Objects, Records, and Fields

Objects

There are many different types of things we collect information about in Salesforce - people, companies and organizations, nominations, ventures, programs, and more. We have different tracking needs for each of these - for example, our contacts will not have the same kinds of information as our programs. Therefore we use different "objects" which essentially function as their own mini-database.

Objects can be found in the tabs across the top of your Salesforce pages (shortcuts) and by clicking the waffle grid (9 dots) at the top left to sign to see the full list of all objects (as well as integrated applications such as Campaign Monitor).

Standard Objects

Examples of standard objects are Contacts, Accounts, and Campaigns.

Standard Objects are part of the core Salesforce platform and not specific to the Leadership Dvision. These objects are used by all Salesforce users, whether they are large corporations, small nonprofits, or individuals. As they are standard across the platform, Salesforce continues to manage and update these objects and their functionality.

Custom Objects

Examples of custom objects are Programs, Classes, Engagements, Nominations, Special Events, Sessions.

Custom objects are designed specifically for us. This gives us the ability to create objects that are central to our processes but not relevant for other organizations. Most of our Salesforce instance is customized for our needs and consist primarily of objects that are related to:

Programs, including Classes, Engagements, and Nominations

Seminars and Events, including Seminar Readings, Seminar Moderators, Special Events, Special Event Attendees, Sessions, Session Attendees

Evaluation, including Surveys, Moderator Feedback

Records

Records are the individual records within each object. Each has a unique identifier called the Record ID, a 15 digit code at the end of the Salesforce page URL: https://na24.salesforce.com/a2H1a000000HxRa

(There is also a 18-digit version of the record ID which is case-insensitive and is often used for large data updates or imports: https://na24.salesforce.com/a2H1a000000HxRaEAK.The only time you might need the 18-digit record ID is when you are pulling reports for data updates.)

Record Types

Some objects such as contacts, accounts and special events have a few different record types. Each record type has its own customization built in to make it most relevant to its use case.

Fields

There are a lot of different field types. The most common include text, picklists, checkboxes, lookup fields, and formula fields. 

You are likely familiar with text fields, picklists, and checkboxes. Salesforce also has lookup fields that link the record you are on to another record and formula fields that display criteria-based values.

Contact record examples

Primary Affiliation is a lookup field on the contact record that looks up the record for an organization. This allows you to link the two records so that you can see the contact listed on the organization record as well as seeing the organization on the contact record.

Primary Affiliation Type is a formula field on the contact record that displays the "account type" field from the organization record linked in the Primary Affiliation field. If you were to change the primary affiliation from The Aspen Institute, which is a nonprofit, to Swift River Consulting, which is a for profit, the primary affiliation type field would update to reflect that.