Better Salesforce Formula Editor: The App to Upgrade Your Formula Skills

With Google Chrome being the browser of choice for many Salesforce professionals, it’s no wonder that the number of Chrome extensions focused on enhancing and optimizing the flow of work within the CRM has increased over the years. With over ten thousand users, the long-established Better Salesforce Formula Editor aims to improve the out-of-the-box formula editor in Salesforce. 

This post explores the functionalities of this Chrome extension, and how it can help you build accurate Salesforce formulas in no time, without additional clicks. 

Get Started

First of all, it’s important to confirm with your organization that the Chrome Extension can be installed and used according to the security policies. Once cleared, you can proceed with adding it to your Chrome from the Web Store: Better Salesforce Formula Editor and AI Agent. 

You will notice that the next time you navigate to the formula editor in Salesforce, a new tab appears next to the ones you’re already familiar with, like in a Validation Rule or when creating a formula field.

Fast Track Formula Creation

The purpose of Better Salesforce Formula Editor, as the name suggests, is to help you through the formula creation process in Salesforce. The extension excels in bringing everything a Salesforce Admin would need to build a formula on one screen, including the available fields from the Record, Functions, and Operators, as well as Context Variables. Not only are all of these easily accessible, but you can navigate through them as needed, and review field types and definitions for each function. 

After navigating to the new Better Formula tab, you can start writing the formula function or even field names, and the autocomplete will propose relevant suggestions that you can select. If you already know what you’re looking for, this feature is the ultimate time saver. If you’re unsure, you can easily navigate to what you need in the side panel and double-check. 

You will also notice that once a function is selected, there will be placeholders available for you to know exactly what should be added within the function expression itself.

There are quite a few productivity boosters that come with using Better Salesforce Formula Editor on top of the autocomplete which can be leveraged regardless of the complexity of your formula. For example:

• A real-time syntax check is available at the bottom of the editor, helping you see immediately if anything is missing or wrong. 
• Syntax highlights are done automatically and are further enhanced by the dark mode to improve readability as you write your formula. 
• Indentation can easily be done within the editor using Tab, with some functions automatically indented. 

Make Use of the Diff Mode

Specifically tailored for the situations in which you have to make further changes to a formula, the Diff Mode offers you a before and after view of your updates. This way, you can easily spot if anything is amiss compared to the initial version, and correct accordingly.

AI Formula Agent

A newer addition to the already well-known Chrome Extension is the AI Formula Agent. This context-aware assistant is an optional functionality, for which you will have to accept extra terms. However, it won’t impact your experience if you decide not to make use of it.

Its advantages, as you can imagine, could be significant with AI becoming more and more reliable. At the same time, it remains a crucial step of the process to test your formula and tweak it as necessary. You can not only instruct the agent to build formulas from scratch but also request explanations or other examples.

Summary

Overall, Better Salesforce Formula Editor has the potential to significantly enhance the speed at which you find the fields, functions, and other metadata you need while building formulas in Salesforce. With the option to easily navigate through all available items to choose from directly within the editor, this Chrome Extension brings everything to one place.

Have you already used this extension before or are you looking forward to trying it out? Tell us in the comments below!