I have been working on the Salesforce Platform for 7+ years as an Admin and Consultant, but have not hugely ventured into Visual Studio Code. Mainly because VS Code is only for developers who write code, right? Not quite! Richard Ivan, Salesforce Admin, smashed that myth into pieces, and I am here to share just why! 

I’m Millie May, a Salesforce Consultant at Desynit Limited. I recently attended the 11th edition of London’s Calling, a community-led event for Salesforce professionals that always guarantees a fantastic day filled with inspiring and educational talks around the Salesforce ecosystem. 

As always, London’s Calling didn’t disappoint with it’s action packed agenda, buzzing community energy and an attendee favourite, the renowned demo jam! However, my favourite talk of the day was ‘Click Less Do More, VS Code for Admins’ by Richard Ivan.

 

Click Less Do More, VS Code for Admins

But first of all was is VS Code? I caught up with Simon Lawrence to find out. In a nutshell, VS Code is our IDE (Integrated Development Environment) … that is to say, it is the program that we run locally on our computers to do our coding and developing work. 

Here is an example of what it looks like. If any admin has used the Developer Console in Salesforce, it’s kinda the same format. 

5 key takeaways from his talk that I think other Admins could find just as useful.

 

1. VS Code – Unified Navigation

 

VS Code can be used as a browser for your org’s metadata. You can navigate your entire org’s configuration from a single, unified folder tree; there’s no need to spend time digging around in the setup menu. Salesforce is user-friendly, but you will see the underlying fruit of the org using Visual Studio Code.

 

2. VS Code – Bulk Changes

 

VS Code can be used as a bulk editing tool, perform mass updates across profiles, fields, layouts and more. Examples of changes that could be made that Richard highlighted:

• Update the description and/or help text of multiple fields at once
• Put an existing field on all Page layouts at once. Use ‘search and replace’ in VS Code instead of manually editing every Page Layout in setup.
• Modify validation rules and formulas in a larger-colour coded editor, helpful for spotting missing parentheses! 
• Easily copy/paste permissions from one set to another or grant field-level security across up to 10 profiles at once, such a time saver.

 

3. VS Code – Find Hardcoded References

 

We all know the headache of hardcoded references. VS Code allows you to easily find hardcoded Salesforce IDs using regex and locate hardcoded URLs.

 

4. VS Code – Check where Standard Fields are Referenced

 

Ever wanted to utilise the ‘Where is this used?’ function on a standard field to realise it’s only possible for custom fields? Using VS Code means you can check where standard fields are used, and more than one at a time.

 

5. VS Code- Download 100s of extensions, expanding VS Code use even further

 

There are lots of handy extensions available for VS Code, such as an SOQL Builder and SFDX Hardis, which make the tool even better. This is particularly useful if your company will not allow you to download Chrome extensions. Imagine living without Salesforce Inspector…

 

And here is my bonus takeaway

 

6. VS Code – Agentforce Vibes!

 

Ever heard of “vibe coding”? Agentforce Vibes, Salesforce’s AI assistant for Visual Studio Code. Instead of typing every line of code manually, you simply declare your intent in plain text, and the AI translates it into functional code. Sadly, Vibes is no longer free, but it’s well worth checking out if you can.

 

Richard Ivan’s talk served as a reminder that a Salesforce Admin can be a powerhouse. By pairing our inherent capabilities with tools like VS Code, we don’t just boost our day-to-day productivity, we become proactive, indispensable driving forces within our organisations.

 

If you like this read, why not check out The Production is Silent Prevention Plan written by Desynit Director and Security expert Jeremy Hutchinson

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Author

Millie May | Salesforce Consultant | Desynit Limited

 

 

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