Salesforce is designed to keep your data and apps safe. Salesforce and you are both responsible for the security of your data. Salesforce's security features enable you to give your users the tools they need to execute their tasks safely and effectively.

In this post, we take a look at all the security measures to revamp Salesforce security

1. Enable Multifactor Authentication

MFA is a secure authentication mechanism that requires users to authenticate their identity by giving two or more layers of verification (or factors) while logging in. One of the factors is something that the person is aware of, such as their username and password. Other considerations include the user's possession of something like an authenticator app or a security key. 

Salesforce will require MFA for all users who log in to the Salesforce UI starting February 1, 2022.

2. Enroll in Lightning Login

By requiring two authentication factors for login, Lightning Login adds an extra layer of protection using the Salesforce Authenticator. You can give your users the enhanced speed, convenience, and security of password-free logins with Lightning Login.

With lightning login enabled you do not need to remember any passwords anymore and you can go password free.

3. Login IP Address

User profile login access is controlled by login IP ranges. Users with profile login IPs can only access Salesforce from IP addresses inside the range; otherwise, they will be denied access. Login IP ranges are commonly used to granularly restrict login IPs.

An organization's login access is controlled through trusted IP ranges. Users that log in from trusted IP addresses aren't asked to prove their identity (such as by entering a code sent to their mobile phone). Unknown people entering in from non-trusted IP addresses are asked to prove their identity, and if they do, they are granted access to Salesforce. At the organizational level, trusted IP ranges are commonly used to "allowlist" IPs.

4. Login Hours 

You may not want certain user profiles accessing your Salesforce org outside of typical work hours for a variety of reasons, including security. You might not want your users to work after hours, for example. In any case, we can alter profiles in Salesforce to limit login hours so that users can only log in during the times provided. Here's how.

1. Select the Setup option from the drop-down menu.
2. Type and pick Profiles in the quickly locate box.
3. Choose the Profile for whom you want to modify the Login Hours.
4. Click modify next to Login Hours. For this user profile, you now have the ability to adjust the hours.
5. Select Save once you've finished.

5. Security Health Check

You can use Health Check as an administrator to find and correct potential security flaws in your security settings. A summary score compares your organization to a security benchmark, such as the Salesforce Baseline Standard. You may replace the Salesforce Baseline Standard with up to five custom baselines. High-Risk, Medium-Risk, Low-Risk, and Informational are the four risk categories. High-Risk settings count the most, Low-Risk settings count the least, and Medium-Risk settings, well, they're somewhere in the center.

The Health check option is present under the Security in Quick Find. 

Having an organized Salesforce Instance is a sign of a skilled Salesforce Admin. Whether you have 10 objects or 100 objects used in your org. There are times when you hit the limits on your Usage of your Salesforce Instance and you might need to shell out some money for purchasing a new license. In this post, we focus on how to declutter your Salesforce instance. Let's Begin!

1️⃣Remove Inactive Automation

Check your Salesforce org for any Custom Objects which are no longer used. If there is no data present in these custom objects consult with your client to delete the custom object. Having custom objects without any data is more like an empty book with no context. Remove duplicate fields or unused fields from your table. quick tip to use the "Where it is used" button to review if the field is used or not?

3️⃣Move Report Folders and Unused Dashboards

Move out all your unused reports and Dashboard to a separate folder that is accessible to the System Admin. Delete reports or Dashboards with duplicate names and empty folders or subfolders. Create one folder named "Archived Reports" or "Archived Dashboard" and move all of your old reports to this folder this way you keep your report folder structure clean and clutter-free.

4️⃣Review the Storage Usage

Review the Data Storage and File Storage for the objects in your Salesforce org. If you see any object which has a higher number of records consider reviewing the historical data and decide if you need to move the data from Salesforce to a Datawarehouse. Remove attachments that are linked to records that are no longer required. An ideal solution would be to schedule a batch job to delete files that are not required anymore.

5️⃣Set a Data Retention Policy

System Admins are the core users of your Salesforce org who maintain your Salesforce users and the health of the Org. Ever wondered what needs to be done when a System Admin has to step down from his position and move out of the Company.  Here in this article, we provide you with Things you need to do before deactivating a System Admin in your Salesforce Org. 

