Build a Partner Deal Registration System

Build a deal registration system in Salesforce with custom objects and dashboards.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Every company with a partner network faces the same challenge: when a partner brings in a deal, someone needs to track it, validate the data, and make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Without a system, deals get lost, data goes stale, and partners lose trust.

In this project, you will build a Partner Deal Registration system in Salesforce that tracks partner deals, enforces data quality with validation rules, and surfaces pipeline metrics through reports and dashboards.

What You'll Build

You will open your Salesforce org and demonstrate a complete partner deal registration workflow to anyone watching. Partners submit deals, validation rules catch bad data before it enters the system, and a dashboard shows pipeline health at a glance.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

A working deal registration workflow where you create a partner deal, link it to an account, and track it from submission through approval. You can open any partner account and see all their registered deals with amounts, statuses, and close dates.
Live validation rules that visibly block bad data. You attempt to save a $0 deal or a past close date and watch Salesforce reject it with a clear error message.
A Partner Operations dashboard with charts showing deal amounts by status and partner type, ready to present to stakeholders or walk through in an interview.
Secret Mission: Add an approval process so deal registrations require manager review before being marked as Approved.

Do I need any Salesforce experience?

None at all. This project uses only point-and-click configuration in the Salesforce Lightning Experience UI. Everything runs in your browser with a free Developer Edition account that you will set up in Step 1.

Before We Start

Before we dive in, let's lock in what you're about to build and why it matters for your career. This is the moment you commit to the project goal so every step that follows has clear purpose.

Set Up Your Salesforce Developer Edition

To build your Partner Deal Registration system, you need a real Salesforce environment. Neither the Partner Operations Analyst nor the PLM Data Analyst role will take your application seriously without hands-on platform experience.

Salesforce Developer Edition is a free, fully-featured org that gives you the same tools and interface used in production environments. In this step, you will sign up, confirm you are using the modern interface, and explore how Salesforce organizes its data.

In this step, get ready to:

Sign up for a free Salesforce Developer Edition org.
Confirm you are using Lightning Experience (the modern UI).
Explore Object Manager and see how Salesforce structures data.

Sign up for Salesforce Developer Edition

Developer Edition is completely free with no credit card required. Your org will not expire as long as you log in at least once every 45 days.

Open your web browser and navigate to the signup page:
https://developer.salesforce.com/signup
Fill out the form with your first name, last name, email address, and job title.
In the Username field, enter a value in email format (e.g., yourname@practice.dev). This does not need to be a real email address, but it must look like one.
Select your country from the Country/Region dropdown.
Read and accept the Master Subscription Agreement, then click Sign me up.

Salesforce will send a verification email to the address you provided. This may take a few minutes.

Check your email inbox for a message from Salesforce with the subject line about verifying your account.
Click the verification link in the email.
Set a password when prompted. Choose something you will remember.
After setting your password, Salesforce logs you in automatically to your new org.

Don't see the verification email?

Check your spam or junk folder. The email comes from Salesforce and can take up to 5 minutes to arrive.

If you still do not see it after 5 minutes, go back to the signup page and try again with a different email address. Make sure to use a personal email you can access from a web browser (not a work email that may block external senders).

Help me troubleshoot my Salesforce Developer Edition signup

Confirm you are in Lightning Experience

Salesforce has two interfaces: the older Classic view and the modern Lightning Experience. All work in this project uses Lightning Experience.

After logging in, look at the top-left corner of the page. You should see the App Launcher icon (a grid of nine dots). This confirms you are in Lightning Experience.
If you instead see a plain blue header with tabs (the Classic interface), click your profile avatar in the top-right corner and select Switch to Lightning Experience.
Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the page.
Select Setup from the dropdown menu to open the Setup panel.

You should now see the Setup home page with a search bar labeled Quick Find on the left side.

What is Lightning Experience?

Lightning Experience is Salesforce's modern user interface. It features responsive design, customizable dashboards, and the App Launcher for navigating between apps.

All new Developer Edition orgs default to Lightning Experience. If yours opened in Classic, the switch is a one-time action.

