Dashboard Folders and Sharing is a critical component of Data and Analytics Management in Salesforce that allows administrators to organize, control access, and distribute dashboards effectively across an organization.
Dashboard folders serve as containers that group related dashboards together, m…Dashboard Folders and Sharing is a critical component of Data and Analytics Management in Salesforce that allows administrators to organize, control access, and distribute dashboards effectively across an organization.
Dashboard folders serve as containers that group related dashboards together, making it easier to manage and locate specific visualizations. Similar to report folders, dashboard folders follow a hierarchical structure that mirrors your organizational needs. You can create folders based on departments, projects, business functions, or any other logical grouping that suits your company's requirements.
Sharing dashboards through folders operates on a folder-level permission model. When you share a folder, you can assign three types of access: Viewer, Editor, or Manager. Viewers can see dashboards within the folder but cannot modify them. Editors can view and modify dashboards, while Managers have full control including the ability to share the folder with others and manage folder membership.
You can share dashboard folders with individual users, public groups, roles, or roles and subordinates. This flexibility ensures that sensitive business intelligence reaches only appropriate audiences while enabling collaboration among team members who need access.
The Enhanced Folder Sharing feature provides granular control over dashboard visibility. Administrators should enable this feature to leverage the full range of sharing capabilities. With enhanced sharing, you can restrict access to specific dashboards containing confidential data while making general performance dashboards available to broader audiences.
Best practices include creating a clear folder naming convention, regularly auditing folder access permissions, and organizing dashboards by business function or user audience. Administrators should also consider creating a dedicated folder for executive dashboards with restricted access and separate folders for departmental metrics.
Understanding dashboard folder sharing is essential for maintaining data security, ensuring proper governance, and facilitating efficient information distribution throughout your Salesforce environment.
Dashboard Folders and Sharing: Complete Guide for Salesforce Administrators
Why Dashboard Folders and Sharing is Important
Dashboard folders and sharing are critical components of Salesforce security and data visibility. As a Salesforce Administrator, you must ensure that users can access the dashboards they need while protecting sensitive business information from unauthorized viewing. Proper folder management helps maintain organizational data governance, supports compliance requirements, and enables efficient collaboration across teams.
What Are Dashboard Folders?
Dashboard folders are organizational containers that store and manage dashboards in Salesforce. They serve two primary purposes:
1. Organization - Group related dashboards together for easy navigation 2. Security - Control who can view, edit, or manage dashboards within the folder
There are three types of dashboard folders:
- Private Folders - Only the owner can access these dashboards - Public Folders - Available to all users with dashboard permissions - Shared Folders - Access is granted to specific users, roles, or groups
How Dashboard Folder Sharing Works
Salesforce uses Enhanced Folder Sharing to provide granular control over dashboard access. There are three levels of access:
1. Viewer - Can view dashboards but cannot edit or share them 2. Editor - Can view and modify dashboards within the folder 3. Manager - Can view, edit, share, and delete dashboards; can also manage folder access
Sharing can be configured based on: - Individual users - Roles - Roles and subordinates - Public groups - Territories
Key Configuration Steps
1. Navigate to the Dashboards tab 2. Create or select a folder 3. Click the dropdown arrow next to the folder name 4. Select Share 5. Add users, roles, or groups and assign access levels 6. Save your changes
Running User Considerations
Dashboards display data based on the running user, which affects what data viewers see:
- Running as specified user - All viewers see data based on that user's access - Running as logged-in user - Each viewer sees data based on their own access level
This is separate from folder sharing but works together to determine the complete user experience.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Dashboard Folders and Sharing
Tip 1: Understand the Access Hierarchy Remember that Manager access includes all Editor capabilities, and Editor access includes all Viewer capabilities. Questions often test whether you understand this cumulative permission model.
Tip 2: Know the Difference Between Folder Access and Running User Folder sharing controls WHO can access the dashboard. Running user controls WHAT data they see. These are frequently confused in exam scenarios.
Tip 3: Private vs Shared Folders If a question mentions a user cannot see a dashboard, check if it is in a private folder or if the folder has not been shared with that user. The answer often involves folder sharing settings.
Tip 4: Role Hierarchy Impact When sharing with roles, consider whether the option includes subordinates. This distinction appears frequently in exam questions.
Tip 5: Watch for Permission Requirements Users need the appropriate profile permissions to access dashboards at all. Even with folder access, a user cannot view dashboards if their profile lacks the necessary permissions.
Tip 6: Scenario-Based Questions Look for clues about what the user needs to DO with the dashboard. If they need to modify it, Viewer access is insufficient. If they need to manage sharing, they require Manager access.
Tip 7: Enhanced Folder Sharing Remember that Enhanced Folder Sharing must be enabled to use granular sharing options. Legacy folder sharing has fewer options and different behavior.
Common Exam Scenarios
- A manager needs to share dashboards with their team - use role-based sharing - A user can see the folder but not the data - check running user settings - Multiple departments need different access levels - create separate folders with appropriate sharing - Executive dashboards need restricted access - use Manager access for admins only, Viewer for executives