Check for the below items when you want to safely reactive a System Admin.

1. Lead

• Change Lead Default Creator and Web-to-Lead Default Creator to a new System, Admin.

• Lead Auto-Response Rules and Assignment Rules.

2. Opportunity

• Update Reminders if any Opportunity reminders are sent to the user.

• Check Big Deal Alert if the user is set as a recipient for any of the Big Deal Alerts.

3. Case

• Case Auto-Response Rules and Assignment Rules.

• Under Support Settings, update the Default Case Creator and Automated Case Owner.

4. Workflows and Approvals

• Check if the User is in the Criteria
• Check if there is a Field Update that updates to the Username or references the System Admin.
• Task Assigned to the User
• Check Email Alerts if any emails are triggered to the User. Especially the Additional Email field under the Email Templates.

• In an Approval Process check if the user is used as an Approver or Delegated Approver
•  Update Default Workflow User to a new System Admin.

5. Process Builders and Flows

• Check for references of the User email or User in a Process Builder or Flow.

6. Schedule Jobs

• Reschedule jobs submitted by the system admin. Preferably use a Service Account to run all Apex jobs as you might have multiple system admin leaving the company at any moment.

7. Apex Exception Emails

• Check if the user is added to the Apex Exception Emails from the Org. Remove the user if present.

8. User

• Deactivate users under the same email or change email if required.
• Optionally, Add - InActive for user's Name.(This process can be automated as well).

9. Company Information

• Change the Primary Contact to the New System Admin.

10. Dashboards

• Change running user to an active user if Dashboard is using any of Inactive System Admin if Dashboard is in use.

11. Data Export Service

• Check if any Data Export service is scheduled by the System Admin who will be deactivated. 

Trailhead has got multiple modules and trails with projects but sometimes you might be lost and wondering what trailhead module to do next. In comes, Trailmixes which are custom learning paths somewhat similar to music playlists created by Trailblazers. 

You can create your own Trailmix or you can venture into custom learning path. Let's check in this post on what are the best trail mixes to do in Trailhead.

 1. Trailhead Resources During COVID-19 

This trailmix is created by Salesforce Trailhead Team during the pandemic. There are trails like Succeed from Anywhere During COVID-19 and Enhance Employee Wellbeing with Camp B-Well in this trailmix along with the Virtual Collaboration module.

2. Things all Salesforce Developers Should Know

Created By Chris Duarte this is the guide for best practices for all Salesforce developers. It packs up with all the contents from the basics of Salesforce Development to all the concepts that a Salesforce Developer needs to know.

3. Blaze your trail to Lightning

Make a move to Lightning Experience in Salesforce using this Trailmix. Get to know about the Lightning experience, Aura Components, and Development in Lightning Experience. 

4. Mark's Einstein Trailmix

One of the trailmix created by Mark Tossell packs up all the modules and projects of Tableau and Einstein. This one also has superbadges for Tableau CRM Data Preparation Specialist and Tableau CRM and Einstein Discovery Insights Specialist.

5. Quick Start a Project in 30 Mins or Less

Trailmix by Adam Torman containing some of the quick start modules and projects which can be completed in less than 30mins. This one helps you grab the badges quickly if you are aiming for the Ranger level.

Bonus Trailmix-  Road to Ranger 

Talking about becoming a Ranger these trail mixes created by Megan Peterson are absolutely necessary if you would like to become a Ranger.

Road to Ranger - Trailmix 1 ➕ Road to Ranger - Trailmix 2 ➕Road to Ranger - Trailmix 3 ➕ Road to Ranger - Trailmix 4 = 🎊Ranger🎊

In this post, we go through some of the Browser extensions for Salesforce Users. There are hundreds and thousands of extensions on the Internet, but we will go through some of them that we recommend using while you use Salesforce.

1. Better Salesforce formula editor

As suggested by its name, this extension provides an enhancement to the Formula Builder which we use to create complex formulas. Its autocomplete functionality is extremely helpful when you have multiple fields and functions in your formula.  While using this extension your Formula Builder will have an additional tab called the Better Formula. The Formula complies automatically and there is no need to click any buttons to check the syntax. Also, it's compatible with Lightning Experience.

