). Dynamic Forms for mobile devices are now available on all Dynamic Form supported objects. This can be enabled via Salesforce Mobile App Setup | Enable Dynamic Forms on Mobile.
Development Environments: Sandbox Changes
- Understand Changes to Sandbox License Compliance. From Winter ’24, Salesforce will notify users with the ‘Manage Sandbox’ Permission when an org has more sandboxes than permitted. The least recently used sandboxes will be locked. These remain locked until compliance is restored (e.g. buy more licensing or delete unused sandboxes). After 60 days, the locked sandboxes will be deleted.
- Select Who Has Access To a Sandbox. Create a Public Group to manage sandbox access. Members in the group gain access and their email addresses are unchanged. Those outside the group must be unfrozen to gain access.
Einstein Generative AI
Winter ’24 follows on from Salesforce’s ‘Summer of AI‘. Features covered span Commerce, Field Service, Sales and Service Clouds. These features often require Unlimited Edition, with add-on licensing and/or credits.
Tip: Watch this space for more announcements from Dreamforce!
Sales Basics: Lead and Contact Intelligence Views & To Do Lists
- See Which Contacts Need Attention and Take Action Directly from Contact Home. Easily view aggregated details and metrics about contacts from the contacts home page with the new ‘Contact Intelligence View’.
- See Which Leads Need Attention and Take Action Directly from Lead Home. Similar to the ‘Contact Intelligence View’ above. The ‘Lead Intelligence View’ provides aggregated details and metrics about Leads.
- Do More in To Do Lists. Additional filtering, sorting and searching options added to the Sales Cloud Chrome extension. Preview information condensed for ease of viewing.
Salesforce Flow
Flow has been a treasure-trove of new features in recent releases. Winter ’24 is no different! Here are some of the key updates:
- Flow Integration. MuleSoft Composer for Salesforce is now called ‘Flow Integration’.
- Build Screen Flows with Reactive Components (Generally Available). Use supported standard and custom Lightning Web Components to react to other components on-screen, in real-time!
- Create Custom Error Messages in Record-Triggered Flows. The new ‘Custom Error’ element in before/after record triggered Flows allows custom error messages to be defined (up to 255 characters).
- Send Salesforce Data to an External Server Without Code via HTTP Callout (Generally Available). GET, POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE methods are now supported. Description fields added to help improve documentation. JSON validation is also easier, with in-line error messaging.
- Transform Your Data in Flows (Beta). Use the transform element to process data. This helps with transforming data sourced both within and external to Salesforce. Map values and perform calculations (e.g. formulas).
- Save a Flow Without Configuring Some Elements. Flows can now be saved before elements are fully configured (working towards draft saving capabilities).
- Use Filters to Find Record-Triggered Flows Quickly. Flow trigger explorer now supports filters (status, package state or process type).
Other updates
Accessibility
- Improved colour contrast in UI elements. Summer’ 23 enhanced colour contrast of non-text UI elements on specific objects. Winter ’24 applies these changes to all Lightning Experience pages and base components in custom Lightning components.
- Other changes to record pages. Change owner, change record type and inline edit icons have been updated. Screen readers will also communicate if an error message in a page footer is expanded or collapsed.
- Get Improved Accessibility in List Views. Changes to button labels and colour contrasts in list views. Changes also provide more descriptive information for screen readers.
General Setup & Enhancements
- Save Time with Mass Quick Actions on Related Lists (Generally Available). The ability to add quick actions to related lists to create and bulk update (up to 100 records) is now generally available. Check out the walkthrough in the Summer ’23 release summary for more info.
- Set a Password or Expiration Date on a Public Link to a Salesforce File. Summer ’23, also added the ability to set password and expiration date for links on Public Files. Winter ’24 provides admins the ability to set default password settings.
Feature Retirements
There are several updates on feature retirements:
| Feature | Retirement Date |
|---|---|
| Einstein Accounts Insights and Opportunity Insights | Winter '24 (Nov 2023) |
| Full Apex Auto-Complete in Developer Console | Winter '24 |
| Meeting Studio | Spring '24 |
| News, Automated Account Fields, and Account Logos | Winter '24 (Oct 2023) |
| Salesforce for Outlook | Summer '24 (Jun 2024) |
| Salesforce Platform API Versions 21.0 Through 30.0 Retirement | Summer '25 |
| Social Accounts, Contacts, and Leads | Spring '24 |
This is not exhaustive. Check out the release notes for any other retirements impacting your org.
Release Updates
Each release, Salesforce introduces a number of core ‘release updates’. These are typically platform updates, designed to improve performance, usability and security. In Winter ’24, there are currently:
- x8 enforced updates (cannot be disabled when enabled)
- x1 automatically enabled update (enabled, but can be disabled until enforcement).
Summary
Winter ’24 is another large update, with various features to help businesses of all sizes! This summary has highlighted the main features/items which caught my attention. As always, it is a good idea to check out the release notes in full in case there are any other items relevant to your org!
Until next time, thanks for reading! 🐧
Bonus Penguin Fact
Did you know there is a penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland who is a member of the Norwegian army? It’s true! Sir Nils Olav III who was given the rank of Corporal in 1982 has been moving up the ranks ever since! A few weeks back he was promoted to the rank of Major General – with a guard of honour to celebrate!
Want More?
Found this article useful? Why not share!
Or check out some of our other articles: