Every time the Salesforce release notes are published, I jump straight to the Salesforce Flow section. Why? Well, because there’s always so much great content that will make the lives of Salesforce Admins a lot easier.
The Summer ’24 update has introduced some wonderful new features as well as the usual quality-of-life improvements that come with each release – all of which are worth shouting about! Here’s my summary of all that’s ‘coming soon’ to Flow…
1. New Flow Creation Wizard and Flow Types
Creating a Flow looks different than it ever has before. The first step you’re presented with simply offers you the ability to create your own Flow from scratch or select from a series of templates (the templates are grouped similarly to previous releases).
Interestingly, this new method involved more clicks and pages than before, which slows down the experience for admins.
With the release of Summer ‘24, there are now more Flow types available than ever before. We see the standard screen flows, autolaunched flows, and triggered flows as we previously have, but this release drops new Flow types.
Flow is becoming more and more powerful with each release, and Summer ‘24 begins to show that it is leading more into the title of a jack-of-all-trades. Flow does what it always does, but now we’re seeing Salesforce turn it into a specialist tool for specific functions. Neat!
2. Unlimited Paused Flows
You can now have as many paused and waiting Flow interviews as you need! Previously, there were per-org limitations of 30,000 for Essentials and Professional editions, and 50,000 for Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer editions.
3. Action Buttons in Flow
We were all pleasantly surprised to see Adam White’s announcement of the new action buttons in Flow recently, and the LinkedIn Live demonstration shortly after. Now in Summer ‘24, we’re all able to get our hands on and try it out for ourselves!
Action buttons are going to empower so many people to make it easier to use screen flows for their businesses. If you’d like to see action buttons in… well, action… then click here!
4. Flow Repeater Component Now Generally Available
The Flow Repeater component has been around since the last release but has been made generally available in Summer ‘24!
Additionally, it now supports Conditional Visibility just like tabs in Dynamic Forms!
5. Create Records Element Major Upgrades
The Create element has received some major enhancements in Summer ‘24, namely the ability to match existing records (and avoid creating a duplicate record) and automatic mapping of required fields.
When building a Create element, you’ll select the object and then have the ability to map from a record variable or manually. When selecting the manual option, any required fields will be highlighted and automatically added to the Properties pane.
Below the field mapping is the new Check for Matching Records segment. Instead of creating a duplicate record just because the Flow is being told to do so, you’re now able to tell it to find matching records and what to do if it does find those records. For example, you can update an existing record as opposed to creating a duplicate.
I guess this means we now technically have an Upsert Record element – very cool!
6. Transform Element Now Generally Available
Transform was initially released in Winter ‘24 and has become a beloved core feature of the Flow Builder tool. Summer ‘24 brings minor enhancements and guidelines to the Transform element and makes it generally available for all!
7. Threading Token in Email Action
Email Threading is natively supported in the Send Email Action in Summer ‘24! Threading allows emails on the same topic to be linked together, similar to how case replies get related directly to individual case records.
8. Set Components to Read Only/Disabled
There are a series of Screen elements that now support the ability to be set to Read Only or Disabled states in Summer ‘24. In the example below, you can see I’ve set both Read Only and Disabled to “False”.
Additionally, you can use other booleans throughout the Flow (or create a formula) to update this as you go.
You can set the following to be Read Only or Disabled:
- Text/Long Text Area
- Date/Date & Time
- Number
- Currency
- Password
- Address
9. New Lock Record Flow Action
If you ever need to manually lock or unlock records, you can do so in Flow in Summer ‘24. Simply drag the new Lock Record action onto the canvas and declare whether you want to Lock or Unlock in the Action field, the specific record Id that you’d like to lock, and identify any Users, Groups, or Queues that you’d like to be exempt from the lock.
10. Enhancements to the Address Component
The Address component has been completely revamped in Summer ‘24. Firstly, you’re able to set different states on the Address element now. Similar to the Read Only/Disabled states for other fields, you can now choose to set the address to either Required or Disabled. This also supports reactive components, so can be set on the go.
Additionally, the address now supports Google Maps integration! When configuring the Address component, ensure you enable the Google Maps search functionality to see the search bar.
BONUS: New Automation App
The brand new place for all things Flow and Process Automation! Now users who have access can see flows, errors, and other community-based links from within the main application – this is the first time we’ve seen something like this outside of the Setup menu.
I find it quite interesting that Salesforce is exposing Flow within the main application in addition to Setup. Previously, we’ve only seen automation owned by admins. I wonder if this points to a future where users will be able to configure their own personal or team-based flows.
Notably in the Summer ‘24 release, the Automation app allows you to search for flows, share flows with users in Salesforce, and configure your own list views for additional sorting and filtration options!
Summary
Summer ‘24 includes a symphony of substantial enhancements to our favorite tool – Salesforce Flow. Once again, there’s a nice ratio of minor enhancements and quality improvements to the more impactful new features and functionality.
These new features are bound to make your job as an admin, developer, or business user much easier and streamlined once they’ve been implemented throughout your org.
Don’t forget to sign up for a pre-release org to take these new features for a spin!