Prerequisites: None
Estimated Time: 1 hour
Topics:
Prerequisites: None. Start as soon as possible.
Estimated Time: Less than an hour of active work. It will take additional time for Salesforce to export your files and for AgileInsight to complete the match.
Related Documentation: ConnectLink Match Instructions
Prerequisites: None
Estimated Time: Between 15 minutes and several days, depending on the number of stakeholders and complexity.
Related Documentation: ConnectLink File Match – Duplicate Criteria
Prerequisites: None. Can be done concurrently with the ‘Plan Field Mappings’ step.
Estimated Time: Varies, depending on the number of stakeholders
Prerequisites: Finalize Field Selections, though these can be done concurrently.
Estimated Time: Varies, depending on the number of stakeholders
Related Documentation: Field Mappings
Often, the person (or team) that makes these decisions is not the admin who creates the custom fields, configures the field mappings, and adjusts page layouts. Providing clear guidance will ensure the integration functions as desired and save time during the installation phase.
Layouts
Decide if you will update existing page layouts or create new layouts. Consider what users will see while the integration is being configured, before there’s data in your new fields.
Make a plan for where data will go on your layouts. Will you mix the data with your existing fields, or will you create a separate section of the layout to house the Agile data? A mix of both? If you’re storing Agile email addresses or phone numbers in custom fields, we recommend placing them next to the corresponding standard fields so they are easily accessible.
Field Mappings
Please review the related documentation on field mappings linked above.
For each field, you’ll want to plan:
You can do this planning several ways. Customize as desired.
Prerequisites: Your Account Manager creates your ConnectLink Account
Estimated Time: Less than 1 minute
Your Account Manager will provide your Client ID and Client Key via email once they are available.
Prerequisites: None
Estimated Time: A few minutes of active work, plus wait time while Salesforce creates relationships
Related Documentation: Set Up Contacts to Multiple Accounts
Because contacts in schools or districts often have multiple roles and can be assigned to multiple buildings, Agile has chosen to utilize the standard Related Account and Contacts object to prevent the creation of duplicate contacts.
Prerequisites: Related Accounts and Contacts Settings step
Estimated Time: A few minutes
The latest version of the ConnectLink application, Version 4.8, can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. Please install for Admins Only.
Prerequisites: Install the App, Get App Credentials
Estimated Time: A few minutes
Related Documentation: Leads
These configurations will not make changes in your organization, unless you or another user deliberately takes further action.
Prerequisites: Install the App, Get App Credentials
Estimated Time: Approximately one hour, although the duration may vary depending on the number of new custom fields required.
Related Documentation: Field Mappings
If you completed the spreadsheet during the Plan Field Mappings stage, this will be easier.
Please read the Field Mappings documentation before you start. The integration created several fields that will be updated automatically during syncs. These don’t need to be mapped.
Prerequisites: Install the App, Create Custom Fields
Estimated Time: Varies, approximately an hour
For each Account, Contact, and Lead layout, repeat these four steps. If you aren’t using Leads with ConnectLink, ignore references to leads.
Some clients choose to group most ConnectLink data in its own layout section, especially when there are many mapped fields. This makes it easy to find. If you’ve mapped contact information (such as phone, email, and address) into custom fields instead of standard fields, or if you have two sets of mappings, these fields may be best displayed next to their corresponding standard fields so that users can see both options.
These three lightning actions should be added for accounts, contacts, and leads. If you installed for Admins only, users shouldn’t have access to these buttons yet. Once you grant them permissions, these buttons can be used to update records. If you’re concerned about accidental updates and working on live layouts, you may want to wait to add these until testing is complete.
