Overview – Free

Open CertifiedOnDemand.com Section Resources

This is not an exhaustive list; additional resources are referenced within objectives below.
ObjectiveResourcesKey Facts
Describe Salesforce.com and customer relationship management (CRM).What is Salesforce.com?
[Should / 9m / CertifiedOnDemand.com]
Explain the concepts of cloud computing, multi-tenancy, and software-as-a-service (SaaS).What is Cloud Computing?
[Must / 3m / Salesforce.com]

Software as a service
[Should / Long / Wikipedia.com]

Multitenancy
[Should / Medium / Wikipedia.com]
Cloud computing is a broad term that generally refers to a service or software that is consumed via the internet.

SaaS is a subscription delivery model. As a consumer of a SaaS product, you pay a recurring fee for access to a service/software (e.g. yearly licenses for Salesforce.com).
Explain the difference between a field, object, tab, and record.Data & Navigation
[Must / 2m / CertifiedOnDemand.com]
A field is one data point within an object (e.g. "First Name" on the lead object).

A record is row of field data within an object (e.g. the lead "John Smith").

An object is comprised of its field definitions and records.

A tab is used to expose an object and its data to the end user through the web interface.
Describe the following terms: Application, page layout, list view.List Views
[Should / 2m / CertifiedOnDemand.com]

Data & Navigation
[Repeated]

An application is selected in the top right of the screen, and influences which tabs are displayed along the top navigational bar.

A page layout influences which fields are displayed and in what order when viewing or editing a record.

A list view is used to quickly segment and action records within an object.
Describe the difference between data and metadata.Metadata
[Long / Could / Wikipedia.com]
Configuration within Salesforce, including object and field definitions is stored within metadata.

For instance, the custom field "Reason Lost" on the opportunity object is defined with metadata, while the opportunity records are data.
Describe the standard applications, objects, and tabs included with Salesforce.Standard Apps, Objects, & Tabs
[Must / Medium / CertifiedOnDemand.com]
Describe the difference between standard and custom components.

Standard Apps, Objects, & Tabs
[Repeated]

Standard components are included or added by Salesforce, while custom components are added by an administrator. The options for customizing standard components are more limited than custom components (e.g. you cannot delete standard fields/objects/tabs).
Explain how Salesforce provides new releases to their platform.Salesforce updates their platform 3 times per year (Winter, Spring, Summer), and includes new features or other improvements. All Salesforce orgs are automatically updated with the latest release (according to the release schedule emailed to administrators) for free.

As an administrator, it is a best practice to read through the release notes to see which improvements can be applied within your organization. See the Getting Certified for information on recent releases.

All Objectives Met

Workshop: Get Started on the Certified Administrator Credential
[Should / 45m / Salesforce.com]

Overview: Quiz
[Must / Short Quiz / CertifiedOnDemand.com]

Overview: Feedback
[Should / Survey / CertifiedOnDemand.com]
Finished this section?  Next section: Company Profile - Free

59 Responses to “Overview – Free”

  1. gocubs1908 October 25, 2017 at 4:37 am #

    Do I have to sign up for a second account if I want to try the new Beta version? It doesn’t seem to be accepting the credentials I just created for this site.

    • JohnCoppedge October 25, 2017 at 2:20 pm #

      Yep just create a second account on the beta site. All accounts from CertifiedOnDemand.com will be carried into the new site when finalized shortly

  2. Sal March 3, 2017 at 11:20 pm #

    Hi John,
    Can the User Records be permanently deleted from the Salesforce.com ?
    Thanks.

    • CarlosSiqueira March 3, 2017 at 11:27 pm #

      Hi Sal:

      User Records can only be deactivated, not deleted.

  3. tnthompson October 31, 2016 at 1:34 am #

    Hey John,

    I want to study your guide as well as work on Trailhead. Do you think I should work on both at the same time – I just feel like it might be information overload if I try to study/work on both, or…do they go hand in hand?

    Thanks!

    • JohnCoppedge October 31, 2016 at 3:05 pm #

      They can work pretty well hand in hand. Trailhead will help you learn the basics and CoD will help dig into the details

  4. lsdsaride July 28, 2016 at 6:01 pm #

    Hi! I see no post in 2016. I’m new to salesforce and this site as well. Planning to finish certification. Many recommended this site in the salesforce success forum.
    Just finished free trail sign up.
    However, I would like to know if this site is up to date? Summer’16 ?

  5. feliciadawn88 June 15, 2016 at 8:34 pm #

    Are there specific sections of Trailhead that you suggest be reviewed?

  6. sovike@yeah.net June 12, 2016 at 8:25 am #

    Hi John,
    I thought you might add below article to the proper section.

    http://spacebug.com/effective_development_environments/

    It’ll explain some key words like UAT through real work process during one complete Release.

    especially for beginners like me.

