This article is applicable to Aha! Roadmaps accounts created prior to October 2020, who have legacy access to capture ideas through the Salesforce integration. If your Aha! Roadmaps account was created after October 2020, you can add the Ideas Advanced plan to your account to integrate with Salesforce to capture ideas and proxy votes and sync contacts, organizations, and other data.
Aha! Roadmaps | Integrate with Salesforce for idea capture (Legacy access)
Ideas are the key to innovation. You need a continuous cycle of ideas, feedback, and requests to keep growing and improving. From live conversations with your customers to product suggestions, idea collection helps you understand exactly what people need, and in turn, how you can implement change that delights them and grows your business.
Some customers share directly in your ideas portal. But valuable feedback and customer insights can come from other channels, too. Sales and support teams are ideally situated to pass along the ideas your customers are passionate about — plus details about the customer relationship — from their own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool.
As you prioritize and deliver on the best ideas, the Aha! idea status will be kept up-to-date in Salesforce. This allows you to communicate valuable updates back to customers.
In this article, we will walk through how to create and configure the Salesforce integration to gather customer feedback.
Your Salesforce edition must have API access to use this integration.
Prerequisites
Integration type |
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Aha! Roadmaps level |
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Required user permissions: Configuration | |
Associated records | Aha! Roadmaps
Salesforce
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Overview
Integrating Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce involves several steps in both tools, so it can be helpful to walk through the integration procedure at a high level.
To start the process, you need to install the most recent Aha! package in your Salesforce account. This package creates a custom object in your Salesforce account that you can use to create or link to ideas in Aha! Roadmaps.
Next, you need an ideas portal. Salesforce records (accounts, opportunities, or cases) will link to Aha! Roadmaps records (ideas) in this portal. The Aha! Roadmaps ideas portal needs to be a private portal and have single sign-on (SSO) configured. A private portal will keep your Salesforce users' ideas private, and an SSO configuration will give them access to the portal, and not to your Aha! Roadmaps account.
So far you have created a way for Salesforce and Aha! Roadmaps records to link together. The next step is to link the two accounts to each other through an account-level integration in Aha! Roadmaps.
With records and accounts linked, the last step is to give Salesforce users the appropriate user permissions to access and use the integration. With that done, you will have successfully integrated Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce — and can start capturing feedback through a new channel.
Configuration notes
Each Salesforce instance can connect with only one Aha! account and only one ideas portal. Make sure that the ideas portal you use for the integration includes every relevant Aha! workspace.
Salesforce users will be able to select any of the included workspaces for submitting their ideas.
If you try to connect multiple integrations to the same Salesforce instance, only the most recently connected integration will work.
Install the Aha! Ideas package in Salesforce
Log into your Salesforce instance, then install the latest version of the integration. This link is always to the latest version. If you already have the integration installed, this will upgrade your package to the latest version while preserving your existing data.
If you are setting up this integration with a sandbox account, you may need to manually change the login URL to Salesforce.
You will see a page describing the package. Choose to grant access to the users who should be able to manage ideas for the connected ideas portal, including creating, editing, and deleting ideas. Often people select users with administrator permissions in this step. Then, click Install. It may take a minute or two for the installation to complete.
Create an ideas portal in Aha! Roadmaps
To link ideas between Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce, you will need to create a new Aha! Roadmaps private ideas portal with single sign-on configured. You can have multiple idea portals that display the same ideas by selecting the same workspaces when configuring each portal. (Don't worry, you can manage all the ideas in one place).
To create a new ideas portal, navigate to Settings ⚙️ Account Ideas portals, or Ideas Overview. From either page, click Add ideas portal to open the portal builder.
The ideas portal builder is a three-step process:
Select a Title for your portal. Click Next to continue.
Click the Color icon to select a theme color or enter your own custom color using a hex code. Your theme color affects links and buttons in your ideas portal. Click Edit to edit your choice or Next to continue.
Select your portal's Access level. Portals can have Public or Private access, corresponding to the public and private types of portals. For this integration, select Private access. The portal should be a Private portal so that only Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce users can see the ideas.
Click Create portal to create your portal.
