Objects, fields, and records
Just as the body consists of cells, Salesforce is also a collection of various elements. Some are larger, others significantly smaller, but each of them holds great significance. In this section, we will discuss objects, fields, and records. With these components, an administrator can create a unique tool with all the conveniences. Let us begin.
Objects in Salesforce
Objects in Salesforce are fundamental elements, without which Salesforce could not exist. For how could you find, for example, Contacts among thousands of records of one kind that are not grouped in any way? It is a bit like buying chips – with no specified flavor, just chips, and hoping to pick out the paprika-flavored ones. Would there be a guarantee you would pick it out the first time? Not necessarily. That is why Salesforce designed its structure resembling its prototype, Excel.
I think I will not be lying if I say that everyone knows at least a bit of Excel and can use it (even my eight-year-old daughter Zosia loves coloring cells). Indeed, there will be people who can use functions, macros, and other advanced tools in an incredible way, and others will simply enter a guest list for their upcoming wedding. Why am I talking about Excel? Each object can be compared to a separate spreadsheet, meaning it is a separate collection of elements with the same characteristics.
Thanks to this, we know that in the collection of people invited to a wedding, there won’t be a list of gifts and a budget for the upcoming year (although nothing stops you from creating such a digital Frankenstein’s monster).
Objects in Salesforce are precisely such separate collections. In the OOTB version, you can find default objects. Among them will be celebrities such as Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity, or the lesser-known ones such as Contract, Product, and Case.
How do we categorize objects? Well, we can divide objects into two types – standard and custom. Simple? Certainly. Standard objects are the ones I mentioned previously. So, upon opening a fresh org (yes, you now know the meaning of this word), you will be able to create a new Account, add contacts to it, and create opportunities with them. But what if, to our contacts, we want to add a customer preference tag, which will allow us to easily find all customers who like watermelon for breakfast (everyone wants to find such customers, right?)? Then we need to create custom objects. Such objects will contain data that Salesforce didn’t think of before. To not leave you without examples, here they are:
- Projects: An object that allows us to manage projects. Attach users to it and store their deadlines and all information related to the projects.
- Employee certifications: This object will hold data such as the expiration date of the certificate, details of the user holding the certificate, and its description. Thanks to the expiration date of the certificate, we can build automation to remind us about the renewal, 10 days before the upcoming deadline. Useful? Absolutely!
- Technical documentation: In the OOTB system, we won’t find an object where we could provide complicated technical details. If your company needs to store such data, create this object for them and add the appropriate fields. They will be thrilled.
These three details are just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are vast; the only thing that limits us is our imagination. To sum up, custom objects meet the specific needs of a company. Therefore, during the course of a consulting project, a consultant, solution architect or administrator designs new objects and makes them into a necessary structure for the company.
Objects themselves are not only a dedicated element for certain needs, but they also hold the necessary data. By creating fields or relationships between objects, administrators are able to create data structures that reflect business needs.
Tip
When creating new objects, always write the object description. This way, a new employee or you, even after a long time, will know why such an object was created.