Getting Oriented
What this guide covers, the CBM CRM at a glance, and how to sign in as an administrator.
About This Guide & the CBM CRM Setup
Who this guide is for
This guide is for the CBM CRM administrator — the staff member(s) responsible for keeping the Cleveland Business Mentors CRM running smoothly day to day: adding and removing users, adjusting settings, importing data, and handling the occasional problem.
It assumes you're comfortable using web applications, but not that you're a server or database expert. Where a task is genuinely technical (server upgrades, recovery), this guide summarizes it and points you to the right person or runbook rather than asking you to do it yourself.
If you're a mentor or a member of the Client Administration or Mentor Administration teams, the guides on the other shelves are for you — this one is specifically about administering the system.
What the CBM CRM is
The CRM is the central system that holds CBM's people and activity — mentors, clients, the engagements that pair them, the sessions they hold, and the supporting records around them. As administrator, you don't change what the CRM tracks day to day; you keep the system healthy and help users get their work done.
Two environments: Production and Sandbox
There are two copies of the CRM, and knowing which is which is the single most important thing in this guide:
| Address | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| Production | crm.clevelandbusinessmentors.org |
The real, live system. Everyone's actual work and real data live here. |
| Sandbox | crm-test.clevelandbusinessmentors.org |
A safe copy for trying things out. Nothing here affects real data. |
The golden rule: when you're about to make a change that isn't routine — a settings change, a configuration tweak, a bulk data operation — try it in the Sandbox first, confirm it does what you expect, then do it in Production. Chapter 3 — Configuration & Customization covers this sandbox-first workflow in detail.
How the system is maintained
A few things are handled outside the CRM's own screens, so you don't have to:
- Configuration (custom fields, layouts, new record types) is applied through CBM's implementation process and tooling, not hand-edited in Production. See Chapter 3 — Configuration & Customization.
- The server, hosting, backups, security certificates, and software upgrades are managed at the infrastructure level. You don't log into servers; Chapter 6 — Operations & Maintenance explains what's automated and who handles the rest.
What's in this guide
- Chapter 2 — Users, Roles & Access: add and remove users; manage who can see and do what.
- Chapter 3 — Configuration & Customization: settings, the navigation menu, and the sandbox-first change process.
- Chapter 4 — Managing Data: importing, exporting, duplicates, and cleanup.
- Chapter 5 — Integrations: Google, email, the website, and this documentation site.
- Chapter 6 — Operations & Maintenance: backups, updates, and routine upkeep.
- Chapter 7 — Troubleshooting, Recovery & Reference: fixing problems, recovery options, and where everything lives.
When in doubt, slow down. Most administrative actions are easy to reverse, but a few (bulk deletes, resets) are not. If a task in this guide carries a warning, take it seriously — and if you're unsure, see Getting Help and Next Steps at the end of the guide.
Signing In & the Administration Panel
Signing in as an administrator
- Open the CRM in your browser:
- Production:
https://crm.clevelandbusinessmentors.org - Sandbox:
https://crm-test.clevelandbusinessmentors.org
- Production:
- Enter your administrator username and password.
- You'll land on a dashboard like any user — your administrator access simply adds an extra Administration area.
Administrator accounts can change settings and see everyone's data. Keep your credentials secure, never share the admin login, and give each person their own account (see Chapter 2 — Users, Roles & Access) instead of sharing one.
Opening the Administration panel
Click your avatar / initials in the top-right corner, then choose Administration. (Only users with admin access see this option.)
The Administration page is a grid of labeled sections. You won't need most of them often — here are the ones this guide uses, and where each is covered.
The areas you'll use
Users and access
- Users — the people who can sign in. (Chapter 2)
- Teams — groups used to organize people and control visibility. (Chapter 2)
- Roles — what a user or team is allowed to see and do. (Chapter 2)
System and customization
- Settings — system-wide options. (Chapter 3)
- User Interface — the navigation menu / tab list, including the Documentation tab. (Chapter 3)
- Entity Manager / Layout Manager — the structure of records and forms. Changed through the sandbox-first process, not casually here. (Chapter 3)
- Label Manager — the wording shown around the interface. (Chapter 3)
Data
- Import — bring records in from a spreadsheet. (Chapter 4)
- Outbound Emails, Email Accounts, Email Templates — how the CRM sends mail. (Chapter 5)
Maintenance
- Scheduled Jobs, Jobs, Auth Tokens — background tasks and sessions; mostly informational. (Chapter 6 – Chapter 7)
A note on the powerful areas: Entity Manager, Layout Manager, and the bulk data tools can change the CRM for everyone at once. Treat them as read-only until you've read the chapter that covers them — and remember the golden rule: Sandbox first.
Finding your way back
Wherever you are in Administration, the CBM logo (top-left) returns you to the main CRM, and the avatar menu → Administration brings you back here.