Flow Loops Just Got Simpler

Actually, I don’t know when this change happened, but I just noticed that Flow loops now only have four steps instead of five. The two assignments can now be consolidated into one.

You still have to add the record to a collection, but you can use the same assignment element.

Example 1: Update the record currently in the loop.

  1. Use a Get Records element to create a collection of records to loop through.
  2. Add a loop element
  3. Add ONE assignment element
    • Update field values for record currently in the loop.
    • Create a new record collection variable to hold the records you want to update.
    • Use the same assignment element to add the record currently in the loop to the new collection.
  4. Add an Update Records element to update the records in your new collection.

Follow my blog to keep up to date on Flow and Salesforce


Example 2: Create new records.

  1. Use a Get Records element to create a collection of records to loop through.
  2. Add a loop element
  3. Add ONE assignment element
    • Create a new record variable (not collection) to hold the values of the new record you want to create.
    • Assign field values to your new record variable.
    • Create a new record collection variable to hold your records that you want to create.
    • Use the same assignment element to add the record currently in the loop to the new collection.
    • Close the loop.
  4. Add a Create Records element to create the records in your new collection.

Previously step 3 involved two assignment elements!

Watch this recording on Flow loops.

This is how you would combine steps 3 and 4 into one assignment!

How to Use the Migrate to Flow Tool and Recreate Your Workflow Tasks

The Migrate to Flow tool can quickly move your Workflows to Flows, but it can’t recreate your tasks. I’m here to teach you how to do that.

In this how-to-video, you can learn along with the Salesforce Nonprofit User group in San Francisco, how to:

  • Use the Migrate to Flow Tool

My section of the video is the first 30 minutes. Thanks to the user group for having me!

Learn more about migrating to flow on the Salesforce Admin’s blog.

Log Email Sent Through Flow on a Contact Record

Shows the activity timeline of a contact record with one email message stored there sent at 2:46pm today with subject "Welcome to the family, Jemma!"
Log an email message on the contact record like this one.

When sending email from a contact record, it magically logs the message to your activity log. In classic, emails were/are automatically logged to the Activities related list. Well, flow doesn’t do that for you. Let me show you how to log it so you and your colleagues know when an email was sent to a contact.

After you add a “Send Email” action to your flow, add two more Create Records elements to the canvas. You will create records of these objects:

Continue reading Log Email Sent Through Flow on a Contact Record

Live Session 7/26 on Flow Error Handling

Join MVP Aleks Radovanovic (Okta) at Salesforce Labs Day on July 26, 8am PT as she discusses my* Salesforce Labs solution for Flow Error Handling.

Session Description: With Flow becoming the dominant declarative automation tool, business problems we are solving with automation are becoming more complex. We need to be able to build scalable Flows that are easy to maintain, upgrade and troubleshoot, but handling errors in Flows is not always intuitive and user friendly process. Flow Error Handling solution from Salesforce Labs helps Admins to discover Flow errors in faster and more straightforward way. In this session we will show how Admins can use this Salesforce Labs Flow solution to pinpoint exactly where the process went wrong and obtain crucial details of the recorded incident that will help with troubleshooting and fixing the problem in a timely manner.

Get the app from AppExchange here.

Register for Salesforce Labs Day here.

*Thomas George taught me how to handle flow errors this way when we worked together at Optimum Energy. I love that I got to share it with others through Salesforce Labs.

Understand Tricky Flow Concepts

Head on over to the Salesforce Admins blog to watch 5 new videos that I helped create that explain some tricky flow concepts with fun metaphors and images!

“Get Records” is like a big claw that grabs records from your database and
pulls them into Flow as variables!

Are you wondering…

  1. What are the most common types of flow?
  2. Why do I need to store information in variables?
  3. What is a record variable?
  4. Why on earth do I need to “Get Records?” Shouldn’t the records already be there?
  5. What does it mean for a variable to store multiple records?
  6. What are loops?
  7. What are Create Records, Update Records, and Delete Records?

Then these 5 new videos can help!

Flow: Display Photo or Upload Photo

The flow will display either a photo or remind you to upload one. On any object!

How It Works:

The Flow looks for a file attached to that record with the title “SalesforcePhoto” (or another phrase of your choosing).

The File gets the title from the name of the file when you upload it. If you upload SalesforcePhoto.jpg, the title becomes “SalesforcePhoto.” You could also open the File details in Salesforce and change the title.

If that file is found, it’s previewed thanks to the work of Narender Singh, (of course)!

If not found, it asks you to upload a file from your computer named SalesforcePhoto and attaches it to that record. From then on the, the flow displays the photo!

We are using the app because constituents and donors are more than just a record, and seeing their faces humanizes the data.

Donna, Vote Solar
Continue reading Flow: Display Photo or Upload Photo

Send Tables in Email in Flow – NPSP Example #2 Memorial Gifts

This is the second in a series on sending email with an embedded table of records of NPSP objects. The first post was a list of payments.

“Here is the use case: sending a family of a deceased relative one letter with all the names of people who have donated in memoriam. So, one letter to the family for many people who gave. Client is a large hospice so this is happening weekly. Open to different options — apps? exports & merge? other? Thanks!”

Rob asked in the Power of Us Hub, back in April

Well, I’m a few months late, but here you go, Rob. I made a Flow that sends out an email like the one below. I see now that you said “letter”…oops. Hopefully you figured out a solution by now, anyway!

Install this unmanaged package to try it out.

Continue reading Send Tables in Email in Flow – NPSP Example #2 Memorial Gifts

Unsubscribe Link 3.10

Update: July 30, 2021 Now on the AppExchange!

Flow improved so much in 2020 (yes! a good thing actually happened in this Great-Pacific-Garbage-Patch of a year) that I was able to take out much of the complication of setting up this app.

And thanks to RAD Women Code courses 1 & 2, I was able to add a Visualforce controller and Apex Tests! I am so grateful to my incredible coaches and cohorts.

What matters for you is that it is much easier to install. It’s still not easy to install but hey, it’s 2021. You can handle what life throws at you.

Installation instructions here.

Requires Summer ‘21 and Salesforce Edition: Enterprise, Unlimited, Developer, Performance.

Continue reading Unsubscribe Link 3.10

Learn Flow Loops Video

Join me for a Salesforce.org webinar Intro to Flow on Thursday, Apr 9, 2020 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT. Register here.

Remember back when there were community events and conferences? I had the honor to speak at Cactusforce in Phoenix in January — highly recommend this small event! So many MVPs, so many recognizable experts in one small event. And the weather was great.

Session Description: Flow Loops unlock incredible power previously held only by devs. Without using any code, Admins can create an automated process to loop through all related records and take actions based on what is found there!

Towards the end of the video I talk about Spring ’20 amazingness with Flow that you can read more about here and here.

Go Ahead: Loop Through that Collection in Flow – Jessie Rymph from Marisa Hambleton on Vimeo.

 

Simple Before-Save Flow

Here’s a real quick intro to the Spring ’20 Before-Save Flow feature. Find in depth information on this topic from Jennifer Lee and Jodie Miners.

Basic gist: 

  1. Double click into the Start element and indicate to launch Flow on new record created (in this example).
  2. Use a Decision element to see if this record meets criteria.
  3. If so, use an Assignment element to update the field values. There is no “update records” – you just use an Assignment.
  4. Access the values of the Record by using $Record.Field__c when choosing a resource or variable.
  5. You cannot access $Record.Id because it doesn’t have an ID yet! It hasn’t been saved.

Continue reading Simple Before-Save Flow