Admin & Extend · Module 15

App Manager & Tabs

One Platform, Focused Workspaces

How to give Sales and Support two workspaces that feel completely different — without buying a second product or creating a second login.

⏱ ~10 min to complete80 pts available🏅 Badge: Workspace Designer

About & Business Case #

Why app-scoped workspaces matter #

Ola Lindqvist · Operations Lead

"Our Sales team and Support team share one CRM. But neither should have to dig through the other team's menus every day, just to find their own work."

One shared platform doesn't have to mean one cluttered menu for everyone. Each team can get a workspace that feels like it was built just for them.

What this means for you

Every team gets a focused, tidy workspace made for their job. No separate logins. No separate product. No extra license to buy.

Implementation #

Anatomy of an App #

Think of an App like a different desk for a different job. Sales has one desk, Support has another — but both desks sit in the same building, which is your CRM.

An App is a named group of Tabs. A Tab is a button in the top menu that takes you somewhere. It can open an object — like all your Contacts or all your Cases — at a web address such as /records/{objectApiName}. Or it can open a built-in page, like Reports or the Dashboard.

Concept	Detail
Standard tab	Comes with SmartLite: the tab of a standard object (Contacts, Cases) or a built-in page (Reports, Dashboard, Calendar). You can rename its Label and change its icon; its Name and what it opens stay fixed, and it can't be deleted
Custom tab	One you create in Tab Manager → New Custom Tab: an Object Tab (a custom object's records), a Page Tab (a SmartLite Component or custom page) or a Web Tab (a web address, opened in a new browser tab or inside SmartLite)
Label and Name	Every tab has a Label, what users see in the menu, and a Name, a unique key such as `Gym_Branches`. Two tabs can share a Label but never a Name
App visibility	Controlled by Profile → App Access. A Profile is a set of permissions every user has. If a Profile isn't granted the app, that app stays hidden from everyone with that Profile
Shared tabs	The same Tab can appear in more than one App at once — e.g. "Reports" can show up in both the Sales app and the Support app
Built-in apps	A new org starts with two apps, Sales CRM and Service Desk. Sales CRM already has Campaigns, Reports and Dashboards. The other marketing and analytics pages (Segments, Email Templates, Message Templates, Marketing Analytics, Marketing Overview, Analytics Overview) are standard tabs you add to any app from Tab Manager. They only show for people whose Profile has Marketing Access or Analytics Access

1 Build a dedicated Support Console #

Create the appGo to Setup → App Manager → New App. (Setup is where admins configure the CRM — open it with the gear icon at the top right, next to the bell.) Name the new app "Support Console" and pick an icon.

Create or reuse tabsCase and Contact already have standard tabs, the two things a Support agent works with most. Need a built-in page too? Open Tab Manager and add it from "Standard Tabs for Built-in Pages."

Assign tabs to the appOpen App Detail for "Support Console" and drag the Case and Contact tabs into it, in whatever order makes sense.

(Optional) Give the app its own coloursStill on App Detail, under Branding Colours, pick a Primary and an Accent colour and save. Buttons, links and the menu use them while people are in this app. Leave a colour empty (or click "Use org colour") to keep the organization's colours from Setup → Branding. Setup itself always uses the organization's colours.

Grant accessGo to Profiles → open the Support profile → App Access → turn on "Support Console." You can also turn off the default Sales app for that profile, so Support agents don't see it.

VerifyLog in as a Support user and confirm only the Support Console's tabs show up in the menu.

Apps organize, Profiles secure

An App only organizes your menu. It doesn't control what data someone can see. That job still belongs to Profiles and Sharing Rules — separate settings that decide who can view or edit what.

How to Use #

Day-to-day: Sales and Support teams #

Log in as usualYou automatically land in the app your Profile grants — Support Console for Support, the default Sales app for Sales.

Switch apps if you have access to more than oneUse the app switcher in the top navigation if your Profile grants access to multiple apps.

Day-to-day: admins #

Add a new team's workspaceWhenever a new department needs its own focused menu, repeat the build: new App, its own Tabs, granted to its own Profile.

Reuse shared tabs across appsAdd "Reports" to both the Sales and Support apps instead of duplicating it — the same tab, in two menus.

What to try next

Look at the Profiles & Permissions trail — Apps organize the menu, but Profiles decide what's actually visible underneath it.

Quiz #

Test what you learned #

1. If you delete an App, does it also delete the Tabs and Objects inside it?

Yes, everything inside it gets deleted too

No — only the App container is removed; the tabs and objects stay

2. What actually decides whether a user can see a given App?

Their Role in the role hierarchy

Their Profile's App Access setting