Administrator Guide · A14

The Configuration window

The Configuration window is where a computer is set up: the licence, which database TechieCRM opens, getting that database ready for TechieCRM, linking TechieCRM IDs to CRM user IDs in it, this computer's local copy and cloud sync, where email is set up, and which History notes the office writes. It mirrors the TechieCRM Local Portal's configuration pages (Administrator Guide A13), so the same words and the same steps work in both.

There are two ways in, and the window works a little differently in each:

From Opens on Mode
The gear beside Database Server on the sign-in window (A3) Database Before sign-in: nobody is "you" yet; each action asks for the proof it needs.
By itself, over the sign-in window, on a computer that still needs setting up (see When the window opens by itself) Licence Before sign-in.
Setup ▸ Administration ▸ Configuration on the ribbon (A6), in every module Database Signed in (see Signed in: Setup ▸ Configuration).
Tools ▸ Wizard Licence Signed in.
File ▸ Configuration... in the Administrator program (A4) Database Signed in (before that window's own sign-in: before sign-in).

Every page is reachable from the page list whichever way you came in. The window replaced the first-run setup wizard.

In this chapter

  • The window
  • When the window opens by itself
  • Signed in: Setup ▸ Configuration
  • The Database page
  • In use now
  • Office database time zone
  • Found on this computer and your network
  • Connect to: SQL Server
  • Connect to: MongoDB
  • Preparing a database
  • Available client databases
  • This computer's local copy and cloud sync
  • Back to the sign-in window
  • The Linked CRM logins page
  • The office-wide sign-in setting
  • The Licence page
  • The Email page
  • The History notes page
  • Not yet available

The window

Sign in with your TechieCRM ID first (October 2026). Opened from the gear on the sign-in window, or by itself on a first launch, the window starts with Sign in with your TechieCRM ID: your TechieCRM ID (filled in when you typed it on the sign-in window) and its password. Once you press Sign in, TechieCRM loads what your office already set up:

  1. Your office's licence. If this computer has no licence (or only a trial), your workspace's licence is activated here (Your office's licence is now activated on this computer.). If it already runs on it, it says so; a computer on another workspace's licence keeps it.
  2. Your office's database settings saved on this computer by the local portal or another TechieCRM desktop: the Database page's server, database and SQL login are filled in. On a computer where nothing is saved yet, they come from your workspace in the TechieCRM cloud (Your office's database settings came from your workspace in the TechieCRM cloud ...) and are kept on this computer from then on. Save on the Database page keeps them in your workspace too (names only, never a password), so every computer in the office gets them.
  3. Your linked CRM login. Your CRM user ID linked to your TechieCRM ID in that database, and its password when you saved it in your Credential Storage Manager, fill the SQL login and password; the Linked CRM logins page then reads the links and the office-wide setting with them.

A line at the top then says Signed in with your TechieCRM ID (). and what was done. Without the internet, someone who has signed in on this computer before is checked against this computer's record of that sign-in. Continue without signing in opens the pages as before (a new computer with no internet, or no TechieCRM ID yet). Opened from inside TechieCRM (Setup ▸ Administration ▸ Configuration), the window never asks: you are already signed in.

Part What it is
Page list (left) The pages of the window: Database, Linked CRM logins, Licence and Email, in the local portal's order, then History notes.
Why it opened (top) Only when the window opened by itself: Welcome to TechieCRM. This computer runs on the 7-day trial. No database is set up for signing in yet. ..., with what to do.
The page (right) The page you chose. It scrolls when the window is small and grows when you make the window bigger.
Status line (bottom) A short line while TechieCRM is busy, for example Looking for databases on this computer and your network...
Close Back to the sign-in window (before sign-in) or to TechieCRM (signed in).

The window can be resized; nothing in it is cut off, even at its smallest size. Every colour comes from your theme and changes with it (Theme, Primary and Accent in Settings): the Save (Database and History notes pages), Link my TechieCRM ID, Activate and Open Settings > Email buttons are your Primary colour (green unless you chose another), and Remove, Forget this connection and Deactivate this computer are marked in the warning red.