Navigate Object Manager

Before building your own custom objects in the next step, you need to understand how Salesforce organizes data. Object Manager is where you view and configure all data structures in your org.

In the Setup panel, click the Object Manager tab at the top of the page (next to the Home tab).
Browse the list of standard objects. Look for Account, Contact, Opportunity, and Lead in the list. These are objects Salesforce provides out of the box.
Click Account to open its detail page.
Click Fields & Relationships in the left sidebar to see all the data fields that belong to the Account object.

You should see a long list of fields like Account Name, Industry, Phone, and Type. Each of these represents a column of data that every Account record can store.

How does Salesforce structure data?

Salesforce organizes data into objects, fields, and records. An object is like a database table (e.g., Account). A field is like a column in that table (e.g., Industry). A record is like a row (e.g., one specific company).

In the next step, you will create your own custom object called Deal Registration with custom fields tailored to partner operations.

Before moving on, take a moment to predict: what do you think you will need to create in Object Manager to track partner deal registrations?

Your Salesforce environment is ready. Next up, you will build the custom data model that powers your Partner Deal Registration system.

Build Your Partner Data Model

Your Salesforce org is set up and ready. In Step 1, you explored Object Manager and saw the standard objects that come pre-built. Now you need to build something that does not exist yet.

Both the Partner Operations Analyst and PLM Data Analyst roles require managing custom data structures on the Salesforce platform. The Partner Ops role specifically tracks deal registrations from channel partners daily. Right now, your org has no way to do this. You will build that from scratch.

In this step, get ready to:

Create partner Account records to represent your channel partners.
Build a custom Deal Registration object with its own tab.
Add fields and a relationship linking deal registrations to partner accounts.

Create partner Account records

Before you can track deal registrations, you need partner companies to register them. Salesforce's standard Account object is perfect for representing partner organizations.

Click the App Launcher (the grid icon in the top-left corner of your screen).
Type Sales in the search box and click the Sales app to open it.
Click the Accounts tab in the top navigation bar.
Click New to create your first Account.

You will create three Account records representing partner companies. For each one, fill in these fields:

Enter the Account Name. Your first partner is FleetPro Installers.
Select a value for Industry (e.g., Technology or Transportation).
Select a value for Type (e.g., Technology Partner or Channel Partner / Reseller).
Click Save.

Repeat the process to create two more Accounts: SafeRoute Insurance and TechLink Integrations.
Fill in Industry and Type for each one.

After saving all three, click the Accounts tab again. You should see all three partner accounts listed in your recent items.

Why these three partners?

These represent the types of partners you would manage in the Partner Operations Analyst role at Samsara. Samsara works with Installation, Insurance, Resale, Referral, and Technology Integration partners. Your three accounts cover different segments of that ecosystem.

Don't see the Accounts tab?

Make sure you opened the Sales app from the App Launcher. Different apps show different tabs in the navigation bar. If the Accounts tab still does not appear, click the pencil icon at the end of the navigation bar to add it.

Help me find the Accounts tab in Salesforce Lightning Experience.

Create the Deal Registration custom object

Salesforce comes with standard objects like Account and Contact, but it does not have a Deal Registration object. You need to create a custom object to store deal registration data. Think of a custom object as a new database table that you design from scratch.

Click the gear icon in the top-right corner and select Setup.
Click the Object Manager tab at the top of the Setup page.
Click Create in the top-right, then select Custom Object.

The new custom object form appears. Fill it in with these values:

Enter Deal Registration in the Label field.
Enter Deal Registrations in the Plural Label field. The Object Name auto-fills as Deal_Registration.
Scroll down and check the box that says Launch New Custom Tab Wizard after saving this custom object.
Click Save.

The Tab Wizard opens automatically. This creates a navigation tab so you can access Deal Registration records from the top bar.

Choose any Tab Style icon you like (it is just a visual indicator).
Click Next.
Click Next again on the profile visibility page.
Click Save.

Click the App Launcher and search for Deal Registrations. You should see it appear as an option. Click it to confirm the tab opens a list view (it will be empty for now).

What is a custom object?

