Try It Out: Assign Object-Specific Quick Actions to Page Layouts

Unlike global quick actions, object-specific quick actions don’t have a new type of layout. However, every page layout has a special place for them. The actions sections of the page layout editor look and act similar to the editor for global publisher layouts. All we have to do is drag actions from the palette and drop them into the right spot.

1. From Setup, enter Objects in the Quick Find box, then select Objects, and then click Position.
2. In the Page Layouts related list, click Edit next to IT Position Layout.

Notice that the Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher section is empty. This page layout is using the global publisher layout assigned to each user’s profile. Because we created object-specific actions, we can’t add them to the global publisher layout. That’s okay! To have our new actions appear on position records, we just need to override the global publisher layout.

3. In the Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher section, click override the global publisher layout.

When we override the global publisher layout, the platform automatically provides some actions, such as standard Chatter actions like Post and File.

4. In the palette, click Quick Actions.
5. Drag Mobile Smart Actions back to the palette.

   Mobile smart actions are a set of pre-configured actions, just like default actions. However, they are only available in Salesforce for Android, iOS, and mobile web. Mobile smart actions appear as a single action element in the page layout editor. However, they appear in the action bar and action menu in the Salesforce app as distinct create actions. These distinct actions allow users to create records directly from the action bar.

   For custom objects like ours, these actions are New Task, New Contact, Log a Call, New Group, New Opportunity, New Case, and New Lead. We can’t change which actions are included as part of a mobile smart actions bundle, so we’re going to remove it and manually add actions that are relevant to this object. For more information, see “Mobile Smart Actions” in the Salesforce Help.

6. Drag actions from the palette to the Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher section so that they’re in this order.
   • New Application
   • New Candidate
   • New Posting
   • Post
   • New Task
   • New Note
   • File
   • Link

   We have some duplicates, because we created a New Application global action and a New Application object-specific action. The Lightning platform helps us out with this—using the hover text over the actions. One of the actions is called New_Application, and the other is Position__c.New_Application. Our object-specific action is the second. The name indicates that it’s directly associated with the position object using the Position__c prefix. That means that this action can be added only to a position page layout.

   Note

   Customizing the Actions Available on a Standard Position Record

   Actions in this section appear in the Chatter publisher in the full Salesforce site. But we also need to make sure that our recruiters have access to these actions in Salesforce for Android, iOS, and mobile web.

7. Click Quick Save.
8. In the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section, click override the predefined actions.
9. Using actions from the Mobile & Lightning Actions category, make the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section match the Quick Actions in the Salesforce Classic Publisher section.
10. Click Save.
11. Click IT Position Layout at the top of the palette, and select Position Layout.
12. Customize both action sections for the Position Layout so that they match the IT Position Layout.

Now let’s add our object-specific actions for candidates, employment websites, and job applications to those page layouts. Go to each page layout, and add the actions to both action sections in the order indicated in this table.