Nothing on the Database, Linked CRM logins and Licence pages needs you to be signed in. Looking for databases, listing them and testing a connection only read; nothing is created in a database until you press Prepare and confirm. Email accounts belong to each person, so the Email page only offers them once you are signed in.

When the window opens by itself

When TechieCRM starts, the sign-in window opens with the Configuration window over it, on the Licence page, when this computer has:

What is missing Opens it
No real licence: none at all, or only the automatic 7-day trial Every start until a licence is activated. The trial still works while it lasts; it only means the window opens.
No saved database: the sign-in window has no SQL Server and database (or MongoDB database) to open Every start until one is saved on the Database page.
No link: the last sign-in on this computer was not with a TechieCRM ID The first start only. After the window has been shown once, an office that signs in with CRM user IDs is not asked again.

The line at the top of the window says which of these it found. Work through the pages in order (Licence, then Database, then Linked CRM logins), then Close: the sign-in window is filled from the database you saved, and you sign in as usual. Nothing on the pages is required; closing the window early leaves the sign-in window as it is, and the gear opens the window again at any time.

A copy of TechieCRM run from its source code (a development run) has no licence to set up, so the licence never opens the window there.

For the people who look after many computers: the window remembers it was shown in the same place the old first-run wizard did (firstRun/completed), and setting the environment variable TCRM_SETUP_WIZARD=1 before starting TechieCRM opens it on every start (for testing and demonstrations).

Signed in: Setup ▸ Configuration

Once you are signed in, Setup ▸ Administration ▸ Configuration (and Tools ▸ Wizard) open the same window, with you as "you":

What Signed in
Database page A green line at the top says You are signed in to on as . Saving or opening another database asks you to sign out first. (and You are a TechieCRM administrator. when you are one). In use now shows that database. The database search starts when you press Refresh.
A database change Save or Open on a different database (or MongoDB while you are signed in to SQL, or the other way round) asks Sign out to use this database: You are signed in to ... To use ..., TechieCRM signs you out and opens the sign-in window with it filled in. Sign out now? Sign out now closes the Configuration window and opens the sign-in window filled with the new database; type your password there (pressing Cancel on the sign-in window keeps you signed in as before). Stay signed in (the default) keeps you where you are; the status line says the database is saved for the next sign-in. Saving the database you are already in asks nothing. Open does not close the window while you stay signed in.
Linked CRM logins page Administrator actions need a TechieCRM administrator: MASTER, or a CRM user ID allowed to manage users (A4, Who counts as an administrator here). For the database you are signed in to, an administrator's own sign-in counts: You are signed in as MASTER, a TechieCRM administrator: the administrator actions on this page use your sign-in., the links table is shown at once, and there is no separate sign-in on the page. Every administrator action still checks the right again first, so a right taken away since you signed in refuses. Anyone else sees Only a TechieCRM administrator can do this. You can still link your own TechieCRM ID below. For another database typed on the Database page, an administrator signs in for that database on the page, as before sign-in.
Licence page Check now, Copy and Deactivate this computer are for a TechieCRM administrator; the licence-holder check is not offered. Anyone else sees Only a TechieCRM administrator can do this.
Email page Your email accounts and Open Settings > Email (see The Email page).
History notes page The office's History notes setting, read when you open the page; a TechieCRM administrator can change it (see The History notes page).

The Database page

The page starts with what it does: Connect this computer to your CRM's SQL Server database, or choose its TechieCRM MongoDB database. When this page opens, TechieCRM looks for MongoDB on this computer and for SQL Servers on this computer and your network ...

When a TechieCRM Local Portal runs on the same computer, a line says so: A local portal runs on this computer; its Web server page is in its header. Nothing is opened for you.

