Uncategorized – Sunshine and Other Unhandled Exceptions

Quickly Create Fake Salesforce Data with ChatGPT

Hey Salesforce Admins – Maybe you know this already, but just in case… it’s really easy to use ChatGPT to generate high quality fake data.

Example 1 – Super Simple Dataset

Let’s generate fake contacts to import with the Data Import Wizard. I can type the names of my fields directly into the ChatGPT prompt. I can also tailor the record details to match my actual contacts, and make it fun at the same time (Sample data is probably the best way for a Salesforce admin to be silly!)

Here’s what my first prompt looks like:

Create a sample csv data set of 25 records. Here are the column headers: Name Favorite 80s movie Favorite 90s movie Hobby Age Current Member. Populate the hobby column with obscure hobbies. Make the ages 18-75, but mostly in their 30s. Make current members mostly true, but a few false.

Make sure you specify that the results are in csv format! Here is what it generated.

Show Records in Tiles in Experience Cloud

Allow experience users to select a record by clicking on a joy-filled image instead of choosing from a boring old list view. Spark joy by adding records to a CMS Collection and adding fields to the object for your image, tagline, etc. and creating a (behind the scenes) boring old list view.

This example is for a community foundation – a nonprofit that helps donors give their money to other organizations that match their passions, like the Seattle Foundation or the Columbus Foundation. Above we see a selection of LGBTQIA organizations and below Animal Welfare orgs.

Ready to start building? Let’s go!

Unsubscribe Link

JULY 30, 2021 UPDATE: This version is now outdated! Please go here for the latest.

Unsubscribe Link 2.2 (OUTDATED)

Allow Recipients to Unsubscribe From All Email Sent via Salesforce

When the recipient clicks to unsubscribe, a flow will look for all contacts and leads who have this email in the Email field and mark them “Email Opt Out.” The email address owner will receive one confirmation email immediately. A custom object tracks when someone unsubscribes to allow you to report on it.

Image of five star review from AppExchange. Title of review: Great solution - easily modified for other objects. Body of review: Was looking for a solution to add an unsubscribe link to survey invitations. Implementation of this solution was super easy thanks to the extensive documentation. Very easy to manipulate to work for any object with a contact lookup!

See How It Works

UPDATE: 1/28/21 I realized how to send the confirmation email from someone other than “Site Guest User.” More in this post.

My First Time at Forcelandia: A New Admin’s Account

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend my very first Forcelandia. This was the fifth year for the event, and it was also the first year it was sold out. I must admit, I was pretty pumped. Not only was this the first Salesforce-related conference I was attending, but I was excited to get a glimpse at the developer side of the Salesforce landscape. I may have played ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” a few times on the way down, you know, just to get in the mood.

Forcelandia is a conference that may appear intimidating at first glance to the new Salesforce admin, as it is mostly tailored to the developer. Having attended though, I can say I got tremendous value out of the experience as a newbie. Below are some of my takeaways:

3 Tips for Troubleshooting (And Staying Calm While Doing It) as a New Salesforce Admin

The experience of becoming a Salesforce Administrator can be a whirlwind of new information, building relationships with your fellow administrators and most of all, trying to develop a thorough understanding of the Salesforce stratosphere so you can best serve your user base. As someone who has essentially learned Salesforce Administration backwards (I received the title of Salesforce Admin, then scrambled to learn how it works), I can vouch for having encountered some white-knuckled, fist-clenching troubleshooting challenges. At first, I allowed myself to succumb to my frustration. After all, how could I not have all the answers? However, in my short time as a Salesforce Admin, I have discovered that not only am I not alone, but there are a ton of resources at my finger tips to help me as I navigate through my learning. Throughout my experience, I have picked up 3 tips that have been essential to my process:

AaAAh! Great Big Ball of Fire!

Hi! Just a note to say that it’s sunny out and we don’t know how to handle that. We’re not blogging as much right now while we cope. Maya Peterson, Thomas George and I will be presenting at Portland’s amazing Forcelandia conference in August 8 & 9. We’ll have content to post after that!