One of the best places to start your Trailhead journey is by completing the Admin Beginner trail. Covering the basic aspects of Salesforce administration, the modules in this trail can introduce new concepts to beginners or act as a review tool for those more advanced. It is estimated to take 8 hours and 30 minutes and will earn you 9,050 points if all challenges and quizzes are completed correctly. The entire trail contains 6 modules: Salesforce Platform Basics, Data Modeling, Data Management, Lightning Experience Customization, Salesforce Mobile App Customization, and Reports & Dashboards for Lightning Experience. In this post, we will briefly summarize the main topics of each module.

Salesforce Platform Basics

The Salesforce Platform Basics module is just what it sounds like – an introduction to the Salesforce Platform. This module sets up the other modules in that it defines key terms, introduces basic Salesforce use cases, and teaches you how to navigate through the platform. Some basic concepts you learn here include:

• How to set up a Trailhead playground to perform challenges and tests
• The difference between declarative development and programmatic development
• Salesforce’s basic architecture and integration capabilities
• An introduction to additional functionality via AppExchange

After completing this module, you will have a good overview of Salesforce’s potential impact on a company. While you may not be able to perform many admin duties, you will have an understanding of the platform and its capabilities.

Data Modeling

This next module introduces one of the building blocks of the platform: the object. Objects are Salesforce’s way of referring to tables in a database. They store data specific to a certain topic and contain both fields and records. Fields are the specific types of information related to an object, and records are the actual data itself. You can think of an object as a spreadsheet table, fields as the column names, and records as the rows of data in the spreadsheet. Understanding this basic data model is integral for building objects and constructing relationships for your CRM. This module will provide details on:

• The difference between standard and custom objects
• How to create objects and fields
• How to create Lookup Relationships and Master-Detail Relationships
• Using the Schema Builder to visually represent your objects and relationships

By understanding the basic data model used by Salesforce, you can begin building objects custom-tailored to your organization. By building a solid foundation, any applications or other customizations you build later on will have stable ground to support themselves.

Data Management

A CRM is great for organization, but it’s useless without actual data to manage. This module shows you how to import and export data. It introduces two ways to do this – the Data Import/Export Wizard and the Data Loader. This is a quick module that helps you determine which method is best for your use case. It then goes further into detail about how to set up one-time small data loads. Scheduled data imports and exports are also available, but they are not included in this module. 

Lightning Experience Customization

The Lightning Experience Customization dives deeper into Salesforce administration by showing you how to create and customize your organization. Whether you want to create tabs, objects, records, or apps, you can find it in this tutorial. You can also learn how to create and manage layouts, list views, list view charts, buttons, actions, and links. In short, this module will teach you how to change Salesforce’s look and feel to make information accessible and useful for your users. This is important whether you are introducing Salesforce for the first time to your firm or you are long-time users. The easier a tool is to use, the more useful it will be.

Salesforce Mobile App Customization

It’s undeniable that mobile is an important space to explore when it comes to technology. Luckily for you, Salesforce comes with a mobile application that included with your license. However, using Salesforce on a phone is much different from a computer, and it must be customized for mobile use. This module shows you how to create shortcuts, navigation menus, and layouts specifically for mobile devices. By creating a similar-yet-different experience for your users on their mobile devices, you can reduce time wasted sifting through unnecessary data on a small device.

Reports & Dashboards for Lightning Experience

With all of the data that Salesforce stores, it makes sense to include a powerful analytics tool in the platform. This module serves as an introduction to reports and dashboards. It begins by distinguishing between reports, dashboards, and report types. With knowledge of the key terms, you can then begin using the report builder to build reports and dashboards. This module teaches you how to use filters and formatting to get the most out of your data. It briefly covers dynamic dashboards, which are dashboards that change based on the access levels of the viewer. Finally, it shows how you can use AppExchange to bring your reports and dashboards to the next level.

Just The Beginning…

The Admin Beginner trail is the perfect way to start exploring Trailhead. With the modules included in this trail, you will learn the basics of administration and how to use Trailhead as a powerful learning resource. But there is so much more! Check out other trails to learn specific skills, or move along to the Admin Intermediate trail to continue learning about administration. And if you want further assistance, contact Ntegro today for a FREE consultation. Our Salesforce experts can fill in the blanks and help you with all of your questions.

Have you tried the Admin Beginner trail? How did you like it? Did you find other trails equally helpful? Leave a comment below to share your experience! Stay tuned for an overview of the Admin Intermediate trail next!