In use now

Line What it says
SQL Server database The database the sign-in window opens: the one you saved or opened on this page (marked Chosen for sign-in:), else the last one signed in to on this computer, with its server and CRM user ID. No SQL Server database is chosen on this computer yet. when there is none.
MongoDB The MongoDB this TechieCRM uses (its own database on this computer, or another server saved in Settings ▸ Local Database), or why there is none.
Office settings shared on this computer What the local portal (or another TechieCRM on this computer) saved as your office's SQL Server database and MongoDB, with who saved it and when: Office SQL Server database (shared on this computer): IslandCRM2017 on OFFICE-PC\SQLEXPRESS, SQL login MASTER, saved by the local portal on 21 Oct 2026. Shown only once this computer has your workspace's licence. Empty fields under Connect to are filled from it (never a password; a value you typed is kept).
Office database time zone The time zone your office database's server keeps its times in: Office database time zone: America/Vancouver, detected from the office server's clock on 25 Oct 2026. Detected, never typed; when copying is paused, the next person who saves a record is asked to confirm it (see Office database time zone below). Before you sign in it shows the zone recorded for your workspace, if there is one.
Setup Whether TechieCRM's tables are in that SQL database: TechieCRM's tables are not in this database yet. (amber), This database has every table TechieCRM needs. (green), or the line about tables removed on purpose (red). Until Test connection or Prepare has read the database it says Setup not checked yet.

Office database time zone

Your office database keeps many of its times (when a ticket was opened or resolved, when a record last changed, a note's date and time) in the office's local time. The web portal and the phones show every time in the viewer's own time zone, so TechieCRM converts the office's times using the office's time zone. That zone is detected, not typed:

  • When you are signed in to the office SQL database, the Database page reads the database server's clock and works out its time zone: the server's own zone when it can say (newer SQL Server versions), else this computer's zone when its clock agrees with the server's, else the zone recorded earlier.
  • The first zone found is recorded for your workspace, shared with the local portal on this computer, and copied to the cloud with the office settings the next time they are saved.
  • A zone that keeps the same clock as the recorded one all through the coming year (for example America/Whitehorse and America/Vancouver, both on UTC-7 all year from November 2026) counts as the same zone; the recorded name stays.

When something is wrong, the line says so instead and copying of records that carry office times pauses until it is sorted out. No administrator is needed: under the line the page says The next person who saves a record is asked to confirm the office time zone; copying of records that carry office times starts again after the answer.

What the line says What happens
The office database server's clock could not be read ... Nothing to do: TechieCRM tries again on the next sync. If it keeps saying this, check that you can sign in to the office database. (When no zone has ever been recorded, the next person who saves a record is asked, as below.)
TechieCRM could not work out the office database server's time zone: its clock is UTC-07:00 and this computer is in ... The next person who saves a record is asked to pick the office's time zone.
The office database server's time zone now reads as ..., but TechieCRM recorded ... The server's zone changed (or this computer's zone was changed). The next person who saves a record is asked to confirm which zone is right.

Confirming the office time zone when you save

When copying is paused, the next time you save a record on the desktop (a client, a note, a ticket, a sale, a meeting, a to-do, a document) a window titled Confirm the office time zone opens before the save finishes. It offers:

  • the zone the office server's clock shows now (America/Los_Angeles (what the office server's clock shows now)), when one was worked out;
  • the zone recorded before (America/Vancouver (recorded before)), when there is one;
  • Another time zone: with a list of every time zone that matches the office server's clock (every time zone when the clock could not be read).

Pick one and press Use this time zone. A zone that does not match the server's clock is refused in the window with the reason (America/Toronto does not match the office database server's clock (UTC-07:00). Choose a time zone that does.). The window cannot be closed without an answer; your record is saved as soon as you answer, and copying starts again.

The window also explains what happens next: If you travel and TechieCRM detects a time zone change again, it will try to update the saved time zone automatically. If it cannot tell which time zone is right, you will be asked again. Once someone has confirmed a zone this way:

  • while the office server's clock still agrees with it, it is kept;
  • when the server's clock no longer agrees and TechieCRM can work out the new zone, the recorded zone is updated automatically (Office database time zone: America/Toronto, updated automatically from the office server's clock on 2 Nov 2026 (it was America/Vancouver).);
  • only when TechieCRM cannot work out the zone is the next person saving a record asked again.