2. Salesforce advanced Code searcher

This extension can be any Salesforce user's best friend if you want to traverse over multiple code components be it Apex Class, Trigger, Visualforce Component, or Lightning component. You can view and download the code coverage of all your Apex code. This extension also has other features like Lightning Linter which is used to analyze code for potential errors and LWC Editor (Beta), create your lightning web component directly from this extension a much-needed one if you don't have Visual Studio installed.

3. Salesforce Assistant

This extension is just a time saver for any Salesforce Admins or Developers. It works with Salesforce Classic and Salesforce Lightning Experience. It packs a bunch of features including a Dashboard of Code coverage, Daily API Requests, Code Backup,  Convert 15 digit ids to 18 digit ids, Lightning Quick View, Quick Query, Find Lightning component, JSON to Apex, Code Finder, Org Describe and so much more. This extension feels more like a Salesforce app than a browser extension. 

4. Salesforce LWC Editor

The future is all about building Lightning web components and this extension turns into an Editor for your Apex code, Aura components, and Lightning Web Components. You can quickly create a Lightning Web Component, Create or Update Apex Classes, Download and backup a component, Delete a Component, and many more features. 

To Sum it up

The good and old Developer Console tool has been the first tool an Admin or a Developer uses to code and create components like Apex Class, Triggers, Lightning Component in Salesforce. But do you know there are more things that you can do in a Dev Console? In this post, we go through a few hacks and tricks that Developer Console has in store for us.

1. Opening DevConsole 

Have you ever wondered why does the developer console always open in a new window? Is there any way you can open a Dev Console? Yes, we do it by using 

 https://domain.my.salesforce.com/_ui/common/apex/debug/ApexCSIPage 

When you prefix /_ui/common/apex/debug/ApexCSIPage to your Salesforce domain URL, you can directly open the dev console in a new tab. 

2. Query Builder

We all have written queries in the Query Editor in the Dev Console but always forgot the field's API name. Well, there is a built-in query builder in Dev Console. All you have to do is to open Dev Console go to File >> Open >> Entity type >> Objects. From the entities select the object you would like to query and click Open.

Once you open an object you can select multiple fields in the Developer Console and just click the Query button. All the selected fields will be automatically be queried.

3. Searching Files

You can search for specific words or terms used in the Apex class, Triggers, or Visual force pages. Using this feature of Developer Console you can search across all the code where you have used a specific line of code. This feature is mostly used when you want to search across all your code except the Lightning components.

Find this option under Edit >> Search in Files.

4. Fix Indexation and Code Formatting

Writing multiple lines of code without proper code formatting and indexation can lead to long paragraphs or messy code lines which can be really tough to read the code for the next developer. 

Using the Fix Indexation feature you can highlight your code lines and format the indexation for the code. This makes the code look clean and clear to read and understand.

You can use both Fix Indexation and Fix Code Formatting using the below menu options in Developer Console.

Go to Edit >> Fix Indexation 

                    OR

 Go to Edit >> Fix Code Formatting

5. Add or Change Log Levels

Yes! Debug logs, You can set and change log levels for the users directly from the Developer Console. You would only need the UserId of the user for whom you can set the data.

6. Change Theme and Font

Want to change the look of the Developer Console Editor. 

You can do that from the Help menu of the Developer Console. Look for the option Preferences and change the Editor Font and Editor Theme from the default.

Don't forget to click save after changing your preferences of the font and the editor.

7. Optimize Query Performance

From the Developer Console, you can find out the performance of the SOQL query using the Query plan button. You can write a SOQL query under the Query Editor and click on the Query plan button to see the cost of the Tablescan.

This can be very useful when you want to optimize long queries and see the cardinality, cost of the Table scan.

8. Access Lightning component Library

 Pack Up

AppExchange is the cloud marketplace for the Salesforce platform. Offering solutions in the forms of an app, component, or consulting services. These solutions can be priced as free, paid, or discounted for non-profits.

App Name - Data Generator

In this post, we talk about one of the AppExchange app called Data Generator.  You might have had this scenario where you have a Developer Sandbox with no data and you would like to have some dummy data to test your application or functionality.

