Topics Map > Software > Salesforce > Concepts
Notes, Attachment or Activity?
An overview of choosing how to add items to a record.
When looking to add information to a contact or account there are some different ways to do this.
As a general guideline, it is better to add items as "Activities" - either an event or a task.
Why? Activities are MUCH more flexible than Notes or Attachments.
"Activities are MUCH more flexible than Notes and Attachments. Notes and Attachments are kinda like the Panda Bear of Salesforce (an Evolutionary Dead End) they're not supported by Reports and List Views, or Formulas, Validation Rules, or Workflow Rules. For these reasons (and others) a lot of SFDC Admins hide/remove the Notes & Attachments related list from the Page Layouts and replace them with custom fields, Rich Text Fields, Custom Objects, and Chatter."
So what good are notes and attachments?
Notes are useful for things that are not typically an aspect of a records history. For example, observations about a contact that might be useful such as 'Jerry really likes the New England Patriots' or 'Sandra is vegetarian'.
Notes can also be set as 'private' if the contact or account owner has an observation that other staff would not benefit from seeing. Also, private is limited as system administrators can see these items with the idea of reviewing them if a contact or account owner changes or leaves the organization.