User interface and supported browsers
Salesforce currently has two user interface themes: Classic Theme and New Theme. Starting with the Summer 2010 edition (released in June 2010), all new organizations are enabled with the new user interface theme by default.
User interface
All screenshots and setups in this book have been undertaken using the new user interface theme. The difference in themes can be seen in the following screenshot that appears when you attempt to switch from Classic to New Theme (described shortly in this section):
Not only does the new user interface theme change the look and feel of Salesforce, but it might also position some key links such as Setup and Logout under the user name for each user in your organization.
Note
The new user interface theme is seen only by users with supported browsers. This is discussed in detail later in the Supported browsers section.
Some newer functional areas are dependent on New Theme and cannot be provided when Classic Theme is activated, such as Chatter (a collaboration application suite). Therefore, to enable Chatter, you must first activate New Theme.
Supported browsers
The following browsers are supported by Salesforce:
- Microsoft® Internet Explorer® Versions 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11
- Mozilla® Firefox®—the most recent stable version
- Google Chrome™—the most recent stable version
- Apple® Safari® Versions 5.x and 6.x on Mac OS X
Note
Starting from the Summer 2015 release, Salesforce will discontinue browser support for Microsoft® Internet Explorer® Versions 7 and 8.
Along with the user interface theme, there are many other aspects of the user interface that can be set up in Salesforce to present an optimal user experience for the users in your organization.
Additional user interface options include User Interface settings (such as Collapsible Sections and Inline Editing); Sidebar settings (Collapsible Sidebar settings and Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages); and Calendar settings (such as Home Page Hover Links for Events and Drag-and-Drop Editing on Calendar Views).
There are also some administrator-specific settings that can improve your experience with the application located under the Setup settings. This also includes the Enhanced Page Layout Editor and Enhanced Profile List Views settings.
The selection of the User Interface option can be carried out by navigating to Setup | Customize | User Interface.
Note
The User Interface option is the final option in the Customize section on the left-hand setup sidebar.
The User Interface screen is presented as shown in the following screenshot:
User interface settings
In the following sections, we will look at the various user interface settings. Let's look at them one by one.
The Enable Collapsible Sections option
Collapsible sections enable your users to collapse or expand sections on record detail pages using the arrow icon next to the section heading. Sections remain expanded or collapsed until the user changes their settings for that section. Salesforce will store a different setting for each record type if the record types have been set up as shown in the following screenshot:
Note
When enabling collapsible sections, you need to ensure that the section headings have been entered on the page layouts.
Clicking on the triangle icon toggles between showing and hiding the section, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Show Quick Create option
The Show Quick Create option adds the Quick Create fields section to the sidebar on a Record tab page to enable users to create a new record using minimal data fields, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Show Quick Create option also controls whether users can create new records from within the lookup dialogs. With the setting enabled, users see a New button in the lookup dialog screen. The following example shows the creation of a new account within the account lookup dialog while working with an opportunity record:
Clicking on the New button reveals the fields that are available in order to create the new record.
The option to create new records and the display of the New button in the lookup dialog is only available for accounts and contacts. Also, users still need the appropriate create user profile permission to enter data with Quick Create irrespective of whether the entry fields are displayed.
The Enable Hover Details option
The Enable Hover Details option allows users to view interactive information for a record by hovering the mouse pointer over a link to that record in the Recent Items list on the sidebar or in a lookup field on the record detail page. The fields displayed in the hover details are determined by the record's mini page layout that is set at the page layout edit screen.
Note
The Enable Hover Details option is selected by default.
In the following screenshot, we are hovering the mouse pointer over a link to a record in the Recent Items list on the sidebar:
In the following screenshot, we are hovering the mouse pointer over a lookup field on the record detail page:
Note
To view the hover details for a record, users require the appropriate share access to the record and field-level security to the fields in the mini page layout, which is set at the page layout edit screen (see Chapter 3, Configuration in Salesforce CRM).
