Navigating Salesforce

This document provides an overview of Salesforce features and functionality.

Salesforce Apps

OAR staff primarily use two apps: Recruiting and Service Console. We use the Recruiting app to manage campaigns and recruitment-focused reports and dashboards. The Service Console has customized functionality for cases, so we use the Service Console for case management. Salesforce defines an app as "a collection of fields, objects, permissions, and functionality that supports a business process". The data we use is the same regardless of app, but each app organizes and displays our data in a way that is most effective for the work we do. 

Toggling Between Apps

We use the Salesforce App Launcher to toggle between apps. It is symbolized by a square of nine dots in the upper left corner of your dashboard. Click on the dots and you will see an app menu like the one below. Please see How To Toggle Between Salesforce Apps for more information and a video demonstration.
The square of nine dots in the upper left of Salesforce, depressed so that the App Launcher is open with a search bar and a droplist of common apps. The Service Console and Recruiting apps are highlighted in a red box.

Navigation Tip: Most Salesforce objects used by OAR are on our navigation bars by default. However, there may be times when you want an object not already on our navigation bar. A popular example is Email Templates. Use the search feature in App Launcher to find Email Templates or other Salesforce objects.

Recruiting App

The Recruiting app’s navigation bar is spread out across the top of the page, enabling you to jump between campaigns, contacts, dashboards, and other object areas.
The horizontal menu bar across the top of the Recruiting app, with a red box around the objects available on the menu bar (Home, Chatter, Contacts, Opportunities, Campaigns, Accounts, Cases, Reports, Dashboards, Tasks).

Clicking on an object area’s drop-down carrot (down-arrow) will give you the last five records you’ve opened and recent lists you’ve viewed.
Recruiting menu bar with the down-arrow next to Campaigns circled. The down-arrow is pressed and the list of recent campaigns appear below.

Clicking on an object's name in the navigation bar opens its landing page. Once in the object, like the Campaigns example below, click on the carrot to open a menu and search bar. 
The Campaigns object landing page with the down-arrow in a red circle with the menu of list views that opens under the down-arrow when clicked.

By default, the Recruiting navigation bar includes Contacts, Opportunities, Campaigns, Accounts, Cases, Reports, Dashboards, Tasks, and Chatter. You are able to add additional object areas by clicking on the little pencil on the far right side of the navigation bar. Review these step-by-step directions for adding a navigation item to the Recruiting navigation bar for more information. 

Service Console

In contrast to the Recruiting app's horizontal navigation bar, the Service Console features a vertical drop-down menu. In the example below, we’ve started on my homepage for the service console and have pressed the down carrot to open the navigation bar. By default, the Service Console navigation bar contains Cases, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, Reports, and Dashboards. Please see the How To's: Step-by-Step Guides for the CRM, PC, SIS, Student Views, and Visit Bucky module of the Admissions Front Line Services Resource Canvas course for more information about navigating the service console. 
An image of the Service Console home menu with the down-arrow circled and depressed. The vertial menu of navigation items is below.

Using the Search Bar

Once you get the hang of it, Salesforce has a straightforward organizational structure. However, to find what you want quickly, you can use the search bar at the top of your screen.
Salesforce search bar at top of screen with the search filter drop-down menu visible to the left.

As you move your cursor to the search bar,  you’ll see a drop-down menu appear on the left. You can use the drop-down menu to narrow your search to one object area of Salesforce (Accounts, Cases, Campaigns, etc.). If you search all, Salesforce takes your keyword(s) and gives you a host of results sorted into the various areas of our CRM. Chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for in the main results pane on the right, but there is also a handy search results menu on the left that sorts the information by area.

The image below is an example of a search all search using the keywords East High School. On the left is a summary of results indicating there are 5+ Accounts, 5+ Contacts, 5+ Campaigns, etc. containing these keywords. On the right you’ll see the results pane.  Let’s say you wanted to find a specific campaign affiliated with East High School. You could click on the Campaigns link on the left to find all campaigns associated with any institution with East High School in their name, but it would likely be faster to narrow your search in the Accounts section first, finding the East High School you’re looking for out of the 50+ options,  and then view the campaigns affiliated with that specific school. Handily, Accounts is the first object in the right-side results pane. Click view more on the right to see all schools with East High School in their name. Then sort by state or city to find the school you’re looking for.
Results of a Salesforce search of East High School with "Top Results", "5+ Results sorted by relevance,", and "view more" circled

See How to Search in Salesforce for a video demonstration of the search example above. 

Contacts are another frequent search. If you’re looking to see if an applicant has contacted us about their application, type the student’s first and last name into the search bar and look through the contact results. Or, if the student has applied and you have found them in SIS, paste their EMPL ID into the search bar.

Salesforce Tools

The upper right corner of Salesforce contains a tool bar, also known as the lightning experience header. The tool bar has some handy features that may enhance your user experience. Scroll over each icon and from left to right you'll see that they are: Add Favorite (star), Favorites List (down-arrow), Global Actions (plus sign), Salesforce Help (question mark), Notifications (bell), and View Profile (round circle with an animal or your profile picture).

The upper right corner of Salesforce displaying the Favorite star, Favorite list down-arrow, Global Actions plus sign, help question mark, notifications bell, and profile circle with an animal's face.

