Have you ever had to ask for permission before taking action? Or have you been restricted from doing something you love until you get permission? The general idea of permission is to consent or authorize someone to do a particular thing or carry out an action. In Salesforce, permissions are a big deal. Data protection is one of the major functions of Salesforce, and permissions must be granted to maintain data integrity.
The above screenshot demonstrates the process of creating a custom permission in Salesforce. It shows the user navigating through the Salesforce Setup menu by typing 'Custom Permissions' in the Quick Find Box, highlighting the initial steps to access and create custom permissions.
Before creating custom permissions in Salesforce, let’s look at some of the benefits of creating them.
1. Go to Setup and type Custom Permissions in the Quick Find box, then click “New”
The above screenshot illustrates the process of creating a custom permission in Salesforce. It guides the user through the steps of navigating to the Setup menu, typing 'Custom Permissions' in the Quick Find Box, and then selecting 'New' to begin creating a custom permission.
2. Label your permission set and type Custom Permissions in the Quick Find box, then save it. For this example, we call it “New Custom Permission”.
The above screenshot illustrates the step where you assign a name to your custom permissions in Salesforce. The image highlights the fields where users input the permission name and description, ensuring clarity and proper identification within the system.
3. Save your custom permission.
4. Next, you have to add your custom permissions to a permission set. To do this, simply go to Setup >> Quick Find >> Permission Sets >> New.
The above screenshot shows the process of creating a permission set in Salesforce. It illustrates the user accessing the Salesforce Setup menu, typing 'Permission Sets' in the Quick Find Box, and clicking 'New' to initiate the creation of a new permission set.
5. Create a permission set. Label your permission set and save it. (Best practice is to always add a description before you save).
The above screenshot illustrates the process of labeling and saving a permission set in Salesforce. The image highlights the fields where the user enters the name, label, and description for the permission set before saving it.
6. After saving, scroll down to “Custom Permissions.”
The above screenshot illustrates the process of adding custom permissions to a permission set in Salesforce. The image shows the steps involved, including navigating to the relevant permission set and selecting the custom permissions option to configure specific access controls.
7. You will be shown a list of the custom permissions you have created. Click the “right pointing” arrow to move the custom permissions from “Available Custom Permissions” to “Enabled Custom Permissions” and save
The above screenshot illustrates the steps to enable custom permissions in Salesforce. The image highlights the interface where users can manage and activate their custom permissions within the Salesforce setup.
8. Assign your custom permission to a user by clicking “Manage Assignment.”
The above image illustrates the steps to assign custom permissions to Salesforce users. The visual guide shows the process of selecting users and assigning specific custom permissions within Salesforce, ensuring they have the appropriate access rights.
After clicking “Manage Assignments”, you will be shown a list of users. Select the users for whom you want to give the custom permissions and save. That’s all you need! The selected users now have certain permissions other users do not have!
Custom permissions are essential in Salesforce, and Salesforce administrators or users must take advantage of them to enhance tailored access, which will improve data security. As shown in this article, there are many uses of the custom permission feature, and it is advised to create them in a developer org (free) to test your understanding of the feature. You can create a developer org to test your custom permission creations here: https://developer.salesforce.com/signup
