The hot temperatures (for the most part) are behind us for this year (at least in the North American part of the planet!), and as the leaves turn into a variety of beautiful colors, we are reminded of the ever-changing nature of seasons. It is a time of transition and so it is also in the Salesforce world! Indeed, the new Winter ’23 release is now upon us and does not disappoint with many new features and improvements. So let’s dive into a selection of the most relevant!
Dynamic Forms and Fields for Standard Objects
After having introduced dynamic forms for custom objects over a year ago, it could not have taken long before this very useful functionality was extended to standard objects. Winter ’23 sets the beginning of that extension with the first three core objects (Accounts, Contacts and Opportunities) now able to include dynamic forms in their lightning record pages, making them more robust and effective. Admins can now arrange Sections and Fields without having to use standard page layouts, manipulating and configuring them as individual components on the page, selectively displaying these items via visibility filters, boosting user experience. This declutters record pages while increasing flexibility!
To migrate the page layout of a lightning page to dynamic forms, simply click on the option to activate the Upgrade Wizard once the Edit Page screen is selected.
Dynamic Related List Filters (multiple!)
Yet again another improvement to a feature that had already increased visual efficiency! It is now possible to visualize a subset of related records according to more sophisticated criteria, by selecting multiple fields to filter instead of only one. You can also select multiple picklist values for any given picklist field, for example on the Contact record page, you may filter a dynamic related list to show all cases with a priority of Medium or High, and a Status of New.
To-Do List Organizer
Need a bird-eye view of all tasks and action items and a comprehensive planner of to-dos across the entire org? With Winter ’23, the To-Do List Organizer has become exactly this. Now available for Sales Engagement Users on Sales Cloud, the To-Do List organizer has turned into the main hub to streamline action items in a very customizable way. Docked in the Utility Bar (ask your Admin to add it!) at the bottom of every page across the org, users can see, sort, and organize all their tasks in a single actionable view. By applying labels they may customize how they prioritize items. They can choose a category or a label to focus on, accessing all the details and all actions available with each task.
Custom Address Field Type
This is more of an admin feature (it makes their life easier!), but it is quite relevant for general users as well. Now generally available with Winter ’23 (with some changes since its previous beta version), custom address fields allow to bypass having to create five fields on an any object where you want to capture an address outside of Leads, Contacts and Accounts, while improving address data accuracy and user experience. Leveraging Google maps functionality for search and display, custom address fields allow users, for example, to add a Warehouse Address field, accessing this information either as a structured compound data type or as individual address components in reports and record pages. We encourage customers to take advantage of this neat new feature, after reviewing a few of its limitations.
Reports and Dashboards
Two new features are noteworthy in Winter ’23 when it comes to reporting. The first is an addition to the report creation UI, now providing information that can help in the selection of the correct report type. The structure of all custom report types is now generally available in the details panel, showing the relationship between all objects included in the report type, with tooltips explaining the outcome of the joins. Thanks to this information, the burden of keeping prior knowledge of custom report types is relieved, allowing users to review report types based on Salesforce objects and see which specific standard or custom field is contained in a custom report type.
Even more specifically, the second feature in Winter ’23, albeit still in beta, allows users to filter report types according to specific standard or custom fields, right on the main report creation screen. This filtering feature allows users to specify up to 20 fields when evaluating report types, streamlining report creation like never before! For example, find the right report type to show which accounts bought which products by filtering on Account Name, Opportunity Name, and Product Model Number. This service is still in BETA, but it bodes well for the future!
Forecast Improvements
Winter ’23 has also provided a renewed Forecast page, with Improved Usability of Salesforce Desktop Site Forecasts. Several new features have improved the visualization and navigation of forecasts, namely:
- the addition of quota attainment percentages shown as colored progress bars in the summary view by selecting the Show Quota % Attainment display option on the forecasts page;
- a fixed time period column to the left of the summary page to keep the timeframe at the forefront;
- upon selection of the Show Changes in Last 7 Days display option on the forecasts page, each forecast value pop-up is enriched with additional information regarding adjustments and recent changes:
- Custom Opportunity Fields in Forecasts – another added filtering feature, this time regarding forecast types! Winter ’23 allows you to include and exclude custom opportunity fields when you create a forecast type in the setup flow, expanding on the previous version of this functionality. You can now filter forecasts by a variety of data categories, such as numbers, currencies, picklist fields, and custom fields, with up to three conditions selectable via the AND operator. The added accuracy in forecasting is unprecedented!
Flow Updates
As workflow rules have been retired, and process builders have been set on that retirement path as well, flow is definitely the future. With that, we’d be remiss if we did not at least touch briefly on a few of the many improvements that have been made with Flow.
- Native Flow Datatable Component – not as sophisticated as its “unofficial” counterpart (UnofficialSF), this is a major highlight. Instead of having to cope with the installation and maintaining of a third-party component, Winter ’23 comes out of the box with a basic, yet very convenient option to provide datatables in screen flows. Great addition!
- Cut and Paste Flow Elements – previously you had to copy, paste and delete the original copy of any flow element, now it’s a simple cut and paste!
- Use Formula Builder in Flow Resources and Collection Filter Elements – the ability to specify criteria via a formula when it comes to specifying records, whether single or in a collection, is a major plus, with a formula builder to guide and help with syntax and catching errors before the flow runs.
- Use Record-Triggered Flows to Update Related Records – all related records to a record triggering a flow can be now updated, with filtering functionality to be more selective if necessary.
If you have any questions about the new release items for Winter ’23 or just require basic Salesforce Support, please do not hesitate to contact us here at Revolution Group by email at [email protected]. We are here to help with your Salesforce (and Pardot) needs!
