I want you to imagine that all your related lists were suddenly removed. Think about the impact that would have. We rely on this feature heavily, yet it barely gets a mention. We should take a moment to appreciate this humble but extremely powerful component.
In this post, I want to explore the different configuration options available when adding Related Lists, discuss ways to maximize their usefulness and their limitations, and then explore some alternatives.
What Are Salesforce Related Lists?
Let’s start with the basics. What is a related list? Simply put a related list in Salesforce displays a list of related records via a lookup or master-detail relationship. If you’re using Salesforce in virtually any capacity, there’s a high likelihood you’ve interacted with at least one, but most likely many related lists in your Salesforce lifetime.
I’ve seen many orgs where related lists are underused. It’s a shame to waste the potential of this powerful component. When done right, related lists can save users time and increase adoption. Seeing and interacting with key data easily allows users to do their jobs more effectively. So, why wouldn’t you want to get the most out of yours?
How to Get the Most Out of Your Related Lists
The lightning interface provides many options and settings that can enhance the power of your related lists. Let’s take a look at each of these.
What Component Should I Add to My Lightning Page?
When you edit a lightning record page and search for “related” you get several options to choose from. Let’s explore what these are.
- Related Lists: This component adds all the related lists configured on the page layout assigned to your record. If you want to add or remove a list, or reorder or configure columns, you need to do this on the page layout. Once added, all you can do is choose your list type, which we’ll cover later on. This is the default component added to lightning pages.
- Related List – Single: As the name suggests, this allows you to add a single related list of your choosing rather than all configured lists. Be aware, though, that the object you choose is still required on the page layout in order to be displayed. However, Single lists do give you extra flexibility. You can apply component visibility to individual related lists, and the parent record feature allows you to show a related list from a parent record, which can be very useful.
- Dynamic Related List – Single: Dynamic lists let you configure your lists label, data columns, sort order, and allows you to add filters. This means you can add two separate lists using the same object, filtered to show entirely different data sets, with data columns and sorting which is relevant to that data set. For example, only show open opportunities in one list and closed ones in another. I’ve been banging on about the need to apply filters in related lists natively for years, so I was pleased when this feature was released.
- Related List Quick Links: Quick links is a concise way to view your related lists. Simply hover over a name to see the list. If you have many related lists on a record page, I would definitely recommend adding them to your lightning page, as it can save a lot of time and space. However, the set of lists you see still depends on the page layout.
What Related List Type Should I Use?
Once you’ve selected your component, it’s time to configure your related list type. There are three types to choose from: Basic, Tile, and Enhanced. Basic shows up to four columns in a simple list format. Tile does the same but shows as tiles. For me, basic will almost always win over tile, but ultimately it’s a matter of user preference with very little functional difference.
Enhanced, however, provides some very useful extra features. You can:
- Show up to 10 columns (like in classic)
- Re-size and re-sort
- Perform bulk actions (similar-ish to list views)
- Wrap text
- Display up to 30 records
Selecting Enhanced is a bit of a no-brainer: easy to implement and provides a load of features. Personally, I think enhanced should be the default, but until that time one of the first steps I’d recommend in any new org is to ensure the Enhanced type is selected wherever possible.
I’d recommend that you review your related lists and work with your users to make sure your org is getting the most out of them. Consider upgrading to enhanced and think about how dynamic lists could improve the user experience for your users.
Limitations
As with any standard component, Related Lists can only go so far. What can I do if I want to:
- Show related records further away than just 1 layer in my data model.
- See parent and child records grouped together.
- See multiple objects in the same list, sorted together.
- See more than 10 columns.
- Inline edit records in my list.
- Apply conditional formatting to my records.
- View and add attachments from a list.
I want to explore these limitations and suggest some ways to overcome some of them (‘out of the box’), or all of them with Relatable.
Out of the Box Possibilities
Reports
Embedding a report chart is a lightweight way of accessing additional related data from a record page. Build your report, configure the report chart component to your lightning page, and away you go.
Another option is to create a custom button or link. This way you can add the URL of a report and add custom parameters to the URL to dynamically filter the report. Effectively, filtering opportunities by account ID lets users press the button and only see opportunities related to that Account.
These solutions allow you to present more data to your users, however, they’re constrained by what’s possible using Salesforce reports and may require users to click something to get to a full list.
Screen Flows
Flows let you show a list of records using the data table component. This, coupled with the other elements in flow, make it a powerful tool. However, you can only select one object and we can’t do much within the table such as inline editing.
The Solution
These days, many of us use Salesforce to track more than just sales. Cases, service appointments, orders, invoices, billing objects, myriad custom objects, the list goes on. All of this data, when isolated from each other, can only tell us so much. It’s crucial we view data in context and use it to paint an accurate picture of what’s happening.
Out of the box, there’s no solution that covers all the bases. Luckily, you don’t have to look far for one that does:
Relatable
Relatable brings all your related data together, allowing you to declaratively build bespoke, multi-object, multi-layer related lists on any object. Think about how much time and effort that could save. You can see up to six layers of related data in a single related list, and you can flatten out your data model to view child and grandchild objects at the same level should you wish.
Here’s an example using revenue cloud objects. All of these contribute to an account balance, and viewing them together in the right order is essential to understanding a transactional history. This allows users to get a better insight, quicker.
Not only does Relatable give you multi-object, multi-layer related lists, but its rich feature set also allows you to:
- Inline edit any record in your lists.
- Make your data stand out with row, column, and specific cell conditional formatting.
- Add/manage record level attachments.
- Add text formatting, and add column totals.
Try it today on the AppExchange: set up one configuration for up to 10 users for free.
Summary
Salesforce is a big investment for most businesses, so getting the most out of it is key. Well-configured related lists can be low-hanging fruit – simple enough to implement with great benefits to users.
Salesforce is offering more products than ever and so our data models are getting more complex. It’s therefore important to maximize out-of-the-box tools, know their limitations, and explore the alternatives.