Use Sharing Rules for External Users

Follow Along with Trail Together

Want to follow along with an expert as you work through this step? Take a look at this video, part of the Trail Together series.

(This clip starts at the 38:04 minute mark, in case you want to rewind and watch the beginning of the step again.)

What’s next in our sharing adventure? Sharing rules, of course.

Sharing rules work the same way for external users as they do for internal users, and in this step, we see how to use them for our partner users.

Let’s take a quick look at what sharing rules do in this video.

Sharing rules grant additional access to records on an object-by-object basis, regardless of where users fall on the role hierarchy.

You can create sharing rules based on owner or based on criteria. You can even set up sharing rules specifically for guest users in your portal or site.

Owner-based sharing rules let you share records between groups of users, while criteria-based sharing rules apply when certain criteria are met.

Salesforce creates and maintains the following site-specific groups.

Portal roles
Portal role and subordinates
Roles, Internal and Portal Subordinates
All Customer Portal Users and All Partner Users public groups
And if you have channel programs and levels set up, you have Channel Programs and Levels Groups

The All Customer Portal Users and All Partner Users public groups don't exist in production orgs created after the Summer '20 release. However, you can still see the public groups even in newly created Trailhead orgs.

You can also set up your own public groups for sharing purposes.

Let’s take a look at how Ursa Major uses sharing rules to open record visibility among partner users.

Sharing Rule Using an Account Role

Ursa Major’s partner users fall into two categories: distributors and resellers. Sometimes, the partner users belonging to different accounts need to see each other’s records. For example, partner managers in the Express Logistics and Transport account need read and write access to opportunities owned by all partner users in Edge Communications.

Let’s follow along as Maria, Ursa Major’s admin, sets up a sharing rule that uses the account roles we set up in the previous step.

From Setup, enter Sharing in the Quick Find box, then select Sharing Settings.
Click New under Opportunity Sharing Rules, and enter the following.

Label: Share Edge Opportunities
Rule Name: [autopopulates]
Rule Type: Based on record owner
Select which records to be shared: Portal Roles and Subordinates: Edge Communications Partner Manager
Select the users to share with: Portal Roles: Express Logistics and Transport Partner Manager
Select the level of access for the users: Read/Write

Click Save.

See what we did there? We gave read and write access to all opportunities owned by Edge Communications partner managers and subordinates (that is, partner users) with partner managers at Express Logistics and Transport.

Using sharing rules, you can also give access to records owned by internal Salesforce users to external users who have Customer Community Plus and Partner Community licenses, and vice versa.

Now let’s take a look at how we can share records with a public group comprising partner users.

Criteria-Based Sharing Rule Using a Public Group

Let’s make things a bit more interesting (read: complicated and fun!). Ursa Major wants partner managers to be aware of any high-priority energy accounts. The company also wants the director of channel sales to be aware of these accounts.

How can Maria meet this need? First, she has to create a public group that includes managers in partner accounts, as well as the director of channel sales. Note that she’s creating a public group that includes both internal and external roles.

From Setup, enter Public Groups in the Quick Find box, then select Public Groups
Click New and enter the following.

Label: Partner Managers and Channel Director
Group Name: [autopopulates]
Search Roles for Channel Sales and move Role: Director, Channel Sales to Selected Members
Search Portal Roles for Manager and move Portal Role: Edge Communications Partner Manager and Portal Role: Express Logistics and Transport Partner Manager to Selected Members

Click Save.

Now Maria has to create a sharing rule that meets the criteria she was given.

From Setup, enter Sharing in the Quick Find box, then select Sharing Settings.
Click New under Account Sharing Rules, and enter the following.

Label: High Priority Energy Accounts
Rule Name: [autopopulates]
Rule Type: Based on criteria
Select which records to be shared: Criteria
Field: Industry equals Energy AND Field: Customer Priority equals High
Select the users to share with: Public Groups: Partner Managers and Channel Director
Select the level of access for the users:
Default Account and Contract Access: Read Only
Opportunity Access: Private
Case Access: Private

Click Save.

And there you have it. You’ve opened up access to previously inaccessible accounts for a whole groups of users. Onward!