The Enable Related List Hover Links option
The Enable Related List Hover Links option enables related list hover links to be displayed at the top of standard and custom object record detail pages. It allows users to view the related list and its records by hovering the mouse pointer over the related list link. Users can also click on the related list hover link to jump down directly to the Related List section without having to scroll down the page.
Note
The Enable Related List Hover Links option is selected by default.
The Enable Separate Loading of Related Lists option
The Enable Separate Loading of Related Lists option enables the separate loading of record detail pages. First, the primary record detail data loads, and then the related list data loads. This option serves to improve display performance for organizations with a large number of related lists on record detail pages. When the page is loaded, the record details are displayed immediately; afterwards, the related list data loads, during which the users see a progress indicator for the related list.
You will see that the related list sections are not loaded yet. They appear as […] while the primary record detail (for the account example) is loaded immediately, as follows:
After the primary record detail has loaded (the account page), the related lists are then loaded. You can see that the number of records for the Contacts related list is now displayed as [2].
This option does not apply to pages for which you cannot control the layout (such as user pages or Visualforce pages).
Note
The Enable Separate Loading of Related Lists option is disabled by default.
The Enable Inline Editing option
The Enable Inline Editing option allows users to change field values directly within the record detail page, avoiding the need to load the record edit page first. By double-clicking on the field to be edited within the detail page, the field changes and becomes editable. The new value can then be entered and saved, or the action can be undone using the Undo button.
First, the field is highlighted by hovering over it with the mouse to reveal the pencil icon, indicating that the field is editable, as follows:
Then, double-clicking on the field causes the field to switch from view mode to edit mode to allow a new value to be entered, as follows:
After a new value has been entered, the value is displayed in orange text and the user has the option to undo the change using the undo button, as follows:
The changed value and the detail page can then be saved in the standard way using the Save button, as follows:
Tip
To check whether inline editing is enabled for your organization and to discover which value can be edited, you can hover over a value with your mouse and note the following result:
- A field that is editable will have a pencil icon to the far right of the value when the mouse is hovered over it
- A field that is non-editable will have a padlock icon to the far right of the value when the mouse is hovered over it.
This option is enabled by default. Certain fields cannot be changed using inline editing, such as system fields (created by, last modified by, and so on), calculated fields (formula, auto number, roll-up summary, and so on), read-only Fields, and special fields (such as owner and record type).
Note
Also, fields on detail pages for documents and forecasts are not currently editable using inline editing.
The Enable Enhanced Lists option
The Enable Enhanced Lists option provides users with the ability to view, customize, and edit list data, which is the resulting data section that is rendered from Views. When enabled along with the Enable Inline Editing setting, users can also edit records directly within the list without having to move away from the page, as shown in the following screenshot:
With enhanced lists enabled, users can perform the following actions:
- Create a new view or edit, delete, or refresh the existing view.
- Navigate through the list results by clicking on the first, previous, next, and last page links at the bottom of the list. You can jump directly to a specific results page by entering a number in the textbox in the lower-right corner. You can also change the width of a column by dragging the right-hand side of the column heading with the mouse. Changes made to column widths apply to that specific list only and are recalled whenever that list is viewed. Please note that, when columns are added or removed from a list, any column width setting for that list is discarded.
- Change the order in which a column is displayed by dragging the entire column heading with your mouse to the desired position. For users who have the permission to edit the list definition, the changes are saved for all who see the list. For users who do not have permission to edit the list definition, their changes are discarded after leaving the page.
- If inline editing is enabled for your organization, values can be entered directly into the list by double-clicking on individual field values. Users who have been granted the Mass Edit from Lists option on their profile can edit up to 200 records at a time.
Note
The Mass Edit from Lists option only appears on the profile if inline editing is enabled.
A mass edit is performed by first selecting the records to be edited using the checkboxes and then clicking on one of the fields that are to be edited.
