Dynamically Redirect Your Flow

Edit Flow Screen - flowURLRedirect

We’ve updated our component, check out the updated instructions here!

Salesforce Lightning Flow is a powerful tool for Admins to be able to automate business processes and ensure users are following processes. I’ve written a lot about Salesforce Flows at developingflow.com and believe that admins can extend their point and click capabilities by learning Salesforce Lightning Flow.

One of the negative pieces of Salesforce Flow in the past, however, is that in order to redirect the Flow, you needed to set the retURL variable with a known variable (meaning not a newly created record) or you needed to wrap your Flow in a Visualforce Page. Lightning Components have given us the ability to wrap the Flow in a Lightning Component as well, but this takes a little bit more work to get setup.

There is another way to be able to redirect a Flow dynamically based on variables in the Flow. Instead of wrapping a Flow in a Lightning Component, you can instead add the Lightning Component as part of the Flow, either through a Flow Screen or through a Flow Action. There are two use cases here. One is to automatically redirect the user, to not only a record, but to any URL with customized parameters, and the other is to allow the User to click a button to decide where they would like to be redirected to.

Here’s a look at how the buttons look:

Lightning Buttons in Flow Screen to Redirect User

So how does this work? Well, using a single Lightning Component, we can either automatically redirect via a Core Action in the new Flow Builder or we can add the Lightning Component to a Screen.

Flow Core Action to Redirect Flow to URL

In the above example, you are setting the “Redirect URL”, an input variable to the Lightning Component, with the URL that you would like. In this instance, I created a simple formula field (image below) to set the Contract that was created in the Flow as the finish location.

Finish Location Formula - Contract

Additionally, you can add the Lightning Component to the Flow Screen and set the Button Label and the Redirect URL. In the instance below, I am setting the Contract as the Redirect URL for the first Lightning Component and the Account as the Redirect URL for the second Lightning Component. The screenshot below is the admin setup of the screen above with two buttons on it asking to “Navigate to Contract” or “Back To Account”.

Edit Flow Screen - flowURLRedirect

I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, but we still need to create the Lightning Component! Well, you’re half correct. Correct that you need a Lightning Component, incorrect that you need to create it. I’ve created a package for you to be able to download this component. This Lightning Component takes in any URL that you send it through the Flow, so this can be reused again and again with multiple Flows.

As Admins, sometimes we hit our point and click limits. Before Salesforce released Lightning, this usually meant (although not always) that Development would need to be done and Admins would lose some, if not most, control. With Salesforce Lightning, Development should extend an Admin’s control, through input and output variables. A Lightning Component could have been written to send a user to a single URL, which would then require a new Lightning Component for each URL. Instead, by rethinking the way that Admins and Developers interact, the same Lightning Component can be reused again and again by an Admin, in the way that the business needs, allowing an Admin to extend their control with the custom Development work and gaining more power as an Admin.

Go to the Flow Components page to install!

Your Users want Lightning! – 5 Reasons to Switch to Lightning

If you’ve been around Salesforce over the last few months, you most likely have heard about Lightning.  Salesforce released their new platform, Lightning, in the Winter 16 release.  Although it has been around for almost 3 years now, some companies are still unsure about making the move to Lightning.  At Englhard Consulting, we are big fans of Lightning and believe companies that have not moved to Lightning are missing out.  Why is that?  Well, the new User Interface (UI) that Lightning brings gives admins so much more power over page layouts.  Lightning brings a new feature, Lightning Pages, which mixes page layouts with the ability to add different components, like different cases for your phone.  Phone cases might be slim and minimalist, some might have a “pocket” for IDs and credit cards, others have a kick-stand to hold the phone upright, while still others might be very big and bulky to prevent against damage from drops and liquid.  Lightning pages allow admins the same sort of customization for their Users, where the standard page layout is no longer just the details and related lists.  This gives each company the ability to customize their UI to the needs of their Users, whether it be minimalist or pocketed, and as a result, help with your Customer’s experience with your company.  Let’s explore Lightning Pages and our top 5 out-of-the-box features that will give your Salesforce implementation a makeover.