5 Tips to Get Fast and Helpful Answers in the Trailblazer Community

Hey, human! Configuring your Salesforce instance can be really challenging, especially when you don’t know why something isn’t working as expected. This can be frustrating if you have a tight deadline or demanding stakeholders. As admins, what you need are fast and relevant answers to your questions.

Thankfully, the Trailblazer Community is awesome. We all want each other to succeed and we freely share our knowledge. I’ve assembled some tips below on how to better search for answers and post your questions. By following this advice, you should find your questions are answered with less time and effort spent for both you and the folks providing insight.

1. Get Googlin’

I frequently give this advice and I frequently live this advice. If I have an issue, I’m going to spend time googling before I ask for help. Since all Salesforce documentation is available online, I consider this the same as referencing the instruction manual.

I recommend starting your search with relevant terms. For example, if I’m struggling with a validation rule, I’ll structure my search to include the name of the platform (Salesforce), the feature (validation rule), the issue (the CASE() function), and a word or two about my results (no results display). In this case, my search would be “Salesforce validation rule case function no results”.

It’s also important to note that the answered questions on the Trailblazer Community have all been optimized for search engines. That means you have access to relevant answers within the first page of your search results. These answers represent hundreds of hours of community collaboration, and they are incredibly useful.

Even if the search doesn’t yield your solution, you’ll stumble across information that focuses your question, like common issues or solutions you don’t need. You’ll also find blogs that provide really wonderful step-by-step tutorials.

If you’re still stuck after searching, it’s time to post a question on the Trailblazer Community.

2. Write a clear, specific title

A clear title will enable fellow Trailblazers to better understand your problem in a short amount of time. If someone doesn’t understand the title, they are unlikely to read further into your question.

Include the feature and issue you’re having; for example, “Web to Lead – Duplicate Records”. Avoid acronyms and unclear language; for example, “W2L?! Nothing works and repeat records”.

3. Describe relevant details

Including details saves time for you and anyone who may attempt to answer your question. Additional context may also give Trailblazers extra insight so they can provide the most accurate answer. Remember: While Salesforce instances share core features, configuration can be drastically different. Don’t assume other admins have the same knowledge or architecture of your org(s).

It’s important to include as many specific details as possible in your question. Some recommendations include:

1. Your objective
2. Relevant architecture (objects, fields, customizations, etc.)
3. Your challenge or error
4. What you have previously tried
5. Detailed error messages you have received
6. Screenshots
7. What you specifically need help with

4. Tag the question

Tags are a useful way to categorize your question and will boost visibility. Some Trailblazers may follow certain topics. By including tags related to your question, you increase the chance that a subject matter expert will review it. Using our example, including #Validation Rule or #Formula Function would be particularly useful.

5. Follow up

Sometimes, even if you follow all the steps above, you’ll need to provide additional context or answer a few questions. Make sure that you follow the above steps in your additional replies. Also, don’t forget to mark a best answer! Future answer-seekers will then be able to review your question and find the answer that will help them most.

Amazing example question from the community

And there you have it! Do you have any tips or improvements? Want to share your results using this method? Hit me on Twitter @j__mdt.

Resources

• Trailblazer Community: Admin Trailblazers Group