    Thanks

  7. tejalr8@gmail.com June 7, 2016 at 7:15 pm #

    Hello John,
    I am struggling with my job search ..no idea what gonna happen,do you have any suggestions .?
    Just want to know that if i got certified in Admin in march and do the certifications will get expires any time ?
    Thanks
    Tejal.

    • JohnCoppedge June 7, 2016 at 9:06 pm #

      There is no magic recipe to transition your career to the cloud. A few ideas:

      1) get as many certifications as you can
      2) start volunteering Salesforce work (e.g. salesforce.org)
      3) try odesk, freelance, etc. with projects you can manage yourself
      4) find sub contracting work (many consultancies have opportunities)

      Good luck! It can be tricky but pays off (literally)! 🙂

  8. tejalr8@gmail.com June 7, 2016 at 7:13 pm #

    Hello john,
    I want to know ,one company can be working on more then one salesforce org?
    Tejal .

  9. michaelagold92@gmail.com June 2, 2016 at 11:51 pm #

    What Trailhead Trails, Modules, or Projects do you recommend?

    • JohnCoppedge June 3, 2016 at 7:27 pm #

      I would go through the admin trails – I will be adding these to the website as well

  10. CarlosSiqueira May 19, 2016 at 8:35 pm #

    John:

    On the video “What is Salesforce?” at 5:06 you mention LinkedIn, but I don’t see it any any version of Salesforce, only Twitter, Facebook, Klout and YouTube.

  11. MohindrooShivani March 14, 2016 at 9:46 am #

    Hello,

    I am doing the administration training here but not sure about how do i practice on salesforce environment? also if i got it right do i need to register for developer edition but not sure i register myself as developer, administrator or etc.

  12. diptulya March 10, 2016 at 6:32 pm #

    Hi John,
    What is Salesforce.com section.. Marketing is not included. Only Sales and Service boxes are displayed in the video. Is marketing cloud considered not Standard Application in SFDC?

    • JohnCoppedge March 10, 2016 at 7:08 pm #

      There are marketing functions within the Sales Cloud (campaign management for example). However, Marketing Cloud refers to exact target (email blasts, drip campaigns, sophisticated marketing automation) and buddy media (social media management- e.g. turning tweets into cases, social media command centers) – features much more sophisticated than simply campaign management within the Sales Clouds basic apps.

  13. g.levy@mamacash.org January 23, 2016 at 9:19 am #

    Hi John,

    I am still unsure about the definition of (and examples of):
    Service cloud
    Sale cloud
    Force.com
    I don’t feel comfortable using these terms before I can understand them.

    Regards,
    Gil

    • g.levy@mamacash.org January 23, 2016 at 9:26 am #

      Further on this question, how do i know what is best for my organisation to have? can you have one feature and not the other (is feature the right word here?). Is it Salesforce platform and on top of it one can have either Sale could, Service Cloud, Force.com or all?

      • JohnCoppedge January 25, 2016 at 8:05 pm #

        Hi Gil,

        You can use all 3 “clouds” with the same user credentials – although there is a licensing component involved. The 3 clouds essentially refer to areas of functionality (and accompanying licensing):

        Sales- opportunity management, campaigns, leads, etc.
        Service- cases, knowledge, etc.
        Force.com- custom apps

        Each has different licensing and different configuration settings. Generally Sales/Service cloud access also includes access to Force.com as well.

        Cheers,

        John

  14. salmanafzal November 15, 2015 at 10:51 pm #

    Hello John,
    I was on this in a getting Started: Administrating SalesForce where there were short videos for all different things, I was at Setting Up and Manging Users.
    I’m UNABLE to find the link to go to that section? Can you please help me check that, is that link no here anymore. It looks like it was right at where,”
    Workshop: Get Started on the Certified Administrator Credential
    [Should / 45m / Salesforce.com]”
    is showing up on this section (Overview).
    Please let me know as I cannot start it back.
    Thanks
    Salman

  15. Ezekiel Apte August 1, 2015 at 7:35 am #

    John – Is it possible to have a Page layout that spans across multiple screens ? I’m guess not as I’ve not seen any reference to do that here or in SF Help.

    • JohnCoppedge August 4, 2015 at 3:03 pm #

      Multiple screens? As in two monitors? There are some features in the sales/service cloud console that might help, but page layouts a single page affair (with scrolling).

      • Ezekiel Apte August 5, 2015 at 4:39 am #

        Not multiple monitors but sets of pages … But apparently not …. Thanks.

  16. bkladd July 29, 2015 at 9:32 pm #

    Just wanted to chime in and say THANK YOU to John for putting together such a great resource. I passed my Admin 201 test today after getting a 73% on the practice exam. I can’t recommend this site enough for someone that really wants to put in the time to learn about all the facets of Salesforce, and have a great foundation to pass the test. As John says and as my experience with the test proves, passing the test isn’t just about checking out some flashcards and taking every random quiz you find, you really have to know the material. There are very few answers to the questions you can dismiss offhand to have an easy correct answer. Particularly with the multiple choice (and there are a lot) you really need to work your way through exactly what is being asked.

