After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Embed training materials in side Salesforce Lightning record pages at an object and field level
- Embed different formats of external content (docs, video, webpages, images)
PREREQUISITES
You need access to Elements Catalyst so you will need to run a free 14 day trial.
IN-APP HELP ROCKS
Face-to-face or instructor-led style training is expensive and ineffective in most situations. By the time the user needs to apply what they have learned, they have probably forgotten it, the business process has evolved, or the Salesforce app has changed. End users want immediate help.
They are happy with self serve if it is:
- Easy to access
- Short and directly relevant
- Most importantly, up-to-date
You already have existing training materials which are help pages, wikis, slide decks and videos. But are they up-to-date?
Most of us turn to Youtube to learn how to do stuff – grout tiles in a bathroom, play a bass guitar riff, or use an app. The video doesn’t need to be film quality. It can be taken on an iPhone and it needs to be short. That makes it very quick and easy to create and edit.
That covers points 2 and 3. But the 1st point is – easy to access. That means delivered inside Salesforce record pages, at an object or field level.
EXTENDING SALESFORCE HELP
We have made this very, very simple to implement using a Chrome Extension and Elements Catalyst. It extends the Salesforce help text grey (i) icon and turns it purple. It also adds a purple help icon to objects and fields that don’t have Salesforce help text.
In just a couple of clicks any training material can be attached to a help icon for the object or field as Help Topics.
Every help icon also has a feedback button which allows users to add comments that are linked to the field or object. The Admin is notified when any comments are added, plus anyone else who is @mentioned.
You will need the Elements Catalyst managed package installed in your Production Org and the meta data sync’d. Here is a support article on Installation and Setup.
Watch this short (6 min) video
WHAT EXISTING TRAINING CONTENT CAN BE IN-APP HELP
Internal documents
Elements Notes are full formatted documents with embedded images, video, URL links and tables.
Process diagrams
This was covered in the previous training topic
Cloud hosted documents
These need to be file formats that a browser can display e.g. PDF, GIF, JPG, HTML etc. Use the URL link to attach to the item in the Org Model. Each file type may require slightly different URL formatting to get the best results. The file will be displayed in a pop-up window or a new browser window. It depends on whether there is “cross-browser support” for the hosting service.
GoogleDocs: Docs, Sheets and Slides will all open up in a pop-up window. For Sheets, each sheet has a different URL. For Slides each slide has a different URL. You can control exactly what get displayed. GoogleDrive folders need to be opened in a new browser window.
Sharepoint: Use the sharing URL link and it needs to be set to “Open in new window”
Salesforce Files: Each file needs to have a public URL link created and it will display in a popup window.
Salesforce Help: Enter the URL link and it will display in a popup window.
Trailhead page: This needs to be set to “Open in new window”
myTrailhead page: This needs to be set to “Open in new window”
Quip document: This needs to be set to “Open in new window”
Intercom help: This needs to be set to “Open in new window”
Webpage: These will probably need to be set to “Open in new window”, but it is trial and error. Some pages on a website will open as a popup and then other pages only in a new window.
Wikis: e.g. Confluence. These will probably need to be set to “Open in new window”, but it is trial and error. Some sites will open as a popup and then other pages only in a new window.
Box: This will display in a pop-up window. You need to open the “Embed Widget window”. This will give you code that looks like the following. You need to take the part of the code that is shown in italics and use this as the URL. Note: not the “
<iframe src=”https://app.box.com/embed/s/n17ijocf8hge0pra26w98xm82rdktq7r?sortColumn=date&view=list“ width=”500″ height=”400″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
Dropbox: Use the URL sharing link. This needs to be set to “Open in new window”
Videos
For all of these, use the URL link to attach to the item in the Org Model. Each URL format may require slightly different format of URL to get the best results.
Youtube: Take the URL from the browser and replace part of it with the word “embed. Below is an example with the part changed in italics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OVDQPWzBFE
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3OVDQPWzBFE
Vimeo: This will display in a pop-up window. You need open the “Embed Widget window”. This will give you code that looks like this. You need to take the part of the code that is shown in italics and use this as the URL. Note: not the “
<iframe width=”640″ height=”564″ src=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/327965941“frameborder=”0″ allowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen webkitAllowFullScreen></iframe>
Wistia: Use the Share link URL and it will open in a pop-up window.
Vidyard: You can embed any video in a new window, but to embed as pop-up you need to be Vidyard Enterprise level. That gives you access to “responsive embed codes”. You need the “Fallback to iframe embed” code. This Vidyard Knowledge article explains how to get the iframe code. You need to take the part of the code that is shown in italics and use this as the URL. Note: not the // or the “
<iframe class=”vidyard_iframe” src=”//play.vidyard.com/6J7pCtJGyEEKne69jKJzPu.html?v=3.1.1” width=”640″ height=”360″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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