Upon clicking on the field, a new pop-up window is displayed, which prompts whether the change is to be made to just the selected record or to all the records that have been selected. In the following screenshot, we see an example where two account records have been selected and where one of the record's billing street fields has been clicked on. This feature only allows mass edit; users cannot mass delete.
Tip
Remind users that they cannot mass delete records
As a system administrator, you might need to remind users that they cannot mass delete records as, occasionally, users might try to mass delete using the only visible Delete link, which is, in fact, the link to delete View, as shown in the upcoming screenshot.
Hopefully, communication of this fact will save you from having to recreate any views that have been deleted due to an error.
In the Account, Contact, and Lead List views, there is an Open Calendar link at the bottom of the page that displays a weekly view of a calendar underneath the list. A record can be dragged from the list to a time slot in the calendar to create an event associated with the record.
Note
To perform inline editing on an enhanced list, Advanced Filter options must be turned off in the list view filter criteria.
Some standard fields do not support inline editing. For example, Case Status, Opportunity Stage, and several of the Task and Event fields can only be edited from the record edit page.
The number of records displayed can be changed per page by setting the view for 10, 25, 50, 100, or 200 records at a time. When this setting is changed, navigation is set to the first page of list results, as shown in the following screenshot:
If users change the number of records to be displayed per page, that setting is applied to all the lists (not just the current list).
Also, if the option of displaying 200 records is selected, a warning message appears as it can reduce performance, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Enable New User Interface Theme option
The Enable New User Interface Theme option changes the look and feel of Salesforce from the classic theme to the new theme. It also houses links, such as Setup, Developer Console, and Logout, under the username for users in your organization.
There are still some older browsers (such as IE 6) that cannot render the new user interface theme and should be avoided.
The Enable Tab Bar Organizer option
The Enable Tab Bar Organizer option automatically arranges users' tabs in the tab bar to control the width of the CRM application pages and prevent horizontal scrolling. It dynamically measures how many of the application tabs can be displayed and puts tabs that extend beyond the browser's current width into a drop-down list that is presented on the right-hand side of the tab bar, as shown in the following screenshot:
Note
This setting is only enabled when New User Interface Theme is activated. If your organization is not using the New User Interface Theme, you can enable the feature, but the Tab Bar Organizer will not be activated for your users until the new theme is also enabled.
The Enable Printable List Views option
The Enable Printable List Views option allows users to easily print list views.
If enabled, users can click on the Printable View link (the printer logo), located in the top-right corner on any list view, to open a new browser window. Within the new window, the current list view is displayed in a print-ready format, as shown in the following screenshot:
This option allows users to click on the Printable View link from any list view; this opens a new browser window that displays the current list view in a print-ready format.
The Enable Spell Checker option
When the Enable Spell Checker option is selected, the Check Spelling button appears in certain areas of the application where text is entered, such as sending an e-mail or when creating cases, notes, and solutions. Clicking on this button checks the spelling of your text, as shown in the following screenshot:
Note
The SpellChecker option is not supported for all languages in Salesforce and does not appear where the language is, for example, Thai, Russian, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese.
The Enable Spell Checker on Tasks and Events option
The Enable Spell Checker on Tasks and Events option enables the appearance of the Check Spelling button when users create or edit tasks or events. Spelling is checked in the Description field for events and the Comments field for tasks.
The Enable Customization of Chatter User Profile Pages option
The Enable Customization of Chatter User Profile Pages option allows you to customize the tabs on the Chatter user profile. The way to customize Chatter user profile pages is described in detail later in Chapter 7, Salesforce CRM Functions.
In the following screenshot, we have customized the Chatter User Profile Page tabs and added the Learning Zone tab, which results in the modified page shown in the following screenshot:
Note
This feature was automatically enabled in Winter 2014.