A confirmed zone shows as Office database time zone: America/Vancouver, confirmed when a record was saved on 26 Oct 2026. TechieCRM follows the office server's clock from here.

Nothing is asked when no one is at a screen (a save made in the background); copying stays paused until someone saves a record on the desktop. Changing the recorded zone does not re-convert times already stored.

Converting stored times (once)

Records copied from the office database before October 2026 hold the office's local times labelled as universal time, so the web portal and phones showed them 7 or 8 hours early in Pacific time. New and changed records are converted as they are copied (Chapter 13, "Times from the office database"); the records already in this computer's database are converted once, and only after an administrator has seen what that means:

  1. The check runs by itself. On the first sync after this version is installed, TechieCRM counts what the conversion would do and writes nothing else. The Database page then shows a line such as Stored times checked on 26 Oct 2026 (America/Vancouver): 12,345 records and 180,000 notes hold office time and will be converted to universal time; the office database itself is not changed. Notes whose rows no longer exist in the office database are counted and left as they are.
  2. An administrator presses Convert stored times. Only administrators see the button, and only once the check has run. The conversion runs in the background on this computer, a thousand records at a time, with the line showing its progress (Converting stored times: clients 3,000 converted ...). Notes are re-read from the office database to recover their time of day (a read only; no NOLOCK), so the office database server must be reachable. Closing TechieCRM part-way is safe: the next Convert carries on where it stopped, and no record is converted twice.
  3. When it finishes the line reads Stored times converted on (), and the converted records are sent to the cloud over the following syncs, at most 20,000 per sync, so a large office's notes trickle up over a few hours without slowing anything else.

What is not touched: the office database itself (nothing is written to it), records born on the web or on a phone (already universal time), meetings and to-dos (already universal time; they only receive the marker), and the Library (converted in a later update, because the desktop and the copy engine both write it and must change together).

If the line says The stored times were not converted: ..., the reason follows (most often the office database time zone is paused, above, or a sync was already running); fix that and press Convert again.

Found on this computer and your network

When the page opens, TechieCRM looks, in the background, for:

  • MongoDB: the MongoDB this TechieCRM is set to use, and whether it answered;
  • SQL Server: SQL Server instances installed on this computer (Windows), servers that answered on your local network, and servers you have used before.

A short line at the top says where SQL Servers were found, for example Network SQL Server: OFFICE-PC\SQLEXPRESS; TechieCRM saved: OFFICE-PC\SQLEXPRESS. (Local SQL Server for one on this computer). Below it, MongoDB: and SQL Server: each have their round buttons on the same line, one per server, with where it was found in brackets: mongodb://localhost:27017 (This computer answered), OFFICE-PC\SQLEXPRESS (On your network). A server whose Windows service is stopped, or a MongoDB that did not answer, is greyed. Refresh looks again (it takes a few seconds; pressing it again while it looks does nothing).

Which button is chosen when the list appears (the local portal's rule):

  1. the server you chose before pressing Refresh, if it is still there;
  2. otherwise the server that the form below already holds;
  3. otherwise, when the form is empty and exactly one server can be chosen, that one, and the form is filled from it;
  4. otherwise none.

Choosing a server yourself fills Server (SQL) or Address and User (MongoDB) and switches Connect to to that side. A server behind a firewall, or with the SQL Server Browser service off, is not found; type its name instead.

Connect to: SQL Server

Set the SQL / Mongo switch (the same switch as the sign-in window, on the same line as Connect to) to SQL. The fields and buttons take the left half of the section; Available client databases sits in the right half.

