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I have two Event record types specified.

When I create an Event from the Home tab via the New Event button or when I create an Event directly on a record (e.g., an Opportunity) via the New Event button I am taken to the Select Event Record Type screen to select a record type.

However, when I create an Event from the Activities list view (i.e., /007) it bypasses the Select Event Record Type screen and uses the default record type specified on the profile.

Why is the Select Event Record Type screen bypassed when the Event is created from the Activities list view?

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  • 1
    Interesting. I'd never noticed that. The same behavior happens with Tasks too. – Daniel Hoechst Apr 7 '13 at 18:26
  • Peter, just updated my answer. It may be something special with Activity buttons. No idea whether that's a bug or something that Salesforce will consider "broken by design" – Ralph Callaway Apr 8 '13 at 21:45
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AFAIK this is unexpected behavior and should be logged with support. There isn't any reason I've seen for why a list view button should behave any differently with respect to record type selection.

Update and Workaround

For reasons unknown (and which feel like a bug) all activity new task/event buttons skip the record type selection page.  As the question, @PeterKnolle, found out the work around is to create a custom button using the task based url which will support record type selection, i.e. {!URLFOR($Action.Task.NewTask)} and replace the standard New Task button where needed.

Discussion

It appears that the issue is related to whether the button is an Activity button (vs. a Task or Event). In a related post the questioner had a custom list view button that was skipping the record type selection page. Originally they had been using $Action.Activity.NewTask and after switching to $Action.Task.NewTask the record type selection page re-appeared.

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  • Thanks, @Ralph. It isn't a custom button. It is just the standard Create Event button on the list view page, but it sounds like a workaround would be to create a custom button that uses $Action.Event.NewEvent. Like you said, maybe because it is on the Activity list view it uses $Action.Activity.NewEvent, which seems to skip the record type selection (possibly by design?). – Peter Knolle Apr 8 '13 at 22:53
  • Seems like a good approach, let me know if that works and I'll update the answer. – Ralph Callaway Apr 9 '13 at 0:53
  • It worked. I created a custom Event button and added it to the Activities List view. The button definition was a URL button with the following value: {!URLFOR($Action.Event.NewEvent)} and behavior of Display in existing window without sidebar or header. I also removed the standard New Event button from the Activities List view, so all that was left was the custom button. – Peter Knolle Apr 12 '13 at 8:06
  • @PeterKnolle updated the answer to take into account your findings – Ralph Callaway Apr 15 '13 at 8:06
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Check your personal Record Type selections - Setup / Personal Setup / My Personal Information / Record Type Selection. You probably have the checkbox checked next to Events, which will bypass the Record Type selection page.

Thanks, Tyeson @tyesonc

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  • That would do it, but it would also cause the record type selection page to get bypassed for the New Event button directly on a record that @peter is referring to. – Ralph Callaway Apr 8 '13 at 8:03
  • I don't have that set up. Like @Ralph said, it only bypasses the record selection from the Activities List View. I still get the record type selection when creating from the Home page tab or from a record. – Peter Knolle Apr 8 '13 at 12:47
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When selected from the Activities view, the Event Record Type is a function of the WhoId. When selected from other places it can be a function of either the WhoId, the WhatId, or a combination of the two depending on the organization and how their Record Types are set up. In this case though, Activities are all based around the account or contact (the latter has a look-up to the account), thus making the Event Record Type a function of the WhoId.

EDIT

Here's some more from page 123 of the Visual Force Developer's Guide:

"Custom buttons and links are available for activities under the individual setup links for tasks and events. However, you can override a button that applies to both tasks and events by clicking Your Name > Setup > Customize > Activities > Activity Buttons."

From the above, I'd conclude that its possible the org (or user) may have overridden the default properties for either the buttons or pages they're using to create tasks and/or events.

Note: There are separate buttons for Tasks and Events. Ditto for Activities. Any of the three could have custom page layouts. Events and Activities share the same "out of the box" standard page layout, which doesn't preclude an architect from creating a separate one for each of them which I've regularly seen in the orgs I've worked in.

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  • Thanks for taking time to respond to my question. I don't understand why the Record Type selection screen would be bypassed based on WhoId or WhatId when the Record Type is an Event Record Type. As far as I can tell, the exact same fields are pre-populated when I create a new event from the Home tab's Calendar (or my Calendar page) and from the Activities List View, only I do not get a chance to select the Event Record Type when creating from the Activities List View. – Peter Knolle Apr 7 '13 at 12:25
  • My thoughts were that if you're creating it from the Activity screen, your org is set up with the assumption that it has to be related to an Account via a contact which is the WhoId as opposed to the WhatId. An Event can be related to either the WhoId or the WhatId when its created from an Opportunity (just finished a trigger that creates a new Event on update of Opp). However, its been my observation that an Activity, even though both fall under the same umbrella object wise, seems to be associated more with Accounts and Tasks within the scheme of SF. – crmprogdev Apr 7 '13 at 15:01
  • Like the thought approach, but I'm pretty sure that record type isn't going to have anything to do what the values for whoId or whatId are. Is there any documentation or testing that supports this line of reasoning? – Ralph Callaway Apr 7 '13 at 19:31
  • @Ralph. I think Tyeson just nailed it with his response. The orgs I've been working in of late must have been configured along the lines he's describing. We'll have to wait for confirmation from Peter on whether that's how his org is configured. For many orgs, that is a logical approach. – crmprogdev Apr 7 '13 at 19:52
  • That's a definite reason for the record type selection page to get bypassed, but it would affect the New Event button globally and @PeterKnolle is indicating that he gets to the record type selection page when creating an event from an opportunity. – Ralph Callaway Apr 8 '13 at 8:05

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