This is Module 1 of the Tribe Administrator Training. Managing users and permissions is your most fundamental responsibility as an administrator. Every colleague who works in Tribe needs an account, and the role assigned to that account determines exactly what they can see, edit, and do. Getting this right from the start prevents confusion, protects sensitive data, and ensures every user has the tools they need.
Understand the Permission System
Before creating users, it helps to understand how Tribe structures access. There are two key concepts.
Roles define what a user can do: which menus they can access, which records they can view or edit, and which configuration settings are available to them. Every user must be assigned at least one role.
Teams define what a user can see. If your organisation works with separate departments or regions, teams allow you to shield data between groups so that each team only sees its own records.
Watch: Roles and Teams Explained
Create Users and Assign Roles
When a new colleague joins your organisation, you need to invite them to Tribe, assign the right role, optionally add them to a team, and verify the result. The complete walkthrough for this process is covered in a dedicated article.
Before you start, always check whether you have an available licence via your organisation logo → Subscriptions and Licenses. And when a colleague leaves, never delete their user account. Deactivating the account prevents login while preserving the full history of their activities in Tribe.
Read: Onboarding a New User
Assignment 1: Create a new user
Create a new user account using one of your own email addresses as a test user, not the one used for your admin account.
Assign an existing role to the user.
Log in as that user in a private or incognito browser window and check what they can and cannot see.
Return to your admin account and deactivate the test user.
Assignment 2: Adjust a role
Find the role you assigned in Assignment 1.
Remove access to one menu item or activity.
Log back in as the test user and confirm the change is visible.
Restore the original permission.
Work With Teams
Teams are optional but valuable for organisations that need to control data visibility between groups. To set up a team, navigate to Configuration, then select Teams, create a new team, activate data shielding, and choose whether to shield activities only or both relationships and activities. You then add members to complete the setup.
Note! If your organisation does not use data shielding, you can skip this step entirely.
Assignment 3: Create a team (optional)
Create a new team and add at least two users.
Review whether any existing views or widgets in your environment use team-based filtering.
Configure Security Settings
Configuring users and roles is not complete without securing how they log in. The settings below apply to your entire environment. Set them up once and they protect every user automatically.
Two-factor authentication (2FA)
Adds a second verification step at login and significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access, even if a password is compromised. Enabling 2FA for all users is strongly recommended.
Password policy
Lets you set minimum requirements for password length and complexity, ensuring users cannot set weak passwords that put your CRM data at risk.
Single Sign-On and SCIM
Are advanced settings for organisations using Microsoft Azure AD. With SSO, users log in with their existing company credentials. With SCIM, user provisioning is fully automated: creating, updating, or deactivating a user in Azure AD automatically syncs to Tribe, removing the need to manage users in two places. SSO and SCIM are typically set up by an IT administrator rather than a functional CRM administrator. If your organisation uses Azure AD, involve your IT team before configuring these settings.
Quick Summary
This module covers the foundation of Tribe administration: how roles and teams control access and visibility, how to create and manage user accounts, how to set up teams, and how to secure your environment with authentication and password settings. With these in place, every user in your organisation has exactly the access they need.
Module 1 complete. Continue to Module 2: Data & Configuration.