Plus Metadata

Details

Where has this app been all my Salesforce career? Why haven't I found it before now? Start with this BEFORE you go to any documentation tool that costs you $5k per year. THEN when you outgrow this you can move onto something like that, and just copy and paste your data in.

Why build a ticketing system in Salesforce or a quasi documentation system in Salesforce, when this tool can do this AND SO MUCH MORE!

Features

• Metadata Dictionary

• Metadata Search

• Metadata Backup

• Tagging

• Reporting

• Metadata Changes

• Metadata Documentation

• Simple Ticketing system

• Deprecation List!

• Field Trip

• Quick SOQL Reports

• Code Coverage

• API Version checker

Setup

You can get started easily, but there are way more features you can add, because it is just Salesforce.

Documentation

 https://sidagarwal22.medium.com/plus-metadata-dictionary-for-salesforce-5ad546479e6b

Things I’d Love to see Improved

• The User Notes feature is so cool, I want to be able to use the notes feature from the Metadata Record.

• I want to quickly link back to Plus from the Metadata Record (you can get to the Metadata Record from Plus.

• I want to have the Tagging Manager as a popup on the Metadata record.

• I want a simple junction records creator to quickly create junction records (I can do this).

• I want tags automatically added to related records (I can do this).

• I want to have a Metadata record for Flow Definition, not Flow Version.

• I want a custom field to have a rollup of all the related metadata (I can do this).

• I want a rollup of No. of Tags on a Metadata Item (I can do this).

• I want a rollup of the Tag Names on this Metadata Item (I can do this).

• Simpler Page Layouts

• Flow Object for Record Triggered Flows

• The Tags Page is a bit ugly

• More with Permission Sets - eg Field not on Permission Set

• More Metadata

  • CMDT

Things I like

• The field naming convention

• The User Notes Feature

• The Tags Feature

Things I have Modified

• Tags:

  • Business Unit

  • Feature Area

  • Object (may not be needed, but helpful for related metadata like Flows).

• Add Chatter to Metadata record page - for extended notes or linking to data or other metadata record via slash mentions

• App

  • Add Reports

• Metadata Object

  • Documentation Status - values Basic, Complete

  • External Documentation Link - eg Loom Video

  • Override Link - Link to Setup for this item eg for a link to the Permission Set that doesn’t work with the formula field

  • Source - Custom, UnofficalSF, Community, Appexchange - Free, Appexchange Paid - where I got this thing from.

  • Source Link - The link to the Appexchange or Blog Post for this thing

  • Status - new Values - Obsolete, Inactive

• Report Types

  • Metadata Tags and Related Metadata

    • Link to Metadata

• Page Layouts

  • Custom Object

    • Documentation Status

    • External Documentation Link

  • Permission Set

    • Override Link

• Compact Layouts

  • Include Metadata Name, Full Name, Record Type

• Layouts

  • Tags

    • Report Chart with Metadata Types related to this Tag. Drill Down to see the Metadata Names and the User Notes and External Documentation Links.

How I use It

Give Access to Admins

• Anyone who has Customize Application - give this to them, and allow them to MODFIY records! OR JUST MAKE A CHATTER POST.

• Show them how to search for the Field Name, and then look for the related Metadata.

Features Documentation

• Tag Type named Feature

• Feature Name - the name your business calls it - eg I have a key report named Magic Number Report, we all know what it means, I want them to be able to search for Magic Number Report and find the report, the dashboards and links to any documentation about it.

• Pick ONE or two key Metadata for that feature - and fill in the User Notes for that - eg it may be the field that shows the Magic Number.

• Link to any external Documentation

• Set that Metadata to Active

• Tag that Metadata with the Feature

• Tag all related Metadata that is used in that Feature

• Add a Chatter Post with Slash Mentions to all the other related items that you can’t link via Tagging or Related Metadata

  • Eg CMDT records, MAS Action Configurations, Reports, Dashboards, Configuration Records.

• Add Related Metadata

  • Not sure if this is useful yet or if Tags can do it. I think it is good for HARD relationships - eg Key fields that make this report run.

• Report using Metadata Tags and Related Metadata grouped by the Feature Name and showing only the Metadata that has User Notes, and include the External Documentation Link, and Documentation Completion Status

Technical Debt Tickets

• You know the ones - the things you would LOVE to do given the time. The things you acknowledge are not good and want to explain to the next person that comes along why it’s in that state.

• I don’t need to run my business tickets through this, as we use Zendesk, but these are tickets for ME and any future admins.

How you could use it

• Separate fields for User Documentation, Admin Documentation and Technical Documentation

• Create Metadata records for other things that are important to you - eg if you have a lot of documentation artefacts, you may want to create them as specific records, that are then tagged and linked to metadata.

• Release Notes: Document things as you normally would, tag it with a Tag for the Release No. then report on the Release Tags as I have done for Features! Voila - Release Notes. You can even add a custom field for Release changes rather than using the User Notes feature.