This enables you to add custom tabs or remove default tabs such as the Feed and Overview tabs. Custom tabs are available by customizing Subtab Apps, which are described in more detail in Chapter 3, Configuration in Salesforce CRM. If this option is disabled, users only see the Feed and Overview default tabs.
The Enable Salesforce Notification Banner option
When the Enable Salesforce Notification Banner option is selected, an announcement banner appears on certain pages.
Note
In the Summer 2014 release, the Salesforce Notification Banner will appear in the setup area for your organization and on pages for accounts, contacts, and dashboards.
Your users can exclude the banner from all pages by clicking on the Close button, or you can prevent the Salesforce Notification Banner from appearing for your entire organization by disabling this option.
Sidebar
The following options are available to help users view and edit information on the sidebar that is presented on the left-hand side vertical section of the screen:
- Enable Collapsible Sidebar
- Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages
We will now cover the Sidebar options in detail.
The Enable Collapsible Sidebar option
The collapsible sidebar gives users the ability to show or hide the sidebar on every Salesforce page where the sidebar is included. When the Enable Collapsible Sidebar option is selected, the collapsible sidebar becomes available to all users in your organization. However, each user can set their own preference for displaying the sidebar. Users can set the sidebar to be permanently displayed, or they can collapse the sidebar and show it only when needed.
The Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages option
If you have custom home page layouts that include components in the sidebar, the Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages option displays the sidebar components on all pages in Salesforce and for all users. If only certain profiles are allowed to view sidebar components on all pages, you can assign a Show Custom Sidebar on All Pages permission to just those profiles.
Note
If the Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages user interface setting is enabled, the Show Custom Sidebar on All Pages permission is not available within the profile permissions.
Calendar settings
The following options are available to help users view and edit information on calendar sections and views:
- Enable Home Page Hover Links for Events
- Enable Drag-and-Drop Editing on Calendar Views
- Enable Click-and-Create Events on Calendar Views
- Enable Drag-and-Drop Scheduling on List Views
- Enable Hover Links for My Tasks List
Let's see what they are in detail.
The Enable Home Page Hover Links for Events option
The Enable Home Page Hover Links for Events option enables hover links in the calendar section of the Home tab and allows users to hover the mouse over the subject of an event to see interactive information for that event.
Note
This setting controls the Home tab only, as hover links are always displayed in other calendar views. Also, this option is enabled by default.
The Enable Drag-and-Drop Editing on Calendar Views options
The Enable Drag-and-Drop Editing on Calendar Views option enables your users to drag-and-drop existing events around their daily and weekly calendar views to reschedule events without having to navigate from the page to the event creation page. The loading performance of the calendar control might suffer with this option enabled. Drag-and-drop editing is not available for either multiday events or on console calendar views. Also, this option is enabled by default.
The Enable Click-and-Create Events on Calendar Views option
The Enable Click-and-Create Events on Calendar Views option enables the creation of events on daily and weekly calendar views by double-clicking on a specific time slot and entering the details of the event in an interactive section. The fields presented in the interactive section are set using the mini page layout on the Event page layout screen.
Note
Recurring events and multiperson events cannot be created using the Click-And-Create Events On Calendar Views option.
The Enable Drag-and-Drop Scheduling on List Views option
The Enable Drag-and-Drop Scheduling on List Views option enables users to create events by dragging the record to be linked from the list view to the weekly calendar view. Upon dropping, an interactive section for the event detail is displayed where the available fields are set using the mini page layout.
Note
This option is disabled by default.
The Enable Hover Links for My Tasks List option
The Enable Hover Links for My Tasks List option enables hover links for tasks in the My Tasks section of the Home tab and on the calendar day view, and allows users to hover the mouseover details of the task in an interactive section.
Setup settings
There are administrator-specific user interface settings that can improve your experience with the application and that are located under the Setup settings for the following options:
- Enable Enhanced Page Layout Editor
- Enable Enhanced Profile List Views
- Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface
- Enable Streaming API
- Enable Custom Object Truncate
- Enable Improved Setup User Interface
- Enable Advanced Setup Search
Let's see what these settings are in detail.
