The Backstory: Your team is constantly changing, and you need to keep user access and data visibility up to date in Backstory. You use the Users and Teams page to add and update users manually or sync them from your CRM, organize users into teams, and set the appropriate data visibility. This keeps your user list current and ensures everyone has access to the data they need, while limiting access to data they should not see.
Users and Teams is the central hub in the Backstory Admin Panel where administrators can add users, build team hierarchies, assign configuration profiles, control permissions, and manage data visibility. It supports both automatic syncing from Salesforce and full manual management, so you can choose the approach that best fits your organization's workflow.
Note: User management requires a Backstory administrator account.
Access the Users and Teams Page
All user management tasks begin on the Users and Teams page in the Admin Panel.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
User Management Modes
Your organization can manage users in Automatic Mode or Manual Mode, depending on how you prefer to control user data and team structure. By default, all organizations start in Manual Mode. To check your current mode, look at the Manage Mode indicator in the bottom-left corner of the Users and Teams page.
Automatic Mode
In Automatic Mode, user management is handled through Salesforce. User data and hierarchy are automatically synced to Backstory based on your configured User Settings Rules. Changes made in Salesforce are reflected in Backstory within 30 minutes. No ongoing manual maintenance is required. Automatic Mode is best for organizations that maintain an accurate and up-to-date Salesforce role hierarchy and want systems to stay automatically aligned.
Manual Mode
In Manual Mode, you manage users directly within Backstory. This includes manually creating and organizing teams and manually adding, editing, suspending, or deleting users. Manual Mode gives you full control over your user list and team structure and is best for organizations that do not rely on the Salesforce hierarchy to reflect their team structure.
Note: Backstory handles sensitive information, and your sales team is always changing. We recommend reviewing your user list for accuracy at least once a week, even when you’re using Automatic Mode.
Automatic User Management
If your organization uses Salesforce, you can use automatic user management mode to continuously sync your user hierarchy from Salesforce.
Note: Enabling this mode will replace your existing Backstory team structure with your Salesforce role hierarchy and all existing teams will be deleted. This may affect reports, dashboards, and Saved Views that reference old Team IDs. Users not present in the Salesforce role hierarchy will be migrated to the top-level team rather than suspended.
Enable Automatic User Management
Prerequisites: Your organization must have a Backstory account connected to Salesforce, and Configuration Profiles must be set up before enabling.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Click the pencil icon next to Manage Mode in the bottom left of the screen.
Click Enable Auto Manage.
Assign a Configuration Profile to each user.
Set up User Settings Rules to automatically assign settings to users added via auto-hierarchy in the future.
Note: If your organization uses manager fields instead of the Salesforce role hierarchy to define reporting relationships, contact your CSM or support@backstory.ai to configure this option.
Manual User Management
In manual mode, you can import users in bulk with a one-time import from your Salesforce role hierarchy, import users in bulk by uploading a CSV file, add teams and users completely manually. All three methods are covered below.
Import Users in Bulk
You can import users in bulk by importing your Salesforce role hierarchy or importing a CSV file.
Import Salesforce Role Hierarchy
This method lets you pull users into Backstory by selectively enabling roles from your existing Salesforce hierarchy. Unlike automatic mode, this is a one-time import. Backstory will not continue to sync changes from Salesforce after the import. This method works best for teams whose Salesforce structure reflects their intended Backstory layout and who want a quick way to bring in users without ongoing automation.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Click View/Edit Full Hierarchy at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.
Click the toggle next to each role whose users you want to import.
Click Done.
Once a role is enabled, all users assigned to that role in Salesforce are imported into Backstory with default settings.
Import Users via CSV File
Instead of importing users via your Salesforce Role Hierarchy, you can upload a CSV file. See Manage Users via CSV File for more information.
Create Teams Manually
Instead of importing your Salesforce Role Hierarchy, you can choose to add your teams manually.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
In the left sidebar, click the Team Hierarchy tab.
Click +Add Team.
Enter a name for the team.
Click Save.
The new team will appear in the Team Hierarchy list in the left sidebar.
Note: Once you build your team hierarchy, you can create additional Custom Teams that allow users to belong to multiple teams simultaneously.
Add an Individual User
You can add a single user directly from the Users and Teams page without a CSV file.
Prerequisites: The user must first be provisioned on the email server side so that Backstory can successfully process their email and calendar data. You must create Configuration Profiles.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Click Add User in the top right corner.
Enter the user's Email Address, First Name, and Last Name.
(Optional) Assign the user to a Team.
Select a Configuration Profile. Configuration Profiles control how activity data syncs to your CRM for groups of users. See Configuration Profiles for more information.
Select the user’s Permission. A user's permission controls their level of access within Backstory. See Permission for information about what each setting means.
Select the user's Object Visibility. Object visibility controls how much data a user can see in Backstory. See Object Visibility for what each setting means.
Click Save.
Edit a User
Editing allows you to change a user’s name, team, and activity data settings.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Locate the user you want to update.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Edit.
Update the desired fields.
Click Save.
Remove a User
Keeping user lists and permission sets current is essential to protecting your data. Any user who should no longer have access should be decommissioned promptly. You can either suspend a user or delete them.
Suspend a User
Suspending a user immediately revokes their access to Backstory and hides their past data in the app. We recommend suspension over deletion to preserve historical data and maintain system integrity.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Locate the user you want to update.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Suspend.
Delete a User
Deleting a user permanently removes their past data from Backstory.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Locate the user you want to delete.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Delete.