Field What to type
Server host, host\INSTANCE or host,port, or choose a found server.
SQL login A SQL Server login, not Windows sign-in. The first time, use the MASTER login or one with db_owner on the database, so TechieCRM may create its tables.
Password That login's password. It is used for the button you press and kept only in the field while the window is open; it is never saved.
Database Click the list (or the empty field) and TechieCRM lists the databases, then opens the list: it signs in to the server's master database with the SQL login you typed and lists its databases. System databases and the source CRM's own configuration databases are left out; a database this login may not open says so when you rest the pointer on it. While the server and login stay the same, the list opens straight away; change either and the next click lists again. You can also type the name.
Button What it does
Save Uses this server and database for sign-in on this computer: they are added to Available client databases and filled into the sign-in window, with the SQL login as the CRM user ID. No password is kept. The server, database and SQL login are also shared with the local portal on this computer (Shared with the local portal on this computer.), or the answer says why not (for example, no licence for a workspace yet). The window stays open.
Test connection Signs in to the chosen database with the SQL login you typed and says Connected to on ., whether this login may create tables, and whether TechieCRM's tables are there. A refusal says why: a wrong login or password, a database this login may not open, a server that did not answer, or a missing ODBC driver.
Prepare / Prepare again See Preparing a database.

Each answer appears under the buttons, green when it worked and red when it did not. While a button's work runs, the SQL buttons wait; the window stays responsive.

When ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server is not installed, the SQL side of the switch and the Test and Prepare buttons are greyed (the Database list only takes a typed name), with how to install it when you rest the pointer on them.

Connect to: MongoDB

Set the switch to Mongo.

Field What to type
Address Leave it empty to use the TechieCRM database this computer already uses. Type mongodb://host:port to use another MongoDB server.
User, Password Only for a server that asks for them. Leave Password empty to use the password already saved for the same user.
Database Click the list and TechieCRM lists the databases on the server, then opens the list, or type the name. TechieCRM databases are marked (TechieCRM). With Address empty and no MongoDB set up on this computer, it says why and connects to nothing.
Button What it does
Save With Address empty: uses this MongoDB database for sign-in (the sign-in window switches to Mongo and is filled); nothing is written. With an address: tests the server first, then saves it in Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Connect to another MongoDB server (the password in this computer's credential store); restart TechieCRM to use it. A server that fails its test is not saved. The address, user and database (never the password) are also shared with the local portal on this computer.
Test connection Checks that the server answers.
New... Creates a new, empty TechieCRM database on this computer's MongoDB (after the Database list has been opened with Address empty). Use letters, digits, _ or -; system names and names TechieCRM reserves are refused, and so is a name already on the server. The new database is selected, ready to Save.
Forget this connection Shown when another MongoDB server is saved. Asks first, then removes the saved server and its password from this computer; its databases are not changed. Restart TechieCRM to go back to this computer's own database.

Preparing a database

TechieCRM keeps its own features in tables whose names start with TCRM_, inside your CRM database. A database restored from a backup of the source CRM, or never opened by TechieCRM, does not have them yet. Prepare creates them from this page, before anyone signs in, and gives the database its workspace ID (the number TechieCRM uses to keep links between TechieCRM IDs and CRM user IDs for this database).

  1. Fill in Server, SQL login, Password and Database. Use the MASTER login, or a login with db_owner on the database.
  2. Press Prepare and confirm: Prepare creates TechieCRM's own tables in on and gives the database its TechieCRM workspace ID. Your CRM's own data and tables are not changed.
  3. The Steps list fills in as TechieCRM works: - signing in with the login you typed; - checking whether TechieCRM was removed from this database on purpose (see below); - checking that the login may create tables, before anything is created; - each set of tables created, columns or indexes added, and the web users' (CRMGroup) permissions granted; - the workspace ID: given, already there, or why not; - Done.
  4. The answer appears under the buttons. Prepare becomes Prepare again, and In use now says the database has every table TechieCRM needs (when it is the database in use).

Prepare again is safe at any time: it creates only what is missing and keeps the workspace ID the database already has.

What you see Why, and what to do
Only a SQL login that may create tables can prepare this database: the MASTER login, or a login with db_owner on it. Ask whoever looks after your SQL Server. The login you typed may not create tables. Nothing was changed. Type the MASTER login (or a db_owner login) and press Prepare again.
TechieCRM's tables were removed from this database on purpose, so TechieCRM did not create them again ... An administrator removed TechieCRM from this database (A12, Removing TechieCRM from a database). Nothing is created, and Prepare is greyed with this reason. To put TechieCRM back, an administrator uses Restore TechieCRM to this database in Repair Database.
Could not connect: ... The server did not answer, or refused the login. Nothing was changed.
Some tables could not be set up The answer names them. Prepare again with the MASTER login, or a login with db_owner.

