Key Considerations Before Creating a Managed Package in Salesforce AppExchange

Before creating managed packages in Salesforce AppExchange, here are key considerations:

Developer Edition Requirement

You must use a Developer Edition organization to create and work with a managed package. A Developer Edition organization can contain a single managed package and many unmanaged packages.
Before converting an unmanaged package to managed, enable your organization to create managed packages. Review Creating Managed Packages.

Beta Versions and Subscriber Upgrades

You can offer beta versions of a managed package to a small sampling of your users if you are still developing the components within the package but want to allow beta testers to install it and provide feedback. Subscribers of managed packages are not able to downgrade to earlier versions.

Released Package Behavior

When you release a managed package (uploaded without the Beta checkbox selected), the properties of its components change to prevent developers and subscribers from making harmful changes. If you do not want to offer upgrades to your package, consider keeping it unmanaged.

Editable Components in a Released Managed Package

Some components in a released managed package are always editable.

Component Properties in Managed Packages

The components in a managed package behave differently than those in an unmanaged package at different points in the release process. Components in a managed package have one of the following properties:

• Editable but not upgradeable: Components are editable in both the developer's and subscriber's organization. Editable components are not upgradeable. Salesforce remembers which editable components a subscriber has deleted so that it does not reinstall unwanted components. Any changes the subscriber makes are not overwritten during upgrades.
• Restricted in the subscriber's and publisher's organization: A restricted component may have some attributes that are editable in the subscriber's organization but other attributes that are editable in the publisher's organization.
• Locked in both the developer's and subscriber's organization: This ensures that the components can be upgraded smoothly.

Adding Components to a Managed Package

Developers can always add additional components to a managed package regardless of its state with a few exceptions:

• Once a managed package is Managed - Released, the developer can make changes to the profile settings but subscribers do not receive these changes when upgrading. Salesforce recommends contacting subscribers to ask them to make important profile changes manually when they upgrade.
• Developers can add universally required custom fields to managed packages as long as they have default values.
• Developers cannot add auto number fields to Managed - Released packages.

Converting a Managed Package Back to Unmanaged

Once you make a package Managed, there is no way to change the package back to Unmanaged.