Activity Configuration

Can I add custom activity types?

Yes, under Administration > Activities, you can configure and create new activity types. You may create a maximum of 50 activity types.

Can I email an Activity?

Yes, you can share an activity through email. For more information, refer to the Share Email from Timeline using Email Assist article.

Can I remove fields, like Duration, from the Activity layout?

No. You can add fields to Activity layouts under the Administration > Activities and Timeline, but you can't remove the standard fields.

Do CTAs created from Timeline have a default reason?

Yes, the default reason is selected in Administration > CTA.

What is different on the Timeline page since the recent UI redesign?

For a full list of differences, refer to the Timeline New Functionalities and Improvements (Horizon Experience) article.

What’s the difference between logging a CTA and an Activity? 

A CTA is generally used for specific situations in which a prescribed set of actions are required (e.g. risks, renewals), whereas an Activity is generally used for taking notes for meetings, calls, emails, and updates regarding the account overall. Note that you can create Activities for specific CTAs and the Activity’s Tasks are added to the CTA.

Can I add Fields of Dependent Dropdown List type in the Activity Type layout Configuration?

Yes, you can add fields on the Dependent and Controller Categories from Administration > Data Management > Dropdown Lists > +DEPENDENCY. When these fields are used in Timeline, system allows you to select the item(s) in a Dependent field based on the selection of an item in the Controller field. For more information about how to create Controller and Dependent Categories, refer to the Dropdown List and Multi Select Dropdown List article.

Can I hide a Timeline Activity Type, as I do not want my users to use a particular Activity Type for some reason?

Yes, you can make the required Activity Type inactive from Administration > Activities and Timeline page. Once you make the Activity Type as inactive, you will no longer see this Type, when you click + ACTIVITY on Activity Timeline page. But, this action will not remove any past entries. 
Alternatively, you can also rename the Custom Activity Type Names, if you wish to change the Activity Type name. This action will change the Activity Type name in all the past entries. 

Reporting, Rules, & Data Syncing

Can I build reports on Timeline Activities?

Yes, in the Report Builder, you can select the Activity Timeline source object to report on general activity data. You can also select the Activity Attendees object to report on External Attendees and Internal Attendees data, as well as the Activity Comments object to report on comment data.

Can you automatically write things to Timeline via rules?

Yes, for more information, refer to the Integrate Salesforce Activities in Gainsight Timeline article.

Can Activities be loaded into the Timeline with DataLoader?

Yes, for more information, refer to the Integrate Salesforce Activities in Gainsight Timeline article.

Do Timeline Activities auto-sync to SFDC Activities?

Yes, Timeline Activities can be auto -synced to SFDC Activities. Admins have enabled syncing to SFDC, the activity attachments will be stored in Salesforce as Notes & Attachments

Note: This feature only applies to new activities with attachments. Existing activities with attachments will not be synced automatically, but users can manually update them and save.

Enable Activity Attachment Sync to Salesforce

To enable attachment syncing, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to Administration > Activities and Timeline > ACTIVITY SYNC tab.
  2. In the General Settings section, select Sync To as Salesforce Events or Tasks according to your business needs.

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  1. Select Sync Frequency as Real Time Sync. If you want to schedule the sync activity, select the Scheduled option.
    Note: In Real Time Sync, activities will be synced to Salesforce within 5-10 seconds along with the attachments.
  2. Enable the Sync attachments to salesforce option. 
  3. Click YES. Enabling this option starts syncing the attachments associated with the Timeline activities to Salesforce.

Limitation in Salesforce for attachment Real Time Sync:

  • In Salesforce Classic, the size limit for an email message, including attachments, must not exceed 25 MB.
  • The file size limit for Chatter feed attachments is 2 GB.
  • The following file extensions: .htm, .html, .htt, .htx, .mhtm, .mhtml, .shtm, .shtml, .acgi, or .svg cannot be uploaded as attachment.
  1. [IMPORTANT] Click SAVE to apply the changes.

How often do Activities get synced to SFDC?

Activities are synced to SFDC in batches every 4 hours. If there are fewer than 50 activities created across your org, then they will sync at least once every 24 hours. In addition, an option for Administrators to initiate an immediate manual sync from Administration > Activities and Timeline > ACTIVITY SYNC tab is provided. Clicking the START MANUAL SYNC option will trigger a sync job immediately for all activities to either Salesforce Tasks or Events, per your configuration. 

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Selecting Sync Frequency as Real Time Sync enables the activities to be synced to Salesforce within 5-10 seconds along with the attachments. Schedule the sync activity by selecting the Scheduled option.

Is it possible to load SFDC Activity history to the Timeline view?

