Salesforce Success Community: Answers Best Practice

With over 800,000 community members and growing, someone is bound to have asked a question similar to yours, so please search first before posting your question. Simply type in the area you need help with (see example below) and click the magnifying glass to find similar questions. Select on the question to view the details or just post your question if nothing matches your inquiry.

In order to ensure your question is answered quickly and efficiently by our community, here are a few tips.

• Devil is in the Details: Focus on questions about a problem you’re facing. Include details about what you have tried and exactly what you are trying to do. Always include an introduction such as “I am a sales rep new to Salesforce”, the edition you are on (Professional, Enterprise, etc.), screen shots to further demonstrate your point, error messages if relevant, and your level of expertise.

• Be specific: If you ask a vague question, you’ll get a vague answer. But if you give details and context, the community can provide a very useful answer. For example when troubleshooting an issue with a field in your org, reference it using the API field name, data type and/or objects wherever possible.

• Have an open mind: The answer to your question may not always be the one you wanted, but that doesn’t mean it is wrong. A conclusive answer isn’t always possible. When in doubt, ask people to explain how/where they learned something. Even if the community doesn’t agree with you, or tell you exactly what you wanted to hear, remember: they’re just trying to help.

• Button-­‐click Only: While our community has answers to just about all questions that can be solved with buttons and clicks, code-­‐based questions are not their forte. If you have questions regarding Apex, Visualforce or coding, you will get an answer much quicker if you post them to the Developerforce boards.

Share the Love

When a community member answers your question please make sure you do two things

1. Thank them, as they’re just volunteering their time to help you be more successful.

2. Mark their answer as “Best Answer”. By doing both of these steps, you will encourage the community to continue helping as well as bubble up the best content for other members.