Salesforce Tasks - Resource Name and Resource Type

When an Inspire Project Task is assigned to a resource (user or contact), a corresponding Salesforce Task is created for the Project Task. If the project task is assigned to a user, then the Salesforce Task Assigned To field contains the assigned user's name. However, if the project task is assigned to a contact, then the Salesforce Task Assigned To field contains the name of the user who made the assignment and the Name field contains the contact's name. This is because Salesforce requires tasks to be assigned to Salesforce users. 

So let's say that we have a Project owned by John Smith. When John Smith assigns a task to another user, say Mary Barton, then the resulting Salesforce Task will have Mary Barton in the Assigned To field. 

Now if John Smith were to assign a task to a contact, say Patricia Wells, then the resulting Salesforce Task will have John Smith in the Assigned To field and Patricia Wells in the Name field.

As part of Inspire Planner, there is a field called "Resource Name" which you can add to the Salesforce Task Page Layout. The Resource Name field automatically populates with the user's name (if the task is assigned to a user) or the contact's name (if the task is assigned to a contact). This makes it easier to report on assigned resources because you may simply include the Resource Name field on the report instead of needing to include both Assigned To and Name fields. In addition, the "Resource Type" field on the Salesforce Task lets you know if the assigned resource is a user or a contact. This field can be used to filter out tasks assigned to contacts when creating list views or when reporting on task assignments. For example, if I want to create a list view containing all the Salesforce Tasks where the Assigned To field has my name but wish to exclude Salesforce Tasks that are assigned to contacts, then I can set a filter where Resource Type is not equal to "Contact".

If you do not see the Resource Name or Resource Type field on the page when viewing Salesforce Tasks, then you need to configure the page layout to include these fields. Here's how:

1. Click on the Gear icon at the top right corner and go to Setup.
   
   
    
2. Go to Object Manager.
   
   
    
3. Enter "Task" in the Quick Find box at the top right corner and click on Task.
   
   
    
4. Go to Page Layouts.
   
   
    
5. Click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the Salesforce Task page layout you are using and click on Edit.
   
   
    
6. From the list of fields in the box on top of the page, drag both Resource Name and Resource Type to your desired area on the page. Then click on Save.
   
   
    

Once saved, you will now see both the Resource Name and Resource Type fields when viewing Salesforce Tasks.

Below is an example of a Task assigned to a User. Notice that the Resource Name field is populated with the user's name and the Resource Type says "user".

Below is an example of a Task assigned to a Contact. Notice that the Resource Name field is populated with the contact's name and the Resource Type says "contact".

When creating reports with task assignments, you can then simply include the Resource Name and Resource Type fields on the report.