Custom Actions

You can create object-specific and global custom actions.

Object-specific custom actions are Visualforce pages or canvas apps that let users interact with or create records that have a relationship to an object record.The Visualforce page for an object-specific custom action must include the standard controller for the relevant object. For example, to create a custom action that lets users import a contact’s Twitter profile and add that information to a contact record, you need to use the standard contact controller.

Use a Visualforce page or a canvas app to create a global custom action for tasks that don’t require users to interact with or create records that have a relationship to a specific object. Canvas apps that you want to use as custom actions need to use Publisher as a location. Visualforce pages that you want to use as global custom actions can’t use standard controllers. For example, if you want to create a custom action that lets users enter a street address and see a map, the local time, and the local weather, create a Visualforce page that doesn’t use any of the standard controllers, and add it as a custom global action.

You create a Visualforce custom action in the same way you create a regular object-specific or global action. However, when you select the action type, select Custom Visualforce instead of Create a Record or Log a Call. Then, select the Visualforce page you want to use for the action.

Creating custom actions for canvas apps is more complex, and we won’t discuss them in depth here. You can find out more about canvas apps and custom actions in the Salesforce1 App Developer Guide.