Welcome to my new Salesforce blog, this blog will be one that solely focuses on Flow. This is, The Flow Architect. This is the very first post in this new guise after previously blogging under the moniker of the Ragamuffin Admin. So in this post, what I want to do is to introduce this blog, talk about what my aims and aspirations are for it, and then to preview some of the posts that I already have in the draft queue ready to be released very soon. This will be a brief post, but I hope it will whet your appetite just a little.

So with all that being said, let’s start with the question of why call this blog “The Flow Architect”?

Why The Flow Architect?

In full transparency, the title of The Flow Architect is both a reflection on both the kind of content I would like to cover in this blog, and the direction of travel I am currently working towards in my journey as a Salesforce Professional within the ecosystem. I am fully aware that I’m not a Salesforce Architect yet, but I hope that yet is the operative language that is applicable here.

One of my biggest aims for this blog is to cover Flow from a more architectural perspective. Often when we talk about Flow, we dive straight into building Flows and talk less about the principles behind designing high-quality, high-performing Flows. For myself as a Salesforce Professional who views declarative automation (particularly Flow) as one of my specialisms, I want to pivot to a blog like this to not only write about my favourite topic in Salesforce (one I have often held back posts on), but to also push myself into becoming a better Flow Builder. This blog will look into topics around design patterns, best practices and strategy. These areas will also consider with more general posts about topics such as release updates for Flow, scenario based content and tips and tricks.

Can You Give Us a Sneak Peak on What’s Coming?

Absoutely!!! I have a number of posts that are either being drafter up or are ready for release. The first of which will be a post covering the topic of why Salesforce Admins should learn Flow in 2023. After that I have another post that will be coming out looking ahead to the Spring ’23 release in February talking about my favourite features and updates coming for Flow in this upcoming release. I also have some posts in draft covering snippets around best practices and an intro to building out Flows with what is essentially a “dynamic update”. I also have a ton of other posts on my list to write that I will get to in the coming months.

Some of the other posts on my radar cover:

  • Tips for Getting Started with Flow Documentation
  • An Overview to Using Singular Flows Multiple Times via Subflows
  • Overviews of the Workflow Rules and Process Builder Migration Tools
  • My Top UnofficialSF Actions and Components
  • Wishlists for Flow including Slack Actions and Updates to Orchestrator

What Else Can We Expect?

As part of the work of this blog, I will also be working on the delivery of blocks of short-course type content related to Flow.  These sets of sessions will work in a similar way to the Build It In Flow series I ran in the latter part of 2022. I have a survey currently open on which topics should be covered in a series (you can have your say by completing the survey, here). My aim is to run my first set of sessions in early 2023, maybe starting in either February or March depending on putting together a curriculum and handouts.

Some of the ideas for these short courses include the following:

  • Automation Planning and Strategy
  • Flow Design and Architecture
  • Flow Documentation Development and Best Practices
  • Flow Orchestrator Building and Strategy
  • Record-Triggered Automation Masterclass
  • Slack and Flow Builder Masterclass
  • User Experience Design in Flow

If you would like to vote in the survey and suggest any other topics for consideration, you can respond to the survey right here.

Closing Remarks

So welcome to my new Salesforce Blog. I’ll be back in the New Year with my first set of posts. Until then I’d love it if you could like and share this post to let people know in the Trailblazer Community know about this updated blog and the resources that are coming with it. If you have any topics you would like to see covered in this resource, please let me know in the comments here, or send me a message on social media via LinkedIn or Twitter. If you have any particular Flow topics you’d like me to cover, I’d very much like to hear about them to give me ample time to look into them and put something together. My hope is to make this blog a helpful and respected resource on declarative automation  for Salesforce professionals of any level of Flow knowledge.