Systems and methods for managing smart posts in feeds

1. An improved method of displaying posts in an on-line social network feed, the method comprising:

tracking a plurality of updates to a record in a database by one or more users;

determining content for a smart post by applying criteria to the plurality of updates to summarize the plurality of updates to the record, wherein the smart post comprises a container for a plurality of logically related posts and the criteria includes one or more metrics based on multiple changes to the record or related records, the determined content indicates a value associated with the record increasing beyond a predetermined threshold value, and the determined content includes at least one graphic representing a stage or status of the record;

configuring the smart post with the determined content summarizing the plurality of updates to the record and at least one distinct visual cue; and

displaying the smart post in the feed among a plurality of successive posts involving single updates to single records in the database, the plurality of successive posts being sequentially displayed in the feed and having a substantially homogenous visual format, wherein the smart post is displayed using the at least one distinct visual cue to visually distinguish the smart post within the feed from the substantially homogenous visual format; and

expanding the smart post to display more detailed information about the plurality of updates to the record within the feed when the smart post is selected.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substantially homogeneous visual format comprises the following fields: author; preamble; content; and action.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the record in the database comprises one of an account, opportunity, lead, case, user, group, or file.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the criteria further comprises predetermined metrics for evaluating a tracked update based on at least one of:

human generated versus non-human generated posts;

a record field value increasing over a threshold amount;

a record field value increasing over a threshold percentage;

the closing of a record having a field value in excess of a threshold;

at least one additional lead;

trending; and

stuck opportunities.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the content for the smart post comprises aggregating the plurality of updates to the record into a summary post.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the content for the smart post comprises aggregating the plurality of updates to related records into a summary post.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the smart post comprises arranging the smart post in accordance with a static format different from the substantially homogeneous visual format.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the smart post comprises arranging the smart post in accordance with a configurable template different from the substantially homogeneous visual format.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one distinct visual cue is configured to visually distinguish the smart post from the substantially homogeneous visual format using at least one of: format, stylization, font, color scheme, graphical elements, text, the number and order of fields associated with the smart post, and the relative size and placement of the foregoing.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the on-line social network comprises a cloud based, on-demand, multi-tenant computing environment.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein tracking updates comprises:

storing an object corresponding to the record in database connected to the on-line social network; and

associating changes to the record with the stored object.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining content comprises aggregating at least two of the following media types into a single container: text, chart, graph, photo, audio, and video.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the content for the smart post further comprises manually selecting, by a user, two or more related updates to a particular record and clumping the two or more related updates into a single clumped smart post.

14. A computer application embodied in a non-transitory medium for operation by a computer processor associated with an on-line social network feed, the application configured to implement the steps of:

tracking a plurality of updates to a record in a database by one or more users;

determining content for a smart post by applying criteria to the plurality of updates to summarize the plurality of updates to the record, wherein the smart post comprises a container for a plurality of logically related posts and the criteria includes one or more metrics based on multiple changes to the record or related records, the determined content includes at least one graphic representing a stage or status of the record, and the determined content indicates at least one of a value associated with the record increasing beyond a first predetermined threshold value and an amount of work in process associated with the record increasing beyond a second predetermined threshold value;

configuring the smart post with the determined content summarizing the plurality of updates to the record and at least one distinct visual cue;

displaying the smart post in the feed among a plurality of successive posts involving single updates to single records in the database, the plurality of successive posts being sequentially displayed in the feed and having a substantially homogenous visual format, wherein the smart post is displayed using the at least one distinct visual cue to visually distinguish the smart post within the feed from the substantially homogenous visual format; and

expanding the smart post to display more detailed information about the plurality of updates to the record within the feed when the smart post is selected.

15. The computer application of claim 14 , wherein the record in the database comprises one of an account, opportunity, lead, case, user, group, or file, and further wherein the criteria further comprises predetermined metrics for evaluating a tracked update based on at least one of:

human generated versus non-human generated;

an opportunity value increasing over a threshold amount;

an opportunity value increasing over a threshold percentage;

the closing of an opportunity having a value in excess of a threshold;

at least one additional lead;

trending; and

stuck opportunities.

16. The computer application of claim 14 , wherein the at least one distinct visual cue is configured to visually distinguish the smart post from the substantially homogeneous visual format using at least one of: format, stylization, font, color scheme, graphical elements, text, the number and order of fields associated with the smart post, and the relative size and placement of the foregoing.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphic comprises one or more of:

a chart;

a graph;

a bar graph;

a forecast;

a dashboard; and

a report.

18. An improved method of displaying posts in an on-line social network feed, the method comprising:

tracking a plurality of updates to a record in a database by one or more users;

determining content for a smart post by applying criteria to the plurality of updates to summarize the plurality of updates to the record, wherein:

the smart post comprises a container for a plurality of logically related posts;

the criteria includes one or more metrics based on multiple changes to the record or related records;

the determined content indicates an amount of work in process associated with the record increasing beyond a predetermined threshold value; and

the determined content includes at least one graphic representing a stage or status of the record;

configuring the smart post with the determined content summarizing the plurality of updates to the record and at least one distinct visual cue; and

displaying the smart post in the feed among a plurality of successive posts involving single updates to single records in the database, the plurality of successive posts being sequentially displayed in the feed and having a substantially homogenous visual format, wherein the smart post is displayed using the at least one distinct visual cue to visually distinguish the smart post within the feed from the substantially homogenous visual format; and

expanding the smart post to display more detailed information about the plurality of updates to the record within the feed when the smart post is selected.