Foundation · Module 03
Dynamic Records & List Views
The Right Records, One Click Away
A "record" is one single entry in SmartLite — one Lead, one Contact, one deal. Every object (SmartLite's word for a type of record) automatically gets screens for creating, viewing, editing, and deleting its records — no setup needed. List Views let each rep and team save exactly the slice of data that matters to them, instead of scrolling through everything.
About & Business Case #
Why list views matter #
"My reps waste ten minutes every morning scrolling the entire Opportunity list, hunting for their own open deals. Multiply that by eight reps, every single day."
A plain "show me everything" list stops being useful once you have hundreds or thousands of records. What every user actually needs is a small, relevant slice of that data. And it should stay up to date automatically — not get rebuilt by hand every single morning.
What this means for you
Reps land on exactly the records that matter to them. No daily manual filtering, and no missed deals hiding in a long list.
Implementation #
Anatomy of records & list views #
Every object — whether it's a standard one like Lead, or a custom one your admin built — automatically gets a record list. You can page through it, search it, and sort it, with no setup needed. On top of that, a List View is a saved filter you can name and reuse. It narrows a long list down to just the records you actually need.
| Concept | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record identity | Every record has a public ID (called a hexId) shown on screen and used behind the scenes — the internal database number is never shown to you |
| List View | A saved set of filters (a field, a comparison, and a value) applied to one object |
| Sharing-aware | Lists only ever show records the current user is allowed to see — the same visibility rules used everywhere else in SmartLite apply automatically |
| Lookup search | A "Lookup" field lets you search for and link to another record — for example, linking a Contact to its Account. Typing into it searches matching records live, as you type |
No extra security work needed
List views automatically use the same sharing rules as everything else in SmartLite. So a saved view can never accidentally show a record its creator wasn't allowed to see in the first place.
1 Build "My Open Deals This Quarter" #
Try the lookup search too
On any record's edit form, click into a Lookup field (like Account on a Contact) and type a few letters. Notice it searches live instead of loading every single Account into a giant dropdown.
How to Use #
Day-to-day: reps #
Day-to-day: sales managers #
What to try next
Look at the Reports trail — reports use the same filtering idea as List Views, but built for sharing summarized numbers instead of a working list.
Quiz #
Test what you learned #
hexId