A custom object is a new data table you create in Salesforce to store information that the standard objects do not cover. Standard objects like Account and Contact come pre-built. Custom objects like Deal Registration are ones you design to match your specific business process.

Custom objects automatically get an API name ending in __c. Your object's API name is Deal_Registration__c.

Don't see Deal Registrations in the App Launcher?

Make sure you completed the Tab Wizard (the three Next/Save screens after creating the object). If you skipped it, go back to Setup > Object Manager > Deal Registration > click the object name, and look for a way to create a tab from the object detail page.

Help me create a tab for my custom object in Salesforce.

Add custom fields and a relationship to Account

Your Deal Registration object exists, but it only has a name field. You need fields for deal amount, partner type, status, and a connection back to the partner Account that submitted it.

Return to Setup (gear icon, top-right).
Click Object Manager at the top.
Find and click Deal Registration in the object list.
Click Fields & Relationships in the left sidebar.
Click New to create your first custom field.

Your first field is a Lookup Relationship. This links each Deal Registration to the partner Account that submitted it.

Select Lookup Relationship as the data type and click Next.
In the Related To dropdown, select Account and click Next.
Enter Partner Account as the Field Label.
Check the box Always require a value in this field.
Click Next through the remaining screens, then click Save.

What is a Lookup Relationship?

A Lookup Relationship connects two objects together. In this case, every Deal Registration record will point to one Account record. This is how you answer the question: which partner submitted this deal?

Making it required means you cannot save a Deal Registration without selecting a partner Account first. Every deal must be tied to a partner.

Now create the remaining four fields. Click New from the Fields & Relationships page for each one.

Create the Deal Amount field:

Select Currency as the data type and click Next.
Enter Deal Amount as the Field Label.
Set Length to 16 and Decimal Places to 2.
Check Required.
Click Next through the remaining screens, then click Save.

Create the Registration Status field:

Select Picklist as the data type and click Next.
Enter Registration Status as the Field Label.
Select Enter values, with each value separated by a new line.
Enter these four values, one per line:

Submitted
Under Review
Approved
Rejected

Check Use first value as default value.
Click Next through the remaining screens, then click Save.

What is a Picklist?

A picklist is a dropdown field with predefined options. It ensures data consistency because users pick from your approved values instead of typing freeform text. Setting a default value means new records automatically start with "Submitted" status.

Create the Partner Type field:

Select Picklist as the data type and click Next.
Enter Partner Type as the Field Label.
Enter these five values, one per line:

Resale
Referral
Installation
Technology Integration
Insurance

Click Next through the remaining screens, then click Save.

Create the Expected Close Date field:

Select Date as the data type and click Next.
Enter Expected Close Date as the Field Label.
Click Next through the remaining screens, then click Save.

You should now see all five custom fields listed on the Fields & Relationships page: Partner Account, Deal Amount, Registration Status, Partner Type, and Expected Close Date.

Before you create any records, take a moment to predict. You created a Lookup Relationship pointing from Deal Registration back to Account. What do you think appears on an Account record's Related tab now?

Click the App Launcher and open Accounts.
Click on one of your partner accounts (e.g., FleetPro Installers).
Click the Related tab on the Account record.

You should see Deal Registrations (0) listed as a related list. This proves your Lookup Relationship is working. The Account knows that Deal Registration records can be linked to it.

Don't see Deal Registrations in the Related tab?

Make sure you selected Account in the Related To dropdown when creating the Lookup field. If you picked a different object, the related list will appear there instead. You may need to delete the field and recreate it with the correct relationship.

Help me troubleshoot why my related list is not showing on the Account record.

Now populate your system with sample data. This gives you records to work with in later steps when you build reports and dashboards.

Click the App Launcher and search for Deal Registrations. Open the Deal Registrations tab.
Click New to create your first Deal Registration record.
Fill in the fields: select a Partner Account (e.g., FleetPro Installers), enter a Deal Amount (e.g., 25000), choose a Partner Type, and set an Expected Close Date in the future.
Leave Registration Status as its default value of Submitted.
Click Save.
Repeat to create 2-3 more Deal Registration records, linking each to a different partner Account. Use different amounts, partner types, and statuses to give yourself varied data.

