Optional Steps

When presenting steps that aren't required for the user to complete the procedure, use one of the following conventions based on context, conciseness, and relevance to the task. Use your best judgment, with the goal being readability and conciseness.

Preface with a conditional If phrase

This allows you to specify the conditions that would make the step relevant. For example:

• If you're editing picklist values, select the name of the picklist field.
• If you need to filter on the name for a person account, use the First Name or Last Name fields instead.
• If needed, you can force the expiration of passwords for all users.

Move optional steps to a note

This is good for information that isn't critical for most users. The note can appear after a step or at the end of the procedure, depending on relevance and the number of notes already in the topic. It can include more than one optional step, but multiple entries might be better represented in a separate Tips section. For example:

• Note: If commas are not appropriate for your locale, use a tab or other delimiter.

Create a new section entitled Tips on X and include the information as bullets in a list

For an example, see “Enabling the Customer Portal for Contacts and Person Accounts” in the Salesforce Help.

Write as a standard step

This is useful when presenting an optional step that most users will either perform or understand as optional.

• Enter a description for this email alert.

Preface the step with Optionally

This is a useful way to emphasize that a step isn't required, but use this sparingly due to its formal tone. Don't use with parentheses: (Optional)

• Optionally, review the fiscal year definition by clicking Preview.