Prominently display the ConnectLink Status field, allowing users to easily determine if an account is active or closed, or if a contact/lead is active or inactive.
| Field Name | Accounts | Contacts | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| ConnectLink Key | |||
| ConnectLink Parent Key | |||
| ConnectLink Main Parent Key | |||
| ConnectLink Last Sync Date | |||
| ConnectLink Status | |||
| ConnectLink Licensed Status | |||
| Created by ConnectLink | |||
| ConnectLink File Type | |||
| ConnectLink Do Not Update | |||
| ConnectLink Do Not Update Hierarchy | |||
| ConnectLink Email Hard Bounce | |||
| ConnectLink Title | |||
| ConnectLink Job Category | |||
| Account (Lookup Field) |
| Object | Related List | Recommended Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts | Related Contacts | ConnectLink Status, ConnectLink Roles, ConnectLink Inactive Roles, and ConnectLink Email Hard Bounce | Remove the Contacts related list to prevent confusion. |
| Accounts | Leads | ConnectLink Status, ConnectLink Title, ConnectLink Email Hard Bounce | ConnectLink created this list during installation to display ConnectLink-related leads. |
| Contacts | Related Accounts | Direct, ConnectLink Roles, ConnectLink Inactive Roles, and ConnectLink Status | Remove the Accounts related list to prevent confusion. |
| Leads | None | N/A | There are no related lists to add to leads. Instead, add the Account lookup field created by the integration. |
Add your mapped fields to the appropriate layouts, unless the field was identified during the planning phase as a reporting-only field.
Prerequisites: Install the App
Estimated Time: Varies, approximately an hour
Related Documentation: Permission Sets FAQ
Refer to the Permission Sets FAQ for comprehensive details. Pay close attention to these two questions:
Your organization’s security policies will determine which additional permissions to grant to users.
After reading through the documentation, create new permission set groups.
Important: Wait to assign user permissions until after testing, so users don’t accidentally make changes before your integration has been fully configured.
Prerequisites: Install the App
Estimated Time: 15-30 minutes
After your data match is complete, Agile will provide files to load into Salesforce that attach ConnectLink Keys to matched records. You will have one or two load files per object. These can be combined or divided as needed.
The files will contain only the Salesforce ID and ConnectLink Key. Use the Salesforce ID as your identifier and import the ConnectLink Keys from all load files.
After ConnectLink Keys have been loaded, records with a key can be updated with the lightning button or Bulk Updates. While you can load these any time after installation, most clients opt to wait until their mappings and settings have been configured as desired.
Prerequisites: None
Estimated Time: A few minutes
If you wish to track changes for any fields, enable field history tracking in the Salesforce setup menu.
Prerequisites: Install the App, Load ConnectLink Keys to Existing Records
Estimated Time: A few minutes of active work, plus Salesforce processing time
Before proceeding with the testing steps below, consider creating a backup of Salesforce data. Many clients find the files pulled for the match to be sufficient; however, it can be beneficial to have a backup that includes the ConnectLink Keys.
Prerequisites: Install the App
Estimated Time: A few minutes
Salesforce duplicate prevention rules can prevent ConnectLink from creating or updating records. The standard duplicate rules don’t always work for the education industry, and custom rules can also cause issues. If you have duplicate rules that prevent records from being created or edited, consider modifying them or creating new custom rules. This is especially important for accounts, because most ConnectLink configurations will only insert new personnel if the associated account exists.
Option 1: Modify existing account duplicate rules
This is the simplest option. You only need to modify active duplicate rules that block record creation or edits.
Leave the original settings and matching rule, but add a new condition with the values below. This will allow the duplicate rule to run for any records without a ConnectLink Key. Records with a ConnectLink Key will ignore the rule.
Option 2: Replace existing rules with new ones
Documentation for this is coming soon. In the meantime, contact the onboarding team for guidance.
Prerequisites: Install the App
Estimated Time: Varies
We often see clients add or adjust automation in the following categories.
Source
Any records created by the integration will have the Created by ConnectLink checkbox checked (true). If you track source in other fields, you can use this checkbox to drive automation.
Record Ownership, Territory Assignment, Etc.