The Enable Enhanced Page Layout Editor option
The Enable Enhanced Page Layout Editor option enables the Enhanced Page Layout Editor for your organization, so you can edit page layouts with a feature-rich What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.
The Enable Enhanced Profile List Views option
The Enable Enhanced Profile List Views option enables the enhanced list views and inline editing on the profiles list page, which allows you to manage multiple profiles at once.
To go to the Profile menu, navigate to Setup | Manage Users | Profiles. Now, select a profile and click on Create New View, as shown in the following screenshot:
The following are the three steps to produce the list of profiles that allow you to modify multiple profile settings at once:
- Enter the view name.
- Specify the filter criteria
- Select the columns to be displayed.
The following screenshot shows the three steps used to create a new view for profiles:
Now that the profile view has been created, we can select multiple profiles to manage all at once, as shown in the following screenshot:
You can display multiple lists of profiles that can be selected and actioned upon, as shown in the following screenshot:
You can also modify multiple profile selections to apply the setting to all the profiles, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Advanced settings of User Interface set up the screen that is currently related to the Extended Mail Merge features.
The Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface option
The Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface option allows you to enable the Enhanced Profile User Interface, which then offers the following features to help you:
- Find permissions and settings: With this, you can start typing a specific permission or setting name in the find settings box and then choose from a list of matching results.
- Edit profile properties: With this, you can change the name or description of a profile.
- Assigned Users button: You find out who belongs to a profile by clicking on this button to see a list.
- Browse permissions and settings: This is for both app and system properties. Here, the app-related and system permissions and settings are grouped on individual pages where the profile overview page provides the descriptions and links.
The Enable Streaming API option
The Enable Streaming API option enables the use of the Force.com Streaming API in your organization. The Streaming API provides near real-time streams of data from the Force.com platform. You can create topics with which applications that receive asynchronous notifications of changes to data in Force.com can subscribe.
Note
See the Force.com Streaming API Developer's Guide at https://developer.salesforce.com for more details.
The Enable Custom Object Truncate option
Select the Enable Custom Object Truncate checkbox to activate truncating custom objects, which permanently removes all of the records from a custom object while keeping the object and its metadata intact for future use.
Note
When this option is enabled, a Truncate button appears in the list of edit buttons within the custom object setup page.
Truncating custom objects is a quick way to permanently delete all of the records from a custom object, for example, if a custom object has been created and filled with test records. When testing is complete and the test data is no longer required, you can truncate the object to remove the test records but keep the object and make it ready to be deployed into production. This is quicker than batch-deleting records and recreating the custom object.
Note
Truncating a custom object permanently removes all of its records, and you cannot recover the records from Recycle Bin. A copy of the truncated object appears in the Deleted Objects list for 15 days, during which the object and its records continue to count toward the organization's data limits. The copied object and its records are then permanently deleted after 15 days.
The Enable Improved Setup User Interface option
When the improved setup user interface is enabled in an organization, you might notice several differences as compared to the original user interface.
The setup menu is accessed from the Setup link in the upper-right corner of any Salesforce page. It is arranged into the following goal-based categories:
- Administer, Build, Deploy, Monitor, and Checkout
- Personal settings, which all Salesforce users can edit, are available from a separate My Settings menu
Note
By enabling the Enable Improved Setup User Interface option, the improved Setup user interface is activated for every user in your organization.
The Enable Advanced Setup Search option
When enabled, the Advanced Setup Search option allows you to search for setup pages, custom profiles, permission sets, public groups, roles, and users from the sidebar search textbox within the setup area. When the option is disabled, you can search for setup pages only.
As you type in the sidebar Setup searchbox, any options that match your search term appear in the Setup menu. When you press Enter, you will be presented with a page that will list any matching permission sets, custom profiles, public groups, roles, or users.