Yes. Admins can sync Activities from the Event and Task Salesforce objects into Timeline. For more information on this integration, refer to the Integrate Salesforce Activities in Gainsight Timeline article.

What happens to my Activity data that was logged during the Beta?

You can report on any past activity data. Beta status of this feature is now removed. The Timeline is a fully functional feature in Gainsight. All the activities that users create are stored in the MDA, and also reporting is available for activities.

Do activities logged in SFDC sync back to Gainsight? Can they be imported, or is it a one way sync?

You can integrate Activities from SFDC objects into Timeline. For more information on configuring this integration, refer to the Integrate Salesforce Activities in Gainsight Timeline article.

Can you build rules with Timeline Activities? If so, what can and can't be done with them?

Only Bionic rules can be built from Timeline Activity data. Object Name = Activity Timeline. Limitation: Attendees cannot be added in show fields or filters as they are not available in this object.

Timeline Availability

Is the Timeline view available on the Relationship360?

Yes. Refer to the Configure Timeline for 360 for instructions on how to enable it on the R360.

Is the Timeline view visible in Gainsight Account or Opportunity widgets?

Yes. Refer to the Configure Timeline for 360 for instructions on how to enable it in these pages.

Activity Notetaking

Can users add links or attachments to Activity notes?

Users can include links in their activity notes and file attachments.

What is the character limit on the Notes field?

There is a 32,000 character limit (excluding HTML tags) for a Timeline Activity entry. Comments on a Timeline Activity have a 4,000 character limit.

What type of text formatting can I use to format my Notes?

Rich text formatting functions are supported in Notes, including indentation, bullets, bold, etc.

Will my draft be saved if I am entering notes and navigate away from the page?

Yes, an incomplete activity is saved as a draft, private to the user, and is auto-saved every 15 seconds.

Where are the internal and external contact names coming from in the activities?

The contacts must exist as Users or Person records in Gainsight standard objects in order for the CSM to associate them with an activity. Internal contact names are fetched from GS User object and External contact names are fetched from the GS Contact Person object. You will need to sync SFDC Contact data to Gainsight Standard Objects in order to reference it as an external contact. To learn more about sync configuration, refer to the Connectors 2.0 article.

Is there a way to search in Timeline by an external attendee?

Yes, you can search via external attendee using the People search path on the Timeline list view. For more information on this search option, refer to the Timeline New Functionalities and Improvements (Horizon Experience) article.

Activities & CTAs

Can Activities be linked to CTAs?

Yes. When a user creates tasks from the 360 > Timeline, a CTA is automatically created with the same name as the subject of the Activity, with the associated tasks. 

If I make tasks with different owners, will there be more than one CTA created and posted in their respective CTA lists?

No. When a user starts creating Tasks in a Timeline Activity, the tasks are automatically associated with a CTA that has the same name as the subject of the Activity. The individual tasks can have different owners, but there will only be one CTA. 

Can I configure a rule to trigger CTAs based off of Activities? 

The Activity Timeline object can be used as a source object only in Bionic Rules. For example, you can use the data from the Activity Timeline object and create a CTA if the number of meetings with the customer in the last month is zero. 

When should I create a CTA & tasks from Timeline instead of from the Cockpit?

When there is an action item in a customer meeting or call, create followup tasks directly in the Timeline. This is an easy inline way to add ad-hoc tasks. 

When we complete a CTA, will it automatically be reflected in the Timeline?

No, only the activities with associated CTA/tasks will display in Timeline. 

Email to Timeline FAQs

  1. I enabled Timeline under the Enable Inbound Emails section, but it’s still not activated for my user. What could be the reason?

    If you forget to click the SAVE button after selecting the checkbox to enable inbound emails for Timeline, your user won’t see the inbound email option. Ensure that every time you make any changes, click SAVE.
     
  2. Can I Add users in the Administration > Email Configuration > INBOUND EMAILS tab?

    Yes, you can add. For more information, refer to the <section above>.
     
  3. Can I change the sub-domain that I added while configuring the Inbound Email?

    No, you cannot change the sub-domain once added and saved.
     
  4. Will the system generated email expire after using it for some time?

    No. Unless the admin revokes the access from the user, the inbound email address will remain valid.
     
  5. How can I provide support to my end-users to resolve any issue?

    For more information, refer to the Limitations section in this of the Configure Email to Timeline document.
     
  6. There is a list of users an admin adds, will all the users get any notification every time there is any update takes place?

    Yes. Each user will get a unique inbound email address which is automatically generated. After that if any new user is added in the list, only the new user will receive the welcome email.
     
  7. When I remove a user from the Users list, will the user be notified?

    No.

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