Troubleshooting, Recovery & Reference
Fixing problems, recovery options, and a quick reference of where everything lives.
Troubleshooting & Recovery
First steps for any problem
- Is it just you? Try another browser or an incognito window, or ask a second user.
- Which environment? Confirm you're in Production vs. Sandbox.
- Recent change? If the problem began right after a change, that change is the prime suspect — and structural changes should have been Sandbox-tested first.
Common problems
| Symptom | Likely cause / first fix |
|---|---|
| A user can't sign in | Account inactive or wrong password — check the user and reset it (Managing Users). |
| Reset / notification emails not arriving | Outbound email or the Google connection — see Chapter 5 — Integrations. |
| Calendar / Gmail not syncing | Google authorization expired — re-authorize (Google, Email & Website Integrations). |
| Someone sees too much or too little | Role or team misconfigured — Roles, Teams & Permissions. |
| Records "missing" | Usually a filter or permission, not deletion — clear filters and check the user's role; if truly deleted, act fast (below). |
| Certificate warning in the browser | Flag it — see Backups & Updates. |
| CRM slow or unreachable | May be the server — escalate (below). |
If data was deleted or badly changed
Stop making changes. The fix is usually to restore from backup — a technical, time-sensitive operation. The sooner you raise it, the more recoverable it is. See Getting Help and Next Steps.
Recovery operations (technical — usually not you)
The deployment tooling can perform powerful recovery actions, listed here just so you know they exist:
- Admin credential reset — regain admin access if locked out.
- Full reset / rebuild — tears the instance down and rebuilds it. This destroys data and is only safe with a good, recent backup.
⚠️ These are destructive, technical operations run via the CRM Builder tool by whoever maintains the deployment — not routine admin tasks. Never run a "full reset" to fix an everyday problem. If you think recovery is needed, escalate.
When you escalate
Note exactly what you did, what you expected, what happened, the time, and the environment. Technical logs (server and API) are available to whoever maintains the deployment.
Environments & Where Things Live
Environments
| Environment | Address | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Production CRM | crm.clevelandbusinessmentors.org |
The live system |
| Sandbox CRM | crm-test.clevelandbusinessmentors.org |
Safe testing copy |
| Documentation site | docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org |
These guides (public) |
Where things live (pointers — no secrets here)
| Thing | Where |
|---|---|
| CRM configuration (fields/layouts/record types, as files) | The CBM repository + the CRM Builder tool |
| Deploy / upgrade / recovery procedures | The CRM Builder tool + CBM repository runbooks |
| Documentation-site deploy & maintenance | infrastructure/CBM-Documentation-Site.md (CBM repository) |
| Credentials & connection settings | A secure store (password manager / the deployment tool's secret storage) — never in documentation or spreadsheets |
| Account & recovery information | The CBM repository's secure account-information area |
This guide never contains passwords, keys, or secrets — and neither should any page you add. Record where a credential lives, never what it is.
Key tools & people
- CRM Builder tool — provisions, configures, upgrades, and recovers the CRM.
- The CBM implementation team / deployment maintainer — for configuration changes and technical operations (see Getting Help and Next Steps).
Getting Help and Next Steps
Handle it yourself, or escalate?
Do it yourself
- Adding and deactivating users; password resets
- Settings, Tab List, and dashboard tweaks
- Data imports and cleanup (Sandbox-tested); tidying duplicates
Escalate
- Configuration / structure changes (Chapter 3)
- Server or deployment issues; anything destructive (resets)
- Suspected data loss
- Persistent integration failures (email, Google, website)
How to get help
- For configuration changes and technical / deployment issues, contact the CBM implementation team / deployment maintainer.
- When you ask for help, include: what you were doing, what you expected, what happened, the time, and the environment (Production or Sandbox).
To be filled in: CBM's actual support contact(s) and any ticket/escalation path. Left generic on purpose — provide the names/addresses and they'll be slotted in here.
The other guides
- CRM Introduction Guide — start here, for everyone
- Mentor Guide — for mentors
- Client Administration Team Guide and Mentor Administration Team Guide — for staff teams
- (You're in the System Administration guide.)
Keep this guide current
When the CRM changes, update the matching page here — editing is covered in The Documentation Site. Good documentation is maintained, not written once.