Often, when the team is thinking of how to accomplish some Salesforce magic, they think, sometimes out-loud, even: "There could be an App for that." And it's true, much of the time. But Apps are personalized with a lot of constraints. An app tries to narrow the way people need to interact with the organization, so that they can make sure all the use cases are covered. A component is more flexible because the administrator has the power to personalize it. Because the parameters cover so much territory but don't interfere with the work that needs to get done, they create a flexibility that an ordinary app can't touch. 

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Using components is great, but think about all the devices that will be in use with your components. Devices that have smaller screens. Devices that have different input modalities-- touch screens, keyboards, right and left clicking mice. At SharinPix, we found that the best approach to take was Small-to-Large. We start out thinking mobile device-- how do we need to present data on that small screen that will be a no-brainer to the user in the field? In fact, it is easier to adapt the small screen dynamics to the big screen with a mouse and keyboard than the other way around. Lesson learned! 

Once you've built your solution, added components to the screens - small and large - take the next step and empower your System Admin to embellish the whole with as many parameters as possible. Why? you are perhaps wondering. You're adding flexibility and usability across the board. You're multiplying the choices so you can multiply the use case coverage in your organization. The result may be a drag-and-drop on the Record Page Builder or it could be hiding some part of the picture that isn't particularly relevant to, say, the Marketing Manager, but makes total sense to your dev team. 

When it comes to components, the first thing that comes to mind is...the RECORD PAGE. That makes sense, since it's the place in Salesforce where the most important data lives out its life. So, start building your idea for the Record Page Builder, of course! But then realize that it's not the only stop on the trip. You can make your components available for the Community (now called Experience Cloud). You can share your power with the developers so they can embed the component in their own projects. And even better, you can construct components for a screen flow. So using flow builder, an administrator can rely on your component to give the users exactly what they need to finalize an action. You'll have the best possible addresses: Record Builder Lane, Community Center, Dev Drive and Flow, Flow, Flow the Boat Street! 

Next, take the time and bite the bullet to produce good documentation. One day, you might be lost in the maze, looking for a way to do that great trick you learned at Dreamforce a couple of years ago, but now, it's just a bit too hazy peering into the past. Good documentation will see you through memory lapses and changes in personnel. Every component you build needs to sing its own praises on the pages of your documentation. The admin who takes the helm needs to understand what he/she can actually accomplish with the work you've done. 

Practice makes perfect and SharinPix gives you the perfect playground to try out some of the ideas we've been discussing-- our 14-day free trial. You can experience any of our 20+ components to check out what they can do. You can see them in action on record pages, in your community site (Experience Cloud) and embedded in development or enhancing your flows. Stop by the AppExchange and hit Get It Now. It's that easy.