Prepare writes only TechieCRM's own TCRM_ tables and the one row that holds the workspace ID. It never changes the source CRM's own tables. Two computers preparing the same database at the same moment end with one workspace ID.

The local portal's Save and prepare does the same preparation (A13).

Available client databases

In the right half of Connect to, level with the switch, with Open and Remove level with Save (a longer list scrolls): the databases this computer has used (the list from the old Open Database Server window): your last sign-in is always there, and every successful sign-in adds its database. Choose one to see its server and whether it is on this computer.

Button What it does
Open Fills the sign-in window with this database (and the SQL login typed above, when there is one) and closes the Configuration window. Double-clicking a database does the same. Greyed when SQL Server cannot be used on this computer.
Remove Takes the database off this list, including when it is your last sign-in, so it does not come back. Nothing in the database changes.

This computer's local copy and cloud sync

The last section of the Database page (the first-run wizard's last two pages; until this release they were on the Licence page). It is read when the page is first shown.

Part What it does
The line TechieCRM keeps this computer's records in the local database '', so everything works offline. Without TechieCRM's database engine on this computer it says there is no local database and which features need one.
Sync this computer's records to your TechieCRM cloud workspace Your sync choice, ticked or not as it is now. Changing it takes effect at once and says Cloud sync is on ... or Cloud sync is off. Turn it on here, or in Tools > Cloud > Cloud Connection. Greyed without a MongoDB database, with the reason when you rest the pointer on it; your earlier choice is kept for when one is connected.

Until cloud sync is on and has completed, some features stay unavailable: text messages, your records on the web portal and mobile apps, cloud backups, and settings that follow you between devices.

Back to the sign-in window

Before sign-in, every Save and Open fills the sign-in window straight away: for SQL the SQL side of the switch, Database Server, Client Database and your CRM user ID; for MongoDB the Mongo side and the database name. Type your password there and press Login. Signed in, see Signed in: Setup ▸ Configuration (a database change asks to sign out first).

The Linked CRM logins page

People sign in to SQL Server with their CRM user ID, or with their TechieCRM ID through the CRM user ID linked to it (A3, Signing in to SQL with your TechieCRM ID). This page shows and changes those links for the SQL Server database chosen on the Database page (the server and database typed in Connect to, else the one you saved or opened, else the last sign-in). The line under the opening sentence names it: Links for on . Choose another database on the Database page. Choosing another database there forgets everything proved on this page.

It mirrors the local portal's Linked CRM logins (Config database) and its Licence page's Link my TechieCRM ID (A13): the same words, the same table, and the same links, because both keep them in your office database.

Part What it does
Let TechieCRM IDs sign in to SQL Server with a linked CRM login The office-wide setting (see The office-wide sign-in setting below): its state once someone has signed in on this page, with Turn off / Turn on for an administrator.
Sign in as an administrator for this page A CRM user ID and CRM password with Sign in. It counts when the login is MASTER or holds the user-management right (Administrator Guide A4, Who counts as an administrator here). It is a real SQL Server sign-in, not a name match; it lasts until the window closes, or Sign out of this page. The password is kept only in memory while the window is open. A login that signs in but is not an administrator is told so and nothing is kept.
Links in this database The table: CRM user ID, TechieCRM ID, Kept in (Office database), Saved password (only for your own row, after Link my TechieCRM ID: Saved or Not saved), Linked (the day it was made) and Remove. Only an administrator sees it (signed in on this page), as on the local portal; anyone else sees Only an administrator sees this database's links ... and their own link under Your link. No links yet. when there are none.
Reasons, with Prepare beside them This database has no TechieCRM workspace ID yet, so links cannot be kept for it. Prepare gives it one ..., or that the table for the links is missing. Prepare asks first, then prepares the database with the administrator's login (as on the Database page). Without an administrator signed in on this page it takes you to the Database page, where Prepare is.
Your link After Link my TechieCRM ID: Your TechieCRM ID ... is linked to the CRM user ID ... in this database., whether your CRM password is saved in your Credential Storage Manager, and Remove my link (both passwords again).
Link my TechieCRM ID Your TechieCRM ID and TechieCRM password, your CRM user ID and CRM password, and Save in my Credential Storage Manager. See below.
Link another person For administrators: the person's TechieCRM ID (their email address) and the CRM user ID to link it to. Greyed until an administrator has signed in on this page. See below.