By default, records created by the integration will be owned by the user who scheduled the update job, initiated it from the Bulk Updates menu, or imported the missing institutions. We often see automations to update ownership, assign reps, etc.
Status Fields
Many clients use the ConnectLink Status field to update custom status fields.
Account Type Fields
You can use automation and ConnectLink data to designate the Salesforce record type or populate custom type fields. Common fields that may help:
Prerequisites: All Installation and Configuration steps, any optional Testing and Optimization steps desired
Estimated Time: Around 15-30 minutes
After you’ve finished configuration and loaded ConnectLink Keys, you are ready to test syncing a few individual records.
Prerequisites: All Installation and Configuration steps, any optional Testing and Optimization steps desired
Estimated Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Before you start syncing data, we recommend a check-in call with your onboarding team. We’ll review your settings, mappings, and page layouts. We may sync a few individual records and review error logs. We’ll also answer any remaining questions before you start syncing data.
Prerequisites: All Installation and Configuration steps and Testing and Optimization steps
Estimated Time: Less than 15 minutes of active work, plus the time it takes to import the institutions
New personnel will not be created if the account does not exist, unless you have enabled orphaned leads. Because of this, we recommend importing all institutions in your data license.
After your data match, we provided an estimated count of missing accounts and a breakdown by record and file type.
The job can take a few hours, depending on the number of accounts that are imported. The integration does this in small batches, so performance should not be impacted.
To import missing institutions:
Note: If you would like to review a flat file of the records that will be created before starting the import, please notify your onboarding team.
Prerequisites: Testing and Optimization steps, Import Missing Institutions
Estimated Time: Approximately 15-30 minutes of active work, plus the time for the jobs to run
Related Documentation: ConnectLink Dashboards
Congratulations, you’re ready for your first Bulk Update All. This will force update every record with a ConnectLink Key in enabled objects and import new personnel according to your configurations. After the Bulk Update All has finished, you’ll update the ConnectLink Dashboards to populate the data.
Run a Bulk Update All
Update the Dashboards
Prerequisites: Get Permission Sets Ready, Complete all desired Testing and Optimization steps
Estimated Time: Less than an Hour
Related Documentation: Permission Sets FAQ
After you’ve imported missing institutions and completed the first Bulk Update All, your licensed data should be ready to go in Salesforce. Now, you’ll ensure users can see and interact with the data. Customize as needed for your organization.
Goals:
Prerequisites: Successful Bulk Update All
Estimated Time: 5 minutes
Related Documentation: Scheduling Bulk Updates
It’s important to schedule recurring jobs to ensure the integration keeps your records up to date and imports new personnel. Our database is refreshed each weekend.
For most configurations, we recommend scheduling two weekly jobs to stay on top of changes as they occur.
The Scheduling Bulk Updates document walks you through the steps. It provides information about the best times to schedule updates and times to avoid due to database maintenance.
Prerequisites: Successful Bulk Update All, Grant Permissions to Users, and Expose new data
Estimated Time: Varies
Related Documentation: End User Guide
Coming soon
Prerequisites: Tasks through the Initial Data Sync phase, Schedule Recurring Updates
Estimated Time: less than 2 minutes to grant login access, around five business days for the Agile team to complete the audit
At the end of your onboarding, we’ll conduct a ConnectLink Audit. We’ll review your settings, field mappings, scheduled jobs, page layouts, and other relevant configurations, and compare them to our best practices. We’ll provide a document outlining our findings and any recommended actions. This will serve as a final to-do list and document your settings.
We’ll review:
To get started, grant support login access to Agile Education Marketing. Usually, a week is enough time for us to complete the audit. During your next onboarding call, we will discuss our findings and provide a PDF of the document for your records.
Assuming you have scheduled regular updates, the integration should perform most tasks automatically. Here’s our suggested schedule for ongoing maintenance.
Weekly:
Periodically (1-3 months):
Every 12-18 months:
Speak with a Consultant | 866.782.0241 x 108 | [email protected]
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