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Again AgainAgain Again 

Alert user if standard field (address, website) on Account object changed

Hi,
 
I need a mechanism to alert a user if certain fields (website, phone, address) on the Account object have changed. I'm looking at 3 methods:
 
1. Enable field tracking (turns out, not possible on standard fields)
2. Use workflow email alert - this would be preferable. However, I can only see how to set a trigger based on a static value i.e "website is not blank" - can't see how to do "website is not what it used to be". Does anyone know how to accomplish this?
 
3. If (2) fails, I can create a comparison table and do the job using DBAmp, but would really prefer to use option 2, since it requires less network resources and ongoing maintenance.
 
Thanks!
Rozanne
Donovan KrugerDonovan Kruger
Option 2 is possible via the ISCHANGED formula criteria.  Here is an explantion of usage from the online help:

ISCHANGED

Description: Compares the value of a field to the previous value and returns TRUE if the values are different. If the values are the same, this function returns FALSE.
Use: ISCHANGED(field) and replace field with the name of the field you want to compare.

This function is available only in validation rules and field updates.

Validation Rule Example:The following validation rule prevents users from changing an opportunity name after it has been created: NOT(ISCHANGED( Name )).

NOT(AND( ISCHANGED( Priority ), ISPICKVAL( Priority , "Low") ) ) is a validation rule that ensures if a user changes the Priority of a case, the new priority cannot be "Low."

NOT( AND( ISCHANGED( CloseDate ), ​OR( MONTH(CloseDate ) <> MONTH( TODAY() ),​YEAR( CloseDate) <> YEAR(TODAY()) ),$Profile.Name <> "Sales Manager")) is a validation rule that prevents a user from changing the Close Date of an opportunity to a date outside of the current month and year unless that user has the "Sales Manager" profile.

Tips:
  • This function is available only in validation rules and field updates.
  • Use the NOT function to reverse the return values of TRUE and FALSE.
  • This function returns FALSE when evaluating any field on a newly created record.
  • If a text field was previously blank, this function returns TRUE when it contains any value.
  • If a number, percent, or currency field was previously blank, the function returns TRUE. If a number, percent, or currency field was previously zero and the new value is blank, this function returns TRUE.
  • For number percent, or currency fields, this function returns TRUE when:
    • The field was blank and now contains any value
    • The field was zero and is now blank
    • The field was zero and now contains any other value
mshelmanmshelman
Since "currently, you cannot trigger workflow as a result of a (workflow) field update" I am not seeing how mechanism 2 could be made to work using ISCHANGED function. ISCHANGED could update a custom field on the object to record the change but it seems a further workflow to send an email would not fire.