In the first of a series of short posts looking at interesting aspects of the forthcoming Summer 13 release, this posts explores a new capability to add custom publisher actions to the Chatter UI.

In the screenshot below we see the end-result, i.e. a custom publisher action “Create Account” and the UI displayed when invoked.

Publisher actions (or Global Actions) come in 2 forms; Create a Record and Custom Action.

Create a Record – pick an object, define a layout. Fields can be made mandatory on the layout and given Predefined Field Values, set via formula expressions.
Custom Action – pick a Visualforce page and define the display height dimension

The defined layout or Visualforce page appears as per the first screenshot, in a revealed section beneath the publisher action toolbar. So small, simple displays and basic interactions are in order.

The publisher action toolbar is controlled by Global Publisher Layouts which can be assigned per-profile, and optionally overridden in object page layouts, as required. The Global Publisher Layout is the only means to control the actions visible on the Home page, Chatter Home page and User profile page.

Note, the Enable Publisher Actions option in Chatter Settings must be enabled.

I really like this new feature. The ability to add custom functionality to the Chatter UI opens up a new category of use cases where business process interactions are supported without leaving the Chatter feed. Collaboration really is at the heart of everything.