    As the head of IT for my company, I will make sure anybody new to SF that we hire on or transitions to the Salesforce team goes through this training. I’m sure I will refer back to it as well.

  17. nishsfdc2015 July 2, 2015 at 3:33 am #

    Hi John,

    Just upgraded myself from free to paid member. I am totally new to SFDC.
    I have IT experience of 8 years in Supply Chain Management area.
    I started out of interest on my own around 6 weeks back and gave my DEV 401 last week which i cleared.

    I hope your material will help me sail through ADM 201 as well which is scheduled on 10th Aug 2015.

    Nishant

    • JohnCoppedge July 2, 2015 at 6:58 pm #

      Awesome, nice job passing on your own. I think this site will definitely help you in your path to ADM201 certification.

  18. Abid Pathan May 21, 2015 at 3:41 am #

    I 40$ for the material…where do I see the online material

    • JohnCoppedge May 21, 2015 at 8:25 pm #

      You are viewing it – if you had not paid some areas of the site would not be accessible.

  19. nidhi kasula March 23, 2015 at 1:06 pm #

    Hey dorothy!!!
    I m nervous too as I m pretty new to the field. But hopefull 🙂
    All the best for your exams.
    Nidhi

  20. roma buckley March 19, 2015 at 5:51 pm #

    Hi John
    Do I have to cover the Getting Started with Visual Force for the Admin exam
    Thanks
    Roma

    • JohnCoppedge March 22, 2015 at 4:55 pm #

      You should be familiar with Vf for the admin exam but you don’t need in depth knowledge.

  21. nidhi kasula March 9, 2015 at 3:12 pm #

    Hey John!!!

    Thank u so much for the wonderful content in the site. I am appearing for my ADM 201 in april. As I am new to the IT field but truely enjoying learning sales force. I am wondering If the study material provided here is sufficient to crack the exam or is there any other material one can refer to???
    Thank you so much
    Nidhi

    • JohnCoppedge March 9, 2015 at 8:03 pm #

      Yes this site is designed to cover all of the content you need to learn for ADM 201 – if you have access to Salesforce.com in person or premiere training, I would highly recommend using that as well.

    • Dorothy Narvaez March 16, 2015 at 4:04 pm #

      Hi Nidhi! I too am taking the exam in April … kinda nervous but hopeful! John … thanks for these materials! I hope they guide me through the exam!

  22. Rosa Attra December 29, 2014 at 6:28 pm #

    You probably need to update the video to show that Setup menu is now found on its own rather than under user settings menu.

    • JohnCoppedge January 6, 2015 at 2:38 am #

      Setup can be under your name as well, depending on your settings (this should be addressed in the org setup in the getting started section)

  23. Vasu Sanghani December 22, 2014 at 8:16 pm #

    Hi John,

    What is the best way to go through everything – the list, or the right bar? Is there an easier way?

  24. Roy Moore November 29, 2014 at 6:34 pm #

    Under the third objective…

    A record is row of field data with an object. (typo or thick accent here)

    An object is “compromised” of its field definitions and records. (you mean, “comprised” right?)

    • JohnCoppedge November 30, 2014 at 10:39 pm #

      Thanks, updated – was supposed to read “within” and “comprised”. May hire an editor in the future 🙂

      • Roy Moore November 30, 2014 at 10:44 pm #

        A proof reader would be good.

        Your content is stellar. Thanks for providing it.

        Roy

  25. Kunal Singh November 27, 2014 at 1:57 pm #

    Just enrolled and made the payment. Where do i get started. i am very interested in content and quizzes. any directions ?

  26. lester dale September 18, 2014 at 4:31 am #

    gday John, 2 Questions…
    1. Is there a method of knowing which sections I have already covered ? I will be sporadic in my accessing the content, so knowing where I am up to is important…
    2. Where is my avatar ? I note some users comments show theirs ?

    Looking fwd to getting thru the content 😉

    • JohnCoppedge September 27, 2014 at 7:58 pm #

      In my spare time one of these days I may add a check box to each objective, but no currently today there is no way 🙁

      • Stacey Garcia October 15, 2014 at 1:40 am #

        What does is mean if the link has a strike through it?

        • JohnCoppedge October 19, 2014 at 2:33 am #

          The link is being repeated from another section- is listed as relevant but you may have already reviewed the content.

      • Aaron Howerton November 17, 2014 at 3:59 am #

        If you’re using the same computer, I’ve noticed that links I’ve already gone through show the purple color and those I’ve not show the blue. This is how I was monitoring my progress until I started using multiple computers. At that point I simply had to try and keep up with where I was at. It’s a great idea, of course, but at $40 I’m thrilled with the content and process.

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