5 Ways to Customize Salesforce Logins

Hopefully, as all admins have noticed, Salesforce has made Multi-Factor Authentication a requirement for all Salesforce orgs. And while all orgs are now required to have MFA enabled, there are still a few things that you can do as an admin to help make life easier for your users, even with this extra login step.

In addition to looking at MFA, we’re also going to cover a few other login settings that can really help your users get logged in and stay logged in while completing their daily tasks. These tips are small things that will help reduce the amount of troubleshooting admins have to do for new users, allowing them to focus on more necessary tasks.

1. Identity Verification Method

First, let’s talk about the Identity Verification method…

Users have a few different options for verifying their identity in Salesforce. Salesforce has its own authenticator app that users can install on their phones, which provides a two-word phrase for initial setup. While this option works fine, some users prefer not to install another authenticator app on their phones. Many people just prefer to use a single authenticator app, like Google Authenticator. The problem with the default login screen is that the alternative is not obvious.

Let’s look at the standard authentication screen users will see during setup:

The very first line of this screen is a command to install the Salesforce Authenticator. To find the alternative, users must click on the small text at the very bottom of the screen.

Once they click “Choose Another Verification Method”, they can proceed with their personal choice.

Admins can skip this confusing step entirely by changing their settings. Instead of immediately promoting the Salesforce Authenticator app, your users can instead see all of their options in a less confusing manner:

I prefer this option because it doesn’t imply that the Salesforce Authenticator is required and users are presented with all their options from the get-go.

What I’ve done here is change the ‘preferred’ authentication settings. To do this, you will need to navigate to Setup and then “Identity Verification”. From here, select “Show all verification method registration options instead of starting with Salesforce Authenticator” and then click “Save”.

2. Manage Temporary Codes

If your users are still having trouble with MFA and need to log in, you can generate a temporary authentication code. Just navigate to their user page and click “Generate” next to “Temporary Verification Code”. This code expires pretty quickly, so be sure you only do this when the user is online and ready to log in.

3. Create a Delegated Admin

This next tip is purely to save admins some time – surely we could all use a little extra time in our days!

Create a permission set called “Delegate MFA Login” and add the permission called “Manage Multi-Factor Authentication in User Interface”. Assign this permission set to your delegated admin. This will allow that person to help troubleshoot MFA errors or user issues, freeing up your time for other tasks. It also ensures that someone is available to help with these issues while you are out of the office, on vacation, or otherwise unavailable.

4. Change Your Session Timeout Value

One of the biggest complaints from first-time MFA users is that it takes too long. Even if it adds just a few seconds, it slows down the login process, and it is multiplied by however many times the user has to repeat the process during the day. Admins can ease this burden by extending the Session Timeout value.

In the Security section, navigate to “Session Settings” and scroll to the top. Increase the Timeout Value to up to 24 hours.

5. Create an Internal Help and Training Doc

Each org’s settings are unique, and they have different processes and procedures for getting help. Creating a custom branded Help and Training doc will be a huge benefit to your users.

Include the basics, like how to reset their own passwords and who to contact in the event they are locked out. The most important part of this tip, though, is to direct your users to this resource when they ask for help. This has two benefits: if they are able to self-help with their issue, it saves you time, and if they are not, it will guide you as an admin on how to improve a recurring issue or improve your Help and Training documentation.

Summary

I hope these tips have been helpful! While this is not an exhaustive list of everything you could possibly do, these are some fast and easy ideas that will make the login process smoother for your users (and for you)!

If you have additional ideas on how to improve the login process, please share them in the comments below.