Adjust your portal settings
Once you have created your ideas portal, the portal settings will open in a new browser tab.
From the Overview General settings:
Choose a Portal URL.
Choose each of the Workspace(s) that you want your Salesforce users to be able to create ideas for.
From the Users SSO settings:
Use the Identity provider dropdown to select JSON Web Token. This will allow Salesforce users to access ideas in Aha! Ideas without any additional login process. In the Remote login URL enter:
https://login.salesforce.com/apex/ahaapp__AhaRedirectorLeave the Remote logout URL empty.
Click Enable SSO to save your selection.
Add the Salesforce integration in Aha! Roadmaps
Now you need to link your Aha! Roadmaps account to Salesforce. This lets your Salesforce users create an Aha! Roadmaps idea (or link to an existing idea) without leaving Salesforce.
In your Aha! Roadmaps account, go to the Settings ⚙️ Account and click the + icon next to Integrations. Click on the green + Salesforce button to add a Salesforce integration. Then follow the steps to finish setting up the integration.
Start: Add a name to your integration and click Save and continue.
Configure sandbox (optional): If you are using a Salesforce sandbox, enter the host here. If you are not using a sandbox, leave the field blank. Click Save and continue to continue.
Authorize: Click the Authenticate button. The Salesforce login screen will appear. Enter your user credentials to log in. The Salesforce user that authenticates here will be used for posting changes to the status of ideas visible in Salesforce. This user must have permission for all opportunity, case, and account records that will be linked to your Aha! Roadmaps account. Click Allow on the next screen to finish authenticating Salesforce. Then, click Save and continue.
Capture ideas: Check the box next to Enable capturing ideas and select the ideas portal that you would like to connect to Salesforce. Salesforce ideas will be created in the Aha! Roadmaps ideas portal you select. Then, click Save and continue.
Mappings: You can skip this section — it is for users on the Ideas Advanced plan. If you are interested in mapping fields from Salesforce, reach out to our Product Success team for a demo.
Enable: On the final screen of your integration setup, you will see two options for importing data from Salesforce.
Approve new records before importing: If your Salesforce integration is configured to approve new records before importing, account data will not be imported into Aha! until it is approved in the Settings ⚙️ Integration updates window. Clear the workspace filter to review new organizations prior to import. After selecting an import option, click Enable integration.
Give all Salesforce users permission to use the integration
In Salesforce Lightning:
In Setup, under Administration, expand Users.
Click on Permission Sets.
Click on the Aha! Permission Set.
Click on the Manage Assignments button at the top of the screen.
Select all users (or all users who should have access to the integration) and click Add Assignment.
In Salesforce Classic:
Under Manage Users, select Permission Sets.
Click on the Aha! Permission Set.
Click on the Manage Assignments button at the top of the screen.
Select all users (or all users who should have access to the integration) and click Add Assignment.
Add ideas to your Salesforce user interface
Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce are now completely integrated. The last step is to make these new capabilities visible in the Salesforce user interface. You can do this for Salesforce accounts, opportunities, and cases.
The Aha! Roadmaps idea visibility settings will affect an idea's visibility as a Salesforce record. So, for example, if you set an idea to hidden in your portal, or merge a visible idea with a hidden one, the linked Salesforce record will not be visible either.
Salesforce Lightning
From the Object Manager, select Opportunity.
Select Lightning Record Pages.
If you need to create a New record page:
Select Record page. Click Next.
Give your new Lightning page a Label and an Object (in this case, we will use the Opportunity object). Click Next.
Choose a template for your page. Click Finish.
Create your record page to match your account's needs. Add Aha! Roadmaps from the Custom - Managed section.
Click Save to save your changes.
Click Activate to activate your new page.
If you are editing an existing record page:
Select your record page from the list.
Click Edit to edit the page layout.
Add Aha! Ideas from the Custom - Managed section.
Click Save to save your changes.
Click Activate to activate your new page.
The integration is now installed! You can repeat this process for accounts and cases, if you choose to.
Salesforce Classic
Open an opportunity. On the opportunities screen, click on the Edit Layout link at the top of the page.
