Salesforce User Tip: How to Format a Non-Rich Text Field for Salesforce Tasks

Having built many business processes over the years, I have been frustrated by the lack of formatting for the Comments field on a task record. I doubt I’m the only one. As tasks are automatically created, I want to provide users with a very easy-to-follow list of things to do. However, the Task object does not have Rich Text field capability, so I am left with a less than a visually appealing solution. I’ve provided some examples below.

This is what it would look like in Salesforce sans my user tip.

This is what I want it to look like in Salesforce.

Any business process can have 5-10 steps or tasks associated with it. When the process is kicked off, each task needs to be assigned to the correct person with a clear description of what needs to be done. The good news is that there is a solution to make this happen. Even better news, I’m going to share how to do it.

How to Format a Non-Rich Text Field for Salesforce Tasks

If you are using Process Builder to build out the tasks to be automatically created when a process is launched, you will put the following into the Value for the Description field.

Call client to confirm paperwork | Get Paperwork signed | Enter information into System

Even though we are updating the Comments field, we need to set the Value for the Description field.

In addition to putting a “|” into that field where you want a line break, you must also build a separate rule (Workflow, Process Builder or Flow) that runs on a Task record when the Created Date is NOT EQUAL to NULL. Since every task will have a Created Date, this process will always run, and the formula is SUBSTITUTE(Description, “|”, BR()).

This will substitute the “|” for a line break, and since it runs all the time, it will make the Comments field more user-friendly. I’m not sure why we are not able to create rich text fields on the Activity object, as this would make it much easier for all users to use this workaround. I have heard that Workflow and Process Builder will eventually go away in favor of Flow to be the ultimate solution. However, I built mine using Workflow. Even if they phase out Workflow and Process Builder, I hope that any legacy processes can still run the way they were built to run.

This solution is primarily used for Salesforce Tasks because of the inability to create a Rich Text Field. However, you can use it anywhere. Having trouble with something else in Salesforce? Tell us what other tips would be helpful for you!