Introduction

What if you could create an Energy Audit record from the Account record page without leaving the page. Quick Actions let you do that! They enable Users to accomplish tasks ranging from creating a record to logging a call in the blink of an eye!

What are Quick Actions?

As the name suggests, Quick Actions helps your User get their work done quicker. They enable Users to launch Flows, Lightning Components, and Visualforce pages from easily accessible locations in your org. Their functions don’t end there, they’re quite versatile, they can be used to make tasks such as creating records, logging calls, and sending emails faster and easier for the Users. For an Admin, this functionality holds a plethora of possibilities, they’re quite simple to create, and at the same time, they make your org more User friendly.

They come in two flavours:

Object-specific Actions

Just as the name suggests, these Actions perform a specific function based on a specific object. Object-specific actions reside in the record page of the Object.

Example: Let’s say you create an Object-specific action on the Account Object that creates Contacts, say you create a Contact on the Account record page of ABC Ltd. This new Contact is automatically associated with ABC Ltd. See how this simple Action helped reduce a repetitive data-entry task!

Global Actions

Global Actions aren’t tied to any specific record. They can reside anywhere in the org ( where actions are supported). Use Global Actions to create records, send emails, and log call details all without leaving your current page.

To access the Global Action Menu simply press on the top-right corner of your org.

How to Create an Object-Specific Action?

Let’s create an Object-specific action on the Account record page. We want to be able to create Contacts associated with the Account with just a click on the account record page.

1. From Setup, navigate to Object Manager.

2. Open the Account object.

3. Open Buttons, Links and Actions from the sidebar.

4. Click New Action.

5. Enter the following :

• Action Type: Create a Record
• Target Object: Contact
• Label: New Contact

6. Leave the rest as is, and click Save.

7. In the next window, we can customize the Action Layout. Drag and drop the field, Mobile from the palette onto the action layout.

How to Add an Object-Specific Action to a Page Layout?

We created the Action, but we still have some work left. We need to add this Action to the Account Page Layout to make the Action available to our Users.

1. Select Page Layouts from the sidebar.

2. Open Account Layout.

NOTE: Page Layout has two Actions sections – Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher and Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions.

The former controls which actions appear in the Salesforce Classic UI, while the latter decides what Actions appear in both Lightning Experience and the Salesforce Mobile App.

3. Click to override the pre-defined actions to customize the list of actions on Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience. ( Since we’ve never customized the actions sections of the Page Layout, the actions we see in the Salesforce app and Lightning Experience are system defaults.) Once we override the defaults we can add any action as per our liking.

4. Drag New Contact from Mobile & Lightning Actions on the palette to Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions on the Page Layout.

5. Click Save.

Let’s see what we created! Visit any Account record page and expand the action menu to find the new action!

How to Create a Global Action?

Let’s create an action that lets our Users create a Contact from anywhere on Salesforce.

1. Navigate to Setup, enter Global Actions in the Quick Find Box and select Global Actions.

2. Click New Action.

3. Enter the following :

Action Type: Create a Record

Target Object: Contact

Label: Create a Contact

4. Click Save.

5. Drag the Mobile field from the palette onto the Action Layout.

6. Click Save.

How to Add a Global Action to the Global Actions Menu?

Let’s add the Create a Contact action to the Global Actions Menu so that our Users can access the action from anywhere in the org.

1. In Setup, type Publisher Layouts in the Quick Find Box and select Publisher Layouts.

2. Click Edit (Next to Global Layout).

3. Drag and drop, Create a Contact from Mobile & Lightning Actions in the palette onto Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions.

4. Click Save.

To access the Global Actions Menu, simply click on the top-right corner of your org and voila the Create a Contact action is just a click away!

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