After saving your records, navigate back to one of your partner Accounts and click the Related tab. You should now see a count next to Deal Registrations matching the records you linked to that partner.

Vary your sample data

Give at least one record a status of Under Review or Approved instead of leaving everything as Submitted. In Step 4, you will build reports that group by status. Having varied data now means your charts will show meaningful breakdowns later.

Your data model is complete. You have partner accounts, a custom Deal Registration object, and a relationship connecting them. Next, you will enforce data quality with validation rules that catch bad data before it enters the system.

Enforce Data Quality with Validation Rules

Your Deal Registration object is live and accepting records. But there is a problem.

Right now, anyone can save a Deal Registration with a $0 amount or a close date in the past. Both of the Samsara roles you are targeting list data quality and integrity as core responsibilities. In this step, you will prove you can prevent bad data at the point of entry using validation rules.

In this step, get ready to:

Test the current data quality gap by entering invalid data.
Create a validation rule that blocks $0 deal amounts.
Create a validation rule that blocks past close dates.

Test the gap: enter bad data

Before building any guardrails, you need to see the problem firsthand. You are about to enter data that should never be allowed into a real system.

Click the Deal Registrations tab in the navigation bar.
Click New to create a new Deal Registration record.
Fill in the required fields: select any partner Account, and set the Deal Amount to $0.
Set the Expected Close Date to a date in the past (e.g., 01/01/2020).
Leave Registration Status as the default (Submitted).

Before you click Save, predict what will happen. Do you think Salesforce will let you save a record with a $0 amount and a date in the past?

Click Save.

The record saves successfully with no warning. A $0 deal with a past close date is now sitting in your system. This is the data quality problem you are solving.

Why is this a problem?

In a real partner operations workflow, a $0 deal registration wastes everyone's time. A past close date means the deal is already expired before anyone reviews it. Both of these corrupt your pipeline metrics and erode trust in the data.

Delete this test record by clicking the dropdown arrow next to its name and selecting Delete.

Create a validation rule for Deal Amount

A validation rule evaluates a formula every time someone saves a record. If the formula returns True, the data is invalid and Salesforce blocks the save with a custom error message.

Click the gear icon in the top-right corner and select Setup.
Click the Object Manager tab at the top.
Find and click Deal Registration in the object list.
Click Validation Rules in the left sidebar.
Click New.

You are now in the validation rule editor. Fill in the following fields:

In the Rule Name field, enter Deal_Amount_Must_Be_Positive.
In the Error Condition Formula field, enter the following formula:

Deal_Amount__c <= 0

What does this formula do?

This formula checks whether the Deal Amount is zero or negative. Remember, when a validation rule formula returns True, the record is blocked from saving. So this formula says: if the amount is less than or equal to zero, reject it.

The __c suffix is how Salesforce identifies custom fields. Your field is labeled "Deal Amount" in the UI but its API name is Deal_Amount__c.

In the Error Message field, enter: Deal amount must be greater than zero.
For Error Location, select Field, then choose Deal Amount from the dropdown.
Click Check Syntax to verify the formula has no errors.
Click Save.

You should see your new rule listed on the Validation Rules page with a green checkmark indicating it is active.

Seeing a syntax error?

Make sure you typed the field API name exactly as Deal_Amount__c with two underscores before the c. A single underscore or a typo in the field name is the most common cause.

Help me troubleshoot my validation rule formula.

Create a validation rule for Expected Close Date

Return to the Validation Rules list for Deal Registration (you should still be there after saving).
Click New to create a second rule.
In the Rule Name field, enter Close_Date_Must_Be_Future.
In the Error Condition Formula field, enter the following formula:

Expected_Close_Date__c < TODAY()

What does TODAY() do?

The TODAY() function returns today's date. This formula checks whether the Expected Close Date is before today. If it is, the deal is already past due and should not be registered.

In the Error Message field, enter: Expected close date cannot be in the past.
For Error Location, select Field, then choose Expected Close Date from the dropdown.
Click Check Syntax to verify the formula.
Click Save.

