Summer 16 - Top Nine New Features

Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens and the Summer 16 release -- these are a few of my favorite things.  With the Summer 16 Release Notes preview arriving last Friday, we are officially in upgrade season.  Be sure to check out the full schedule of key dates in the release process.  Of particular importance is the Preview Sandbox cut off date of April 29.  After perusing the almost 400 page release document and jumping into my pre-release org, here are my top nine new features.

Where's Astro?

Do you like adventure and the chance to win prizes?  Then Trailhead needs your help!  Astro is missing, as of April 1st.  Of course, at my house this seems to be a regular occurrence.  See if you can find Astro in the below photo (both big and little Astro are hiding among their friends).

What Sets Salesforce Apart

As Trailhead’s content continues to evolve, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes the first stop to learn about Salesforce.  The recent release of new trails and modules continues the expansion from its technical roots to a wider focus. 

For instance, lets take a look at the Navigate the Salesforce Advantage trail.  This trail helps explain who Salesforce is (usefully if you have ever tried to explain this to your family), the basics and benefits of the platform, as well as the power of the ecosystem.  While there are four modules in the trail, I am going to focus on two of them.

Wave API and Wave Tools

The Spring 16 release of the Analytics Cloud included the Wave REST API moving from pilot to GA.  This is good news for all of us.  The endpoints are now available with API version 36 and new development will have the backwards compatibility we are used to with the rest of the platform.

However, this means the internal API used in prior Wave versions is now private and for Salesforce use only.  While the API remains available for the next 12 months, newly created dashboard assets are not available.

It’s March SaaSness Time

Are you ready for March madness!  Together with my pals Peter Knolle and Jesse Altman, we have put our own spin on the tournament season.  As part of the Lehigh Valley Salesforce Developers User Group March meetup, we have put together our very own bracket of Salesforce features.

Lightning Experience Navigation Menus How To

With the Spring 16 Salesforce release having been deployed to all instances this past weekend, I am excited to put Customizable Navigation Menus to use.  While the Lightning Experience has provided many great user interface improvements.  The fixed navigation menu on the left side of the screen has been a significant obstacle to adoption.

While the dozen or so menu items provided by Salesforce may work for Sales Cloud, navigating to the app menu list and then the details of an app just to get to another object's tab is bad user experience for custom apps and ISVs alike.  Well, the wait is over. No longer are we stuck with set menu items.   The navigation experience can now be customized.  The steps are fairly easy, but there are a few points that are good to know.

A Better Way to Manage JSON and SAQL in Analytics Cloud

It’s really easy to get started with Analytics Cloud.  Load an internal or external dataset, create a couple of lens, clip to a dashboard and relish in the insights.  Now to get the most out of Wave, you have to dive under the covers and work with JSON and SAQL (Salesforce Analytics Query Language).

Previously, this meant spinning up your favorite editor, digging through the documentation and a lot of copy and paste.  Thanks to the innovation coming from Salesforce Labs, there is a new tool that enables inline editing of Metadata/JSON as well as SAQL.  Let’s take a look and see how much time you can save.