Winter is coming! And while I'm not looking forward to the snow, I am looking forward to the Salesforce Winter '17 release, which is just around the corner. If you haven't read the entire 432 pages of Salesforce Winter '17 release notes (or even if you have), the Summa Salesforce team is here to help you navigate this next round of updates. Keep an eye on our blog for highlights, tips and more!
To kick things off, here's my take on the coolest Lightning features from Winter '17—updates that will help make it easier and more appealing for Classic users to adapt to the new experience.
Welcome horizontal navigation to Lightning
The collapsible side panel navigation (a very distinct Lightning feature) will be a thing of the past when Winter '17 goes live. The new horizontal navigation will ease the transition from Classic, as it is similar to the Classic tabbed header. Hovering over a tab name will also give you a list of recently viewed records.
Quotes struck by Lightning
All the awesome Quotes functionality that you were used to in Classic is now available in Lightning. Sales reps can create and edit quotes and quote line items, add quotes to opportunities and save quotes as PDFs.
Contracts, too...
If you thought the Quotes news was a big deal, you'll be happy to know that Contracts has been updated as well. For some customers, this was a gap preventing them from jumping to Lightning. Salesforce is only making the switch easier now.
Field level help
Lightning users can now see field level help just like Classic users can. Help can be viewed by hovering over the info icon next to the field.
Quickly create multiple records
The Save & New button from Classic is coming to Lightning! After your users create, edit, or clone a record in Lightning Experience, they can create another record using the Save & New button. The Save & New button lets users create records repeatedly without leaving their spot in the app.
Record Details tab
The Details tab now remembers the information you previously chose to see. In other words, when your users expand or collapse a section in Record Details in Lightning Experience, the section stays that way even after visiting other areas in Salesforce. This change is a big win for user experience, as it helps users scroll through a record faster by showing only the information they care about.
Reports
Want to see all Opportunities in Europe, or all Opportunities that have closed this year? Well, now you can filter reports by Role Hierarchy and relative dates (like TODAY, THIS YEAR, etc.).
Setup Quick Find? Oh, no—just use Global Search!
While in setup, use the global search instead of Quick Find to search for specific setup records, such as Account record types or System Admin profiles. Just like you, I am always looking for ways to reduce clicks. This updated tool is a BIG win for that.
Kanban
For agile types, Kanban is nothing new. But it only kind of came to the Salesforce world a few releases ago via Opportunities. Now this feature can be used to visually monitor progress with leads, contracts and campaigns in Lightning.
Remember, these are just the highlights—refer to the release notes and look out for more posts detailing the Salesforce Winter '17 release!