Both rules are now active. Time to prove they work.

Before you test, predict what you think will happen now when you try to save a Deal Registration with a $0 amount and a past date. Will both errors appear at the same time, or one at a time?

Click the Deal Registrations tab in the navigation bar.
Click New.
Select any partner Account.
Enter $0 in the Deal Amount field.
Enter a past date (e.g., 01/01/2020) in the Expected Close Date field.
Click Save.

This time, the save is blocked. You should see the error message "Deal amount must be greater than zero." appear next to the Deal Amount field. Your validation rules are catching the bad data before it enters the system.

Why did only one error appear?

Salesforce may show one validation error at a time or both together, depending on the order it evaluates them. Fix the Deal Amount (enter a valid number like 5000) and click Save again to confirm the close date rule also fires independently.

Record still saving without errors?

Go back to Setup > Object Manager > Deal Registration > Validation Rules. Confirm both rules show a green checkmark (Active). If a rule is inactive, click its name and click Activate.

Also double-check that the formula field names match exactly: Deal_Amount__c and Expected_Close_Date__c. These must match the API names from when you created the fields.

Help me troubleshoot why my validation rules aren't firing.

Your data now has guardrails. No one can register a deal worth nothing or set a close date that has already passed. Next up, you will build reports that turn this clean data into actionable pipeline insights.

Build Reports for Partner Operations

Your validation rules are now standing guard over data quality. Every Deal Registration that enters the system must pass your checks before it saves.

Clean data is only valuable if you can extract insights from it. Right now, your Deal Registration records sit in individual records with no way to see the big picture. Both the Partner Operations Analyst and PLM Data Analyst roles require the ability to build reports and spot patterns across data.

In this step, you will build a report that groups deal registrations by status and calculates total deal amounts. This is how you surface actionable metrics from raw data.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a Deal Registrations report using the built-in report builder.
Add grouping by status and summarize deal amounts.
Add a bar chart and save the report for dashboard use.

Create a Deal Registrations report

Salesforce has a built-in report builder that lets you pull data from any object into a structured view. You will start by creating a new report based on the Deal Registration object.

Click the App Launcher (grid icon in the top-left corner).
Type Reports in the search box and select Reports from the results.
Click New Report.
In the search box, type Deal Registrations.
Select the Deal Registrations report type from the results.
Click Start Report.

Don't see Deal Registrations in the report type list?

If you do not see it immediately, look under the Other Reports category or try searching by the object name. Custom objects automatically get a report type after creation, but it may appear in a different category.

Still stuck?

Help me find my custom object's report type in Salesforce

The report builder opens with a left panel (Outline, Filters, Fields) and a live preview of your data on the right.

If no data appears in the preview, click the date filter at the top and set the range to All Time.

You should now see your sample Deal Registration records listed in the preview. This confirms the report is pulling data from the correct object.

What is a report type?

A report type defines which object (or combination of objects) a report can pull data from. When you created the Deal Registration custom object, Salesforce automatically generated a matching report type.

Think of it as choosing which table in a database your query runs against.

Add grouping and summary

A flat list of records is hard to read. Grouping organizes records into categories so you can see patterns. Adding a summary calculates totals for each group.

In the left panel, click Outline.
Under Group Rows, click Add group.
Select Registration Status from the field list.

The preview immediately updates. Your records are now organized under headings like Submitted, Under Review, and Approved.

Confirm these columns are visible in the preview: Deal Registration Name, Partner Account, Deal Amount, Partner Type, and Expected Close Date.
If any column is missing, click Fields in the left panel, find the field, and drag it into the preview to add it.

Now add a summary calculation so each group shows its total deal value.

Click the arrow (dropdown) next to the Deal Amount column header.
Select Summarize.
Check Sum.

You should now see a total dollar amount displayed at the bottom of each status group. This tells you at a glance how much deal value sits in each stage of your pipeline.

Why does grouping matter for reports?

Grouping transforms a flat list into a Summary report format. Salesforce has three report formats: Tabular (flat list), Summary (grouped rows), and Matrix (grouped rows and columns).

