Setting up and managing custom metadata types
Custom Metadata Types are the List Custom Settings of the next generation. They define fields and create records that can be retrieved from declarative or programmatic configurations.
Unlike Custom Settings, which need a second configuration step after the metadata is deployed on the org (applying the values), Custom Metadata Types consider both metadata and its data to be all part of the whole metadata. This is particularly useful when building packaged applications that may be delivered to different customers' orgs and it is important to limit the configuration steps:
To create a new Custom Metadata Type, click Setup | Custom Code | Custom Metadata Types and then click the New Custom Metadata Type button:
The custom object definition is quite similar to what we saw on Custom Settings (there are just some more options regarding an object's label configuration...