So yeah, when creating a HTML email template in SFDC we only really have two options, Batman or Robin. 

Batman) Create a header template that looks snazzy and has an editable region below it... which is guarded closely by the worlds most unimaginative WYSIWYG editor.

Robin) Create a custom email template with no header that you are free to style as you please but has no editable regions. 

What we need is for Batman and Robin to work as a team. We want a snazzy HTML email template PoW! that has predefined styling throughout BaM! AND editable regions BooM! 

Huge and basically unsolved problem... 

Problem solved, and it's fairly easy. 

So to get away from WYSIWYG hell we are going to choose to Create a custom HTML template with no header. 

Once there, name your stuff or whatever and paste your super fancy HTML email template code. 

All you do now is add contenteditable="true" to the td areas you want to be editable, see example below. 

Now each <td> tag you add that too will show up as an editable box for the user when they select that template to send an email. And the best part is, all the styling tied to each one stays intact so it looks Snazzy!


Robin: "Where'd you get a live fish, Batman?" 

Batman: "The true crimefighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin."

DF13 brought with it a record number of attendees to the already crowded streets and limited lodging of downtown San Francisco. I was there, one of the 130k plus tidal wave of blue and orange backpacks running around trying to make the next scheduled session. Looking at maps and apps and asking the direction givers for... directions only to find they knew less about the layout than I did. Because sessions were spread out between hotel lobbies, the developer center and the main building I did miss out on some of what I had planned purely due to travel time. I just couldn't help but note how inefficient the whole mess was simply due to the location. 

Now I can't say it was all bad, because it wasn't. San Francisco is a beautiful city with historic hotels and some of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. I know SFDC is based there along with like everyone else. It's got to be an amazing place to live and work. I would love to go visit again... 
but on vacation next time. 

So here we go again leaping haphazardly into DF14 which looks to be shaping up as the largest attendance to date and guess where we are going??? Back to good 'ole San Francisco. Just shoot me. Please.  

Seriously, why not go to Las Vegas? DreamForce could fit all inside one convention center and no one would have to plan travel time into session planning. The sad fact is a weeks vacation to San Francisco seems to be a major contributing factor in attendance numbers when your company is footing the bill. Makes the whole experience feel a little cheap. 

All of that said, I have my hotel booked but can't quite pull the trigger on attending again. I am sure I can pawn off my reservation if I need to because it looks like all the rooms within 100 miles of SF are booked solid that week. Oh joy! 

Weather info made the top 5? Wow... "Cloudy with a chance of Corrupt Data tonight. Tomorrow severe DDoS attacks with possible server outages. Boating forecast shows Seas 3 tp 5 Gigs, winds at 16 Meg."  

In a previous post I showed how I created a visual workflow to convert leads via the salesforce1 app. It seems to fail now with the latest release. I am sure that salesforce.com is working on as solution here.

If you’re looking for something that is above the normal run of the mill reporting, then you should check out TableTop dashboards and Reports. This salesforce app is offered by DreamFactory Software, Inc. and along the lines of their other products this one is just as good. The web 2.0 skin generates detailed dashboards and interactive date views. With the instant active links that are generated you can quickly jump to live reports for everyone that is part of your cloud.

A simple and easy to use report system offered by tabletop dashboards and Reports has fantastic filters allowing the user as much or a little information as they want. With a few clicks your reports are saved to web folders letting you build an archive and have on demand reporting for when you need it. Need to create high performance date cockpits for call centers or sales meetings, once again just a few clicks and all that information is there waiting for you.

Full control means you can customize as needed, great graphics means your reports stand out from the crowd. No more hunting around for what the sales numbers are on a given product. Easy to understand and easy to read make this dashboard reporting tool one of the best. No ID needed from outside users, so sharing reports is as easy as giving the link to them. A solid product at a great price, free and in the end you cannot beat that price. It is nice that for a change you are getting more than expected from a free program.

The folks at Dreamfactory have really stepped up their game with this. Use TableTop Dashboards and Reports as a stand alone or integrate it into other reporting systems. Customization is the key and this program really delivers the good. If you’re struggling with your current reporting system this program can not only save you money but time because in a matter of hours you can have it up in running. Once in place it was start generating data.  Need to keep a weekly, monthly or quarterly report update date? No need to make new slides or edit the code, this program does it all for you. A few clicks has you up and running whatever reports you need.