Features

We can use this app to create mock data in Salesforce for any object or field. This app falls under the category of Developer and Admin tools. Data Generator will help you quickly insert thousands of records for your Salesforce org with just a click and no code involved.

Installation

The installation process for this app is quite similar to other appexchange installations and the app will generate one App, one tab, and one object as per the details in the Installed package. 

Starting off

To start off you can head to the App launcher and search for the application Data Generator. The interface of this app is in a green color accent. To create mock data you select the Parent object(in our case we selected Account) and the quantity which is the number of mock data you would like to create ( we used 30). Also, you need to select at least one field(it defaulted to Name) from the parent and provide the Text type. The text type allows you to select what type of text do you want in your mock data. It can be random text or exact text, Last Name, First Name, Company Name, etc. 

Add more fields

You can add more fields by clicking the Add button. After selecting the fields for which you need mock data you can simply hit the Run button on the left side to run the job. You also get to know the history of the jobs but it loads after the data is created. 

In the background of this app, whenever we run the application. we can see in Apex job section that a Datafactory Apex class runs to create this data. At a moment you can create 10000 records which is way too much mock data also respecting the governer limits of Salesforce.

Summary

Data Generator is a great tool for creating mock data directly from your salesforce instance. No need to prepare multiple CSV files for each object and load data using a dataloader. You can save your time of prep work for data cleansing and formating before loading. The best part is no need to code as well. 

 Salesforce turned 22 this March 8th, 2021. Along with that, the Trailhead platform has now also accomplished 1000 badges for you to skill up and there are new badges released every month. The Content team of trailhead has considered all the users using trailhead and it looks like there is a trailhead badge for every user.

In this post, we take a quick overview of what's new in-store in Trailhead for the month of March 2021.

This module covers how to plan and prepare for a virtual event. Identify the equipment needed for your virtual event and deliver an event on your budget. Prepare for the delivery of the event along with the contingency plans. 

This module explains to you how to use Einstein data Insights over your report data. Using which you can dive deeper into your Salesforce reports and create analysis from a report.

We get a new module for Tableau this time it’s for Tableau Prep. This module explains what Tableau prep is, what are the capabilities for Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Prep Conductor.

4. Shift Management

This one is for the field service team using Work.com. The new Shift Management module involves over setting up and managing Shift Management, how to create facility plans, getting back to office plans, and daily wellness checks. 

The Business Analysts are not left behind with the new process mapping for business analysts in trailhead it covers the process mapping concepts, benefits of process mapping, process mapping symbols, and used for process mapping.

6. Trail: Get Started with MuleSoft Composer

A whole new trial for Mulesoft composer using which you integrate systems and data with clicks not code. Quite interesting one, there are two modules under this trail Mulesoft Composer Installation and Configuration and Mulesoft Composer Basics.

Finally, we get a module that tells us how to get started with permission set groups, what are permission set groups, use cases on permission sets, how to create a permission set group, and to mute permissions in permission set group which is a neat feature.

This module covers the purpose of Salesforce Scheduler, setting default time zones for your customers, setting up calendar integration, customize appointment bookings, and setting up automatic service resource assignment.

This module is a part of the previous trailhead module: Salesforce Scheduler Industry Use Cases but showcases the industry use cases for Salesforce scheduler in industries such as Healthcare, Retail, Auto, and Industries in Public Sectors.

Want to have a loyalty program? Follow this module to set up a Salesforce loyalty management for your loyal customers. Create a loyalty program, add program members, assign benefits for the program, create voucher definition and promotions and provide them a loyalty member portal for your members to view their membership points or status.

With the Commerce Cloud payments module, you get to learn the ways the Commerce Cloud payment addresses challenges. Also how payment processing trends affect eCommerce and the introduction of commerce payments featuring Stripe.

This module takes a look at Impact management with plans on strategic evidence planning. This is a sequel to the trailhead module Impact Management Basics. It familiarizes us with continuous evidence building, how to implement tactics for impact management, and to explore technology that supports impact management.

Wrapping up

We didn't cover all the trailhead badges which were part of the Trailmix created by the Salesforce Trailhead named New Content March 2021 Release. Do checkout all 21 badges by heading to the Trailmix section of the Trailhead here.