Grouping is also required before you can add a chart or use the report as a dashboard widget. Without it, Salesforce has no category axis to plot data against.

Add a chart and save the report

A chart turns your grouped numbers into a visual that stakeholders can read in seconds. Now that you have a grouping in place, the chart option becomes available.

Click the Add Chart icon above the report preview.

A bar chart appears showing Deal Amount by Registration Status. Each bar represents the total deal value in that status category.

Now save and run the report.

Click Save & Run.
In the Report Name field, enter Deal Registrations by Status.
For the folder, select Public Reports.
Click Save.

Before you look at the final result, think about what you expect to see. How many status groups should appear? Which group should have the largest bar?

The report runs and displays your Deal Registration records grouped by Registration Status. Each group shows a Sum of Deal Amount as a total. The bar chart above visualizes the same data. This is your deal pipeline at a glance.

Report shows no data or is missing records?

Check the date filter at the top of the report. If it is set to a recent time range, some of your sample records may fall outside it. Set the range to All Time to include everything.

If you still see no records, confirm that you created sample Deal Registration records back in Step 2. You need at least 3 records for the report to be meaningful.

Help me troubleshoot why my Salesforce report shows no data

You now have a working report that turns raw deal records into grouped, summarized, and charted pipeline data. Next up, you will build a dashboard that puts this report front and center for stakeholders who want at-a-glance visibility.

Build a Partner Operations Dashboard

Your report can surface deal registration metrics in a table, but stakeholders want answers at a glance. A dashboard turns your grouped report data into visual widgets that communicate pipeline health in seconds.

The Partner Operations Analyst role explicitly supports PAMs with data and reports. The PLM Data Analyst drives improvement by analyzing system usage. In this step, you will build a dashboard that delivers at-a-glance visibility to stakeholders in both roles.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a new dashboard in Salesforce.
Add a horizontal bar chart widget showing deal amounts by status.
Add a donut chart widget and arrange both widgets side by side.

Create a new dashboard

Salesforce dashboards are containers that hold visual widgets. Each widget pulls data from a saved report and displays it as a chart, table, or metric. You will start by creating the empty dashboard shell.

Click the App Launcher (grid icon in the top-left corner).
Type Dashboards in the search bar and select the Dashboards tab.
Click New Dashboard.
Enter Partner Operations Overview in the Name field.
In the Description field, enter Pipeline visibility for partner deal registrations.
Click Create.

The dashboard builder opens with an empty canvas. This is where you will drag and arrange widgets.

What is the dashboard builder?

The builder uses a 12-column grid layout. You can drag widgets anywhere on the canvas and resize them by pulling their edges. The layout is responsive, so widgets rearrange cleanly on different screen sizes.

Don't see the New Dashboard button?

Make sure you navigated to the Dashboards tab and not the Reports tab. Both live in the Analytics area but have separate tabs.

help me find the New Dashboard button in Salesforce Lightning

Add a chart widget

Each widget on a dashboard pulls its data from a saved report. You will connect your first widget to the report you built in the previous step.

In the dashboard builder, click + Widget.
Select Chart or Table.
In the report search box, type Deal Registrations by Status and select it from the results.
Click Select.
Choose the horizontal bar chart type.
Leave the default settings and click Add.

The widget appears on the canvas. You should see horizontal bars representing deal amounts grouped by Registration Status.

Why a horizontal bar chart?

Horizontal bars work well when comparing values across categories. Each bar represents a status (Submitted, Under Review, Approved, Rejected) and its length shows the total deal amount. This makes it easy to spot where deals are concentrated in the pipeline.

Widget showing no data?

The widget inherits the report's filters. If your report had a date filter set to something other than All Time, it may exclude your sample records. Go back to Reports, edit your report's date filter to All Time, save, then return to the dashboard builder.

help me troubleshoot an empty dashboard widget

Add a second widget and arrange

A single chart tells one story. Adding a second visualization from the same data lets stakeholders see the pipeline from a different angle. You will add a donut chart that breaks down deals by partner type.