A full library of pre-built reports is at your fingertips. Quickbook powered spreadsheets, share live reporting with your partners and create full 3D view charts of information all without the stress and worry found in many other programs. Need help, Dreamfactory stands by their products and between their online chat and toll free number getting the help you need is just as easy as well.  From creating new folders or pages to customizing how you want a report to look, what information it needs to gather or anything even where you want to save it can be customized. The program does all the heavy lifting and the end user gets all the praise.  Free is always good, but when free meets a great program then that is a winning combination, a combination that can be found with tabletop Dashboards and Reports.

I kept getting complaints from users that the 'convert' button was not available on leads in the salesforce1 app. I searched high and low for a solution and ended up having to build a quick and dirty solution myself.

The app consists of a flow, action, class and VF page.

It sounds harder than it actually was. I am sure that salesforce will be fixing this soon but I put this quick fix for lead conversion in salesforce1 app together for installation: 
https://login.salesforce.com/packaging/installPackage.apexp?p0=04td0000000N0nu

After the install make sure that publisher actions are enabled:
From Setup, click Customize | Chatter | Settings.
Click Edit.
Select Enable Publisher Actions.
Click Save

Go to the mobile and click the plus button on the bottom right for all of the publisher actions:



   
 


















Then click the wrench icon for 'leadconvert'

A  new screen comes up with the company name and finally you click 'next' and the lead is converted

I do suffer from insomnia on occasion but it usually isn’t because of a project request requiring a plethora of visual force pages!

It seemed all too easy when I started, oh say about 8 hours ago or so now.

I was much more optimistic at that point I should point out. I feel like I am cramming for an exam or trying to make up for bad grades by doing some extra credit.

It only took about 20 minutes to layout the entire plan so I thought this was going to be an easy one. Just when I finished all the moderately complicated admin portions of this request I decided to move on to the challenging developer side of things. That was when I had an epiphany… which is not always a good thing when salesforce offers you so many ways to skin a cat and you are in an overly optimistic mood. Now I am rambling. It is 5 am after all so I guess getting off the subject is somewhat allowed.

I am now down to three steps left after 11 hours or so of work on a project that should have only taken me 4 hours total. I don’t think I can force myself to go on. It is probably for the better or I might find a redo waiting for me after I catch a few hours of sleep. For my own reference and perhaps to get some empathy here is my list of things to do:

• VF page with campaign detail info excluding all related lists
• Create a java alert box
• Trigger that updates the opportunity record count as deals close
• Add page as a custom link (the only somewhat easy thing on my list)

~J

I really enjoy analyzing data… could be why I am a self proclaimed dork in the data arena!

It is particularly great when you get to work with a client who appreciates the same thing. It perplexes me that people focus so much on getting information into their crm systems but don’t know how to really dive into it.

Reporting and dashboards can really make magic happen. Typically people know enough about reporting to be dangerous and stop when they hit a road block.

While working with someone today we discovered that they were headed in the right direction with their reports but couldn’t get the dashboard components just right. This alone caused them to temporarily abandon sharing their successes with their teams.

All we had to do was add some of the new dashboard filters (which I love by the way) and rework the charts on some source reports and voila.

Many users seem to forget how to add more than two columns to their table dashboard components. For an example scenario and walk through on this please follow the link below: http://success.salesforce.com/questionDetail?qId=08730000000IvhFAAS


~J

Sat in the Huge cloud chair. 

Creepy homeless statue guy.

Session on reoccurring billing and a solution by aria

We met some really cool vendors like Astadia (see you guys Wed!)

And some other vendors. 

Day one turned out to be so much more than we expected. Since we signed up late most of the sessions of interest are full but, if you wait around outside there is usually space to get in for just about everything. 
We stopped by a few booths, mostly to get our ticket stamped for the app blast thing on Wednesday. 
 For now its off to something else. Just wanted to post these quick pics from today here. Check out FB for tomorrow's updates and probably the rest of the week as I'll be posting from my phone. 

Well guys and gals, it looks like were going to Dreamforce this year!
I  know I haven't been posting in a while and honestly I have found a job that, despite my efforts, does not have me using the salesforce platform. 
I have been keeping up with my studies with the help of my good friend and neighbor MK who ironically gets to use salesforce at work on a daily basis. 
So, MK and I have decided to make the journey this year to San Francisco to see what all the hype is about. It is a little late but I think we may be able to sign up for a few sessions while we are there. 

Wish us luck and we should both be reporting back here live from Dreamforce 2013 with lots of pictures. MK said she wants to start posting here so expect us to trade off on this little piece of the internet. 
To my close friends who keep up with me here, let me know what you want me to bring home from the west cost for you.