You will see the controls for editing the layout. Under Visualforce Pages, there is a new page for Aha! Opportunity Ideas. You can drag this onto the page where you want it to appear. It can be helpful to add a section that you can place the page into. The default height and settings for the page do not need to be modified.
Save the edited layout.
Repeat these last three steps on the Cases page so that ideas can be linked to cases.
Repeat the same three steps on the Accounts page to allow ideas to be linked directly to your account.
The integration is now installed!
Upgrade from Classic to Lightning
If you integrated Aha! Roadmaps and Salesforce when you were on Salesforce Classic, and have since upgraded to Salesforce Lightning, you may need to take an extra step to ensure that you use the latest, Lightning-ready integration package.
Log into your Salesforce instance, then click on this link to install the latest version of the integration.
You will see a message similar to this one: "An earlier version is installed. It can be upgraded while preserving the existing data."
Choose whether to install the integration for Salesforce Admins Only, for All Users, or for Specific Profiles.
Check the box to acknowledge that you are installing a Non-Salesforce Application.
Click Upgrade.
The package will upgrade. This may take a few minutes.
Once you see the Upgrade Complete! message, click Done.
When you click Done, you will automatically navigate to the Installed Packages section of your Salesforce account, where you can see the Aha! Integration package.
By default the Aha! Roadmaps package for Salesforce Classic will still be among your Installed packages. You may wish to uninstall it.
All your originally linked ideas will still appear in your Salesforce records' layouts, and you will see Aha! Roadmaps in the Custom - Managed section of your Lightning Record Pages.
Automatic updates
As the Aha! Roadmaps idea progresses through its workflow, status changes will be automatically updated in Salesforce. Whether it is a sales opportunity or support case, the team will know if the idea has been planned, is in progress, or has been shipped.
To get the most out of this integration, we recommend you create Salesforce triggers and reports. Triggers will proactively notify sales and support teams of any status changes. This is important if a customer is waiting for a certain feature to go live before signing up. Reports will provide insight into the impact of ideas on revenue increase or decrease.
Unlike ideas submitted through the ideas portal, users that add ideas from Salesforce are not linked to those ideas as subscribers. They can add themselves as watchers on an idea, or use Salesforce triggers to receive notifications.
Use the integration
After your integration is set up, ideas that are captured within Salesforce will be added to your ideas portal and the workspace that it is linked to. You will also see a tab on idea records called Proxy votes. When Salesforce users add proxy votes in Salesforce, they will populate within this tab and be denoted as coming from the Salesforce integration.
If you are an Ideas Advanced user, you can import even more data through the Salesforce integration, such as contacts and organizations. Then you can segment that data for deeper insights that help inform your strategy. Please contact us if you would like a live demo of Ideas Advanced or would like to try using it in your account.
Troubleshooting
Access
If a Salesforce user cannot see the list of linked ideas in Salesforce:
Ensure that the user has the Aha! Permission Set assigned within Salesforce.
Ensure the user has Read access to Salesforce accounts, opportunities, and cases.
Check the user's Profile in Salesforce (Setup Users) and ensure that Aha! classes are enabled in the following:
Enabled Apex Class Access
Enabled Visualforce Page Access
Enabled Custom Setting Definitions Access
If the user's license is Platform and not Salesforce:
Create a new permission set for that license. Then go to Object Settings and add permission for Aha! Ideas Links and Aha! Ideas and assign the new permission set to the user.
If a Salesforce user cannot access the ideas portal when clicking Request an idea or Browse all ideas:
From your portal settings in your Aha! account, navigate to SSO Regenerate secret. Then navigate to your integrations and click Enable integration. A log message will appear that says Creating remote site AhaIntegrations. This will re-sync the secret to Salesforce.
Errors
If you receive an error that says Future method cannot be called from a future batch method:
Ensure that you have installed the latest version of the Aha! package in Salesforce.
Syncing
If data between your Aha! and your Salesforce account is not syncing as expected:
Check that Aha! and Salesforce records are mapped appropriately between accounts.
If you set up mappings long ago and a new version of the Salesforce app has been installed, review and reconfigure your mappings again.
If you get stuck, please reach out to our Customer Success team. Our team is made up entirely of product experts and responds fast.