Add Favorite and Favorites List

We are able to favorite any Salesforce record. This enables us to centralize and quickly find records that are used often. Navigate to the record you'd like to favorite, then click the gray star in the lightning experience header.

The gray star in Salesforce's upper right corner with the words "Add Favorite" below the star.

We also have the ability to favorite recruitment reports and dashboards by choosing Favorite from the drop-down menu at the end of the report or dashboard row. 
A "Recent" list view of Reports in Salesforce. The top bar of this view lists the report name, folder, and last modified date. At the end of the row, after last modified date, is a down arrow with a small popup menu below once pressed. The down arrow is circled in red. The word "Favorite" in the menu is boxed in red.

The Favorites List, symbolized by the down-arrow next to the Favorites star, opens a pop-up list of records you have favorited. 
The upper right portion of Salesforce with the down arrow next to the Favorite star depressed. Below the star and down arrow is a pop up menu headed "My Favorites", with two dashboards and one report underneath. At the bottom of the popup window is an "Edit Favorites" button.

Global Actions

Global actions are used to add individual contacts to Salesforce and to email or log a call with existing contacts. Clicking the plus sign will open the Global Actions menu.

The upper right portion of Salesforce with a circle around a plus sign and the "Global Actions" menu option below. The menu contains six items: Add Counselor/Adv..., Add Employer Cont..., Inquiry Card, Create Interaction, Log a Call, and Email.

This table describes the purpose of each of our six desktop Global Actions
Global Action Descriptor
Add Counselor/Advisor Add a school, college, or university counselor or advisor contact
Add Employer Contact Add a contact located at a CBO, non-profit or business organization, and school contacts with roles other than counselor/advisor (ex: principal, secretary)
Inquiry Card Add a student contact and an opportunity affiliated to the contact in the Inquiry stage. This template mirrors the printed inquiry cards we formerly used
Create Interaction Add a student contact and an opportunity affiliated to the contact in the Inquiry stage. This template contains more optional data fields than the Inquiry Card template
Log a Call Document a call without first finding the individual’s Contact Record (must connect to a Contact or Account within the call log)
Email Send an email without first finding the individual’s Contact Record (Note: the "From" line MUST be a service account like OnWisconsin, and the email will NOT be tracked in the individual’s Contact Record. For these reasons best practice is to always send emails from the Activity pane in the individual’s Contact Record)

When one of the six options are selected a data entry box in the lower right portion of your screen pops up. Below you’ll see an image of the Create Interaction box. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk. See How to Add a Contact To Salesforce for step-by-step directions.
The first ten fields of the "Create Interaction" window. Interaction Source is filled in as Manual Entry. The other nine fields are blank: Interaction Subsource (required), First Name (required), Last Name (required), Preferred First Name, Email (required), Phone, Birthdate, Admit Type (required), and Term (required). A Save button is at the bottom.

Salesforce Help

Salesforce has many help resources centralized in the Help & Training menu, which is symbolized by a question mark.
The upper right portion of Salesforce with the question mark depressed. A popup window is underneath, with the title Help & Training. Four sections are visible: UW-Madison Resources, Getting Started, Help for this Page, and More Resources.

As we share our instance of Salesforce with the Division of Continuing Studies (DCS), you'll see that we have access to their Salesforce FAQ. However, because their business purposes differ from ours, disregard the DCS Salesforce FAQ as it is not a useful document for us. 

Aside from the UW-Madison Resources section, all resources are produced by Salesforce and are sales-focused. However, there are several videos in the Getting Started section that may be useful companions to OAR's resources. Three videos that focus on optimizing and customizing your Salesforce experience are:

  • Personalize Your Navigation Bar;
  • Find Your Stuff with Search; and
  • Use List Views to Find and Manage Your Records.

Click the carrot to the right of the Getting Started header to find these resources. As of this writing, the recommended videos are not digitally accessible for screen readers. 

Other links in the Help & Training menu may take you to Salesforce's Trailhead, which is a huge, publicly accessible, database of training resources. Because they are geared toward sales and other business functions, accessing materials in Trailhead should be a last-resource, after you have consulted OAR's Salesforce team.

Notifications

Notifications are symbolized by a bell. A red number will appear on the bell when you have new Chatter messages or an action has been taken on a record that you have followed. 
The upper right corner of the Salesforce screen. The bell icon has the number one on it and is circled in red. Below the bell is a small Notifications popup window displaying a test message.

Profile and Settings

In the upper right corner of Salesforce you’ll see a circle with an animal (or your picture, if you've added a picture to your profile). This is your profile. Access Settings by clicking on your profile and then clicking on Settings. 
The upper right portion of Salesforce. The circle with the animal head is depressed. Below is a popup screen that states the name of the user, Settings, and Log Out. The word Settings is boxed in red.

A settings menu opens on the left. Click each carrot (>) to expand the menu.

The settings menu with My Personal Information highlighted.

Note: to add a picture to your profile, click on your name instead of settings.



Keywords:
App, apps, object, objects, contacts, opportunities, accounts, recruiting, recruit, recruitment, service, service console, toggle, toggling, changing
Doc ID:
151055
Owned by:
Emilie D. in Office of Admissions and Recruitment
Created:
2025-05-22
Updated:
2025-07-28
Sites:
AdmissionsRecruitment-internal