Packs (BETA)
A Pack is an ordered collection of plays that belong together, which you can find, download and deploy as a single unit. Instead of asking people to find five separate plays and deploy them one by one in the right order, you create one pack that lists the plays, the version of each, and the order they should go in.
Packs have versions, a draft and live state and an approval flow, like plays (see Draft and live versions). Packs do not hold their own files. A pack is a list that points to existing plays, so the plays stay in one place and the pack simply brings them together.
When to use a Pack
- A solution is delivered through several plays that must be deployed in a certain order.
- You want a standard "starter kit" for a project, a team or a customer.
- You want one place to point people to instead of a list of links.
Before you start
Packs must be turned on for your Playground. If you do not see Packs in the menus, ask your Playground admin to enable it from the Control Panel (Enable Packs in the More Features section).
Create a pack
- Open the profile menu or the create menu and choose Create New Pack.
- Enter a Title and a Description that explains what the pack is for and who it is for.
- Adjust the URL if you want a different link (this can be changed only while the pack is a draft).
- Save. The pack is created as a Draft, visible to you only.
Add plays to a pack
Open your pack and use the plays section:
- Search for a play by typing at least three characters, and choose it from the results. Plays already in the pack are left out of the results.
- Pick the version of the play to use. The latest version of the play is selected for you. Each play in a pack is tied to the version you choose, so a pack keeps working the same way even when the play later gets a new version. Choose a newer version whenever you want the pack to move forward.
- Reorder the plays by dragging them. The order is the sequence used when the pack is deployed, so put anything that others depend on first.
- Remove plays you no longer want with the bin icon.
- Choose Save, or Reset to go back to the last saved list.
How saving behaves:
| Pack state | What Save does |
|---|---|
| Draft | Updates the pack in place. No new version. |
| Published | Creates a new draft version and keeps the published one live. Saving again edits that draft. |
| Pending or Approved | Creates a new draft, because a pack under review cannot be changed. |
| Nothing changed | Nothing is created and you are told so. |
Changing a play's version, the order or the list resets validation, so validate the pack again before publishing.
Anyone can open the link beside a play to look at it in a new tab.
Publish and manage
Packs follow the same life cycle as plays:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Edit details | Change the title, description and the list of plays. |
| Validate | Check the whole pack in a Developer or Sandbox org. Publish or Request approval appears once the pack is validated. |
| Publish / Request approval | Make the pack available to others in your Playground. If your Playground requires approval, a reviewer approves it first. |
| Unpublish | Take it back to a draft. |
| Archive | Remove it from use. |
Versions, drafts and Insights
A published pack can have a newer draft behind it. Everyone else keeps using the live version while you prepare the draft. Use the Versions tab to see every version and its status, and to go back to an earlier one.
The Insights card on the pack page tells you what needs attention: draft against live, review requests and results, and common files, where several plays in the pack contain the same file and the later play in the sequence wins. See Insights.
Use a pack
From the pack's page, anyone who can see it can:
- Download the pack. You get all of its plays, at the versions selected, together in one download.
- Deploy to a Developer or Sandbox org. The plays are deployed in the order set in the pack.
- Validate in a Developer or Sandbox org to check that the deployment would succeed before you actually deploy.
Activity for each play that is deployed or downloaded as part of a pack is recorded on the play with a link back to the pack and its version, so you can always tell how a play was used.
Find packs
- Explore: open Packs from the Explore menu to browse packs, including Packs from your Playground and Packs from My List.
- Search: use the Packs filter to include packs in your search results.
- My Work: your own packs are listed next to your plays in your profile, with filters by status. See User Profile.
What you can and can't do
| You can | You can't (yet) |
|---|---|
| Group existing plays into one ordered pack | Upload files, a zip or a repository directly into a pack. Packs only reference plays |
| Choose the version of each play and the deployment order | Deploy or download a pack that has no plays in it |
| Download, validate and deploy the whole pack | Have the pack follow a play's new versions automatically. Pick the new version in the pack when you want it |
| Publish, unpublish and archive packs | Use packs at all unless your Playground admin has enabled them |
| See which pack a play was used through, in the activity |
Tips for good packs
- Describe in the pack description what order things should go in and why.
- Validate the whole pack in a Sandbox org after you change the list.
- Keep packs small and purposeful. A pack that does one job is easier to trust and reuse.
We would love your feedback on Packs while they are in BETA. Tell us what is missing or what got in your way.