Click + Widget again.
Select Chart or Table.
Search for and select the same Deal Registrations by Status report, then click Select.
This time, choose the donut chart type.
Change the widget title to Pipeline by Partner Type.
If a grouping option is available, select Partner Type. Otherwise, keep the default grouping.
Click Add.

Both widgets now sit on your canvas. Time to arrange them so they appear side by side.

Drag the donut chart widget to the right of the bar chart widget so they sit side by side.

Resize for a balanced layout

Pull the edges of each widget so they each take roughly half the canvas width. The grid snaps widgets into place, so you do not need to be pixel-perfect.

Before you save, think about what you expect to see when you view this dashboard. What data should appear in each widget based on the sample records you created?

Click Save.
Click Done to exit the builder and view your completed dashboard.

You should see two widgets displayed side by side. The horizontal bar chart shows deal amounts broken down by Registration Status. The donut chart shows the pipeline broken down by partner type. Both pull live data from your Deal Registration records.

What does this dashboard prove?

This is exactly what a Partner Operations Analyst delivers to PAMs every day. Instead of asking someone to run a report and scroll through rows, stakeholders can open this dashboard and immediately see which statuses hold the most pipeline value and how deals distribute across partner types.

Widgets overlapping or stacked vertically?

Click the pencil icon (or Edit button) to re-enter the dashboard builder. Drag the second widget to the right until the grid highlights an open space beside the first widget. You may need to make both widgets narrower by pulling their right edges inward.

help me arrange widgets side by side on a Salesforce dashboard

Secret mission

Add an Approval Process for Deal Registrations

Right now, anyone can change a Deal Registration's status manually. In a real partner operations team, deal registrations go through a formal review before they are approved or rejected. Your mission is to build an approval process that automates this workflow so status changes happen automatically when an approver acts.

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep your resources running, pause them to come back later, or delete them entirely. This project runs entirely within your free Salesforce Developer Edition org, so there are no ongoing costs.

Resources you used:

Salesforce Developer Edition org (free, no credit card required).
Deal Registration custom object with fields, validation rules, sample records, and approval process.
Partner Operations Overview dashboard and Deal Registrations by Status report.
3 partner Account records (FleetPro Installers, SafeRoute Insurance, TechLink Integrations).

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you plan to reference your org in interviews or continue building on it.

Your Developer Edition org is free and does not expire as long as you log in regularly.
Log in at least once every 45 days to keep the org active. Salesforce may terminate inactive Developer Edition orgs after 45 days.
Bookmark your org login URL so you can find it easily.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

There are no running processes to shut down. Your org stays available whenever you return.

Set a calendar reminder to log in within 45 days so the org stays active.
Save your org login URL and username somewhere accessible.
All your custom objects, records, reports, and dashboards remain exactly as you left them when you return.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove all project resources from your org. Since there are no paid resources, this is optional.

Delete the dashboard: navigate to the Dashboards tab, find Partner Operations Overview, click the dropdown arrow next to it, and select Delete.
Delete the report: navigate to the Reports tab, find Deal Registrations by Status, click the dropdown arrow next to it, and select Delete.
Delete the custom object: go to Setup > Object Manager > click Deal Registration > click Delete. This removes all associated fields, validation rules, records, and the approval process.
Delete the partner Account records: go to the Accounts tab, open each partner Account (FleetPro Installers, SafeRoute Insurance, TechLink Integrations), and delete them individually.
To let the org itself expire, simply stop logging in. Salesforce terminates inactive Developer Edition orgs after 45 days.

Nice Work!

You just built a complete Partner Deal Registration system in Salesforce from scratch. You can now open your org, demonstrate a real partner operations workflow with data guardrails and pipeline visibility, and confidently discuss Salesforce administration in an interview.

You've learned how to:

Design a custom data model in Salesforce using custom objects, fields, and lookup relationships that mirror a real partner operations workflow.
Enforce data quality with validation rules that prevent bad data at the point of entry, blocking saves when required conditions are not met.
Build reports and dashboards that surface pipeline metrics at a glance, using groupings, summary calculations, and multiple chart widgets.
Secret Mission: Implemented an approval process that automates status changes on deal registrations when a manager approves or rejects them.

Ready to quiz yourself?