[#Blogged] - Dynamic Forms & Actions

The great thing about Salesforce is how customizable it can be. If you’ve had your Salesforce org for a while, chances are you have a ton of customization, including specific object fields to capture unique data for your business. Fields are quick and easy to set up and add onto a page layout, but that can lead to a problem or two. Once your Sales or Services department realizes how simple it is to add “just one more field”, you can really rack up a lot. Hopefully, not every field ever created is on the page layout, however, it may be safe to bet they are! While fields are used to capture and display data, not all of them are used for data entry, and not required to be visible all of the time.

If you have departments that demand to see these fields constantly, you can run into headaches of never ending page scrolls. Your nice and neat custom page layout can turn into a long laundry list of data that overwhelms your senses. The next thing you know, one department is complaining about seeing fields requested by another, and how difficult the page can be to use. Unfortunately, that can lead to a lack of user adoption, and make it more frustrating to find the data you really need. And, thus, in the end, the fields you’ve created and displayed aren’t getting utilized for their original purpose.  

Where this really becomes a problem is when you have numerous departments, or roles, that each need to see different information, and thus separate page layouts. The next thing you know, you’re sorting through 5 or 6 page layouts, adjusting that custom object for your sales, services, finance, and every other department that needs to see it. Not only is that an extreme waste of time for you, but opens you up for possibly forgetting to make an adjustment on one of the layouts, leaving those that depend on you without the data they need. 

The great news is, it doesn’t have to be this way! What if I told you Salesforce has produced a solution for Lightning App Builder that can help save you time, and reduce some of those headaches? 

Let’s talk about Dynamic Forms and Dynamic Actions!

What Are Dynamic Forms?

Glad you asked! Dynamic Forms are a new feature of the Lightning App Builder for creating Record Pages to be used on Custom Objects (for now). You can now use sections as you always have with components, but now you can choose Fields, as well (see below). Instead of being limited to the page layout editor, you can drag and drop fields, using the design of your choice.  

How Can Dynamic Forms Help Me?  

Dynamic Forms have a lot to offer in a small package. Not only do they allow more versatility than adjusting layouts before, but they actually allow for better page performance. As you may have noticed, those page layouts with a hundred or so fields can load somewhat slowly. Tabs and Accordion components allow for a more efficient space and load time, since sections can be compressed and expanded. You also have Field Visibility Rules, which provide filters to help control which data is visible based on certain criteria. This is similar to Component Visibility Rules, which reduces the number of page layouts you need, since that can also be controlled by criteria that limits what can be seen. Although the page layout editor typically used to adjust page layouts also allows drag and drop, the size of the Lightning App Builder allows the page to come together as a whole, instead of one long page. The layout management here is just much easier to use. 

Are Dynamic Forms Easy to Use?  

Speaking of easy to use, it’s absolutely a breeze. Once you navigate to the Lightning App Builder for your custom Record Page, instead of just being limited to Components, you now have Fields. 

First, simply grab the Field Section and drag it into the desired component box, on the layout of your choice.

You then grab your desired fields and place them into the section you just created.

You can then set Field Visibility, to meet your specific needs.

You can also use the Advanced Function to use lookup fields as filters.

In just a few minutes, you can have your dynamic forms setup with a conducive design for your needs, with filters in place to make sure the appropriate information is visible. That is a lot faster than numerous page layouts, right?!

Wait, what about Dynamic Actions?

Although this is currently in Beta, I’m still really excited to share! On the Highlights component, you can now have specific actions that also can be limited with filters, to make sure the right users can see it. These Dynamic Actions are listed out, with an orange eye icon to indicate which ones have visibility filters, so you don’t have to spend your time guessing and clicking through the list. Of course, this has to be enabled, but start to finish, now you can fly through adding the necessary actions in a short amount of time.

As someone who has been there in the “different page layout per role” org, I can promise you this feature is going to make your life so much easier. Even beginner admins can navigate through the setup of Dynamic Forms and Dynamic Actions, which is really how it should be! And, honestly, it’s just fun to use. This will be so much more efficient to update, and I can keep my users more satisfied, reducing time spent in the list of fields. I’ll be honest, it kinda makes me want to give my org a little bit of Lightning love right now! Hopefully, you’ll agree, and can see the value in what this offers.

Further Reading:

New Low-Code Innovations For Building the Apps You Need, Fast

Release Notes - Dynamic Forms

Release Notes - Dynamic Actions

Break Up Your Record Details with Dynamic Forms