User Access
Regardless of how a user is added, every user needs four things configured:
Configuration Profile
Permission
Object Visibility
Licenses
These settings control what a user can do in Backstory and what data they can see.
Note: We recommend specific user settings for users at the executive level. See Manage Executive Users for more information.
Configuration Profile
Configuration Profiles define how users’ email and meeting activities automatically sync to your CRM. See Configuration Profiles for more information.
Permission
A user's permission controls their level of access to Backstory features and their ability to configure settings within Backstory.
Admin: Full access to Backstory, including user management, configuration settings, and all platform data. This permission is required for any user who needs to access the Backstory Admin Panel, the settings hub in Backstory where administrators configure and manage user accounts, data connections, and CRM synchronization. Recommended for system administrators.
Manager: Can view their team's activity data and access team-level reporting, but cannot configure Backstory settings. Recommended for managers, team leads, and users who need visibility into their team's activity and performance.
Member: Standard access for individual contributors. Users can view their own activity data and work within their assigned team. They cannot configure Backstory settings.
Assign or Update a User’s Role
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Locate the user you want to update.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Edit.
Click the Role dropdown and select Admin, Manager, or Member.
Click Save.
Object Visibility
Object visibility controls how much data a user can see in Backstory. It determines the CRM records and users they see in team dashboards and is based on record ownership. Changes take effect immediately and can also be applied in bulk by including the Object Visibility column in a CSV upload. There are three levels:
Full: Can view all Accounts and Opportunities across the organization and see all users in team dashboards, regardless of team membership. Recommended for administrators, senior managers, executives, and users who need organization-wide visibility.
Team: Can view Accounts and Opportunities owned by themselves or anyone on their team(s), and can see the users on their team(s) in team dashboards. Recommended for managers, team leads, and users who need visibility into their team's activity and performance.
For users with Manager permission (see previous section), team visibility extends to the subteams that report to them, including the users on those subteams and the Accounts and Opportunities they own.
For users with Admin or Member permission (see previous section), team visibility is limited to their own team(s) and does not include subteams.
Individual: Can view only the Accounts and Opportunities they own. In team dashboards, they can see only themselves. Recommended for Individual contributors who do not need access to other users' data.
As a best practice, we recommend pairing user permission with the corresponding visibility level:
Admin → Full
Manager → Team
Member → Individual
Assign or Update a User’s Object Visibility
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Edit.
Scroll to the Object Visibility field and select Full, Team, or Individual.
Click Save.
User Licenses
Licenses determine which Backstory products and features a user can access. You must assign at least one license when adding a user, and most users need multiple licenses to access the full functionality of Backstory.
Select all licenses that apply to the user:
Foundation: Required for data intake, including activity capture and CRM sync. Most Backstory features depend on this data.
Engagement Dashboard: Provides access to Backstory Engagement Dashboards, the primary workspace for engagement analytics and reporting.
Backstory: Provides access to the Backstory App, a spreadsheet-like interface for viewing and updating Salesforce records. This license applies only to Salesforce users.
Forecasting: Provides access to revenue forecasting tools in the Backstory App. This license applies only to Salesforce users.
Assign or Update a User's License
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under User Management, click Users and Teams.
Locate the user you want to update.
Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the user's row.
Click Edit.
Select all appropriate licenses for the user.
Click Save.
User Statuses
The top of the Users and Teams page displays a live count of your organization's users broken down by status. This gives you a quick view of how many users are active and whether any accounts need attention.
The following statuses are displayed:
Total Users: The total number of Backstory users across all statuses.
Pending: Users in the queue for onboarding.
Onboarding: Users currently going through the initial data ingestion and processing process.
Permission Errors: Users whose mailboxes Backstory cannot access. Ensure these users are properly provisioned within your email provider. Refer to the O365 or G Suite documentation for details on how users are typically configured.
Active: Users who are up to date and not suspended.
Suspended: Users who have been manually suspended by an administrator or whose Salesforce license has been revoked or changed. Suspended users' data is not processed and they cannot access the application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a user's role change what their object visibility setting shows?
No. Object visibility is applied independently of a user's role. A Full, Team, or Individual setting produces the same data visibility whether the user is an Admin, Manager, Member, or Data user.
What happens to my existing team structure when I enable automatic user management?
Enabling automatic user management replaces your existing Backstory team structure with your Salesforce role hierarchy. Backstory users who are not present in the Salesforce role hierarchy are migrated to the top-level team rather than deleted or suspended. After enabling, assign configuration profiles to each user and set up user setting rules for future additions.
Can I switch back to manual mode after enabling automatic management?
Yes. If you switch back to manual mode, syncing stops, Backstory saves the imported Salesforce hierarchy, and manual tools become available again. Reports, dashboards, and Saved Views that reference old Team IDs may need to be updated.
Can I add a user to Backstory if they do not have a Salesforce license?
Yes. Admins can add users individually using the Add User button regardless of Salesforce license status. However, manually added users cannot be placed into a role hierarchy team and will remain in the Unassigned group.
Can I edit user attributes in Backstory if automatic management mode is enabled?
Some attributes, including job title, first name, last name, and team, are pulled from Salesforce and cannot be edited directly in Backstory when automatic management mode is enabled. Make those changes in Salesforce and they will sync to Backstory within 15 to 30 minutes.
What does it mean when a user shows a Permission Error status?
A Permission Error means Backstory is not authorized to access that user's mailbox. Ensure the user is properly provisioned within your email provider and that the appropriate access has been granted.
Need Help?
Contact your Customer Success Manager or support@backstory.ai.