Link my TechieCRM ID, step by step (Shannon's first-day path):

  1. On the Database page, choose the server and database (and Prepare it, if you like).
  2. Open Linked CRM logins. Type your TechieCRM ID (for example sporter@islandcrm.com) and its password, your CRM user ID (for example MASTER) and its password. Tick Save in my Credential Storage Manager to keep the CRM password there as an Office database login (encrypted, Personal, yours only; it needs a TechieCRM cloud subscription, as at sign-in).
  3. Press Link my TechieCRM ID. Your TechieCRM ID is checked by the TechieCRM cloud (or by this computer's record of your last sign-in when offline) and your CRM user ID by SQL Server.
  4. If the database has no workspace ID yet and your CRM user ID may create tables, TechieCRM asks Prepare the database now, then link?. Yes prepares it and links you; No links nothing. A CRM user ID that may not create tables is told who can (the MASTER login, or a login with db_owner) and nothing is written.
  5. The answer appears under the button: Linked: signs in to as CRM user ID . Your link shows it (an administrator also sees your row in the table), and both password fields are cleared. Linking works whatever the office-wide sign-in setting says; the setting decides whether the link may be used to sign in. Close the window, choose SQL on the sign-in window and sign in with your TechieCRM ID: with the saved password you are signed straight in.

A wrong password, a CRM user ID already linked to someone else, or a TechieCRM cloud that refuses the link is said under the button in those words, and nothing is written.

One TechieCRM ID, one CRM user ID (Shannon, 24 October 2026). A TechieCRM ID already linked to a different CRM user ID is refused, in this database or another of your office's databases: This TechieCRM ID is already linked to the CRM user ID ANN. A TechieCRM ID links to one CRM user ID only: remove that link first (Configuration, Linked CRM logins, on the database that holds it), then link ANN2. To change it, Remove my link (or an administrator's Remove), then link again. The same CRM user ID in two databases is one login and is allowed; upper and lower case are the same.

This computer's licence is not linked to a TechieCRM workspace, so the TechieCRM cloud cannot check TechieCRM IDs from here ... means this computer runs on a licence of its own (a trial, for example) rather than your office's. The cloud only checks TechieCRM IDs of the workspace the licence belongs to. On the Licence page, Activate your office's licence key (or Sign in with your TechieCRM ID and pick it), then press Link my TechieCRM ID again.

Link another person (administrators). Sign in as an administrator for this page first. Type the person's TechieCRM ID and the CRM user ID, and press Link another person. The TechieCRM cloud finds the person in your office's TechieCRM account (it never searches anyone else's), and the link is recorded under your administrator CRM user ID. What you may see instead:

Message Meaning
No TechieCRM ID ... was found in this office's TechieCRM account ... The address is not a TechieCRM ID of your account (or its login is switched off). Check it, or ask the person to register under your account first.
Another person's TechieCRM ID can only be found through the TechieCRM cloud ... This computer's licence has no cloud account. Ask the person to link their own TechieCRM ID with both passwords.
The TechieCRM cloud could not be reached ... / Too many TechieCRM ID look-ups ... Try again later (look-ups are limited to protect your account).
The CRM user ID ... is already linked to another TechieCRM ID ... Remove that link first.
This TechieCRM ID is already linked to the CRM user ID ... The person already has a link (one TechieCRM ID, one CRM user ID). Remove it first, then link again.

Links made before the one-to-one rule are kept, never removed for you. When this database has any, the administrator sees one sentence for each under the table, for example The CRM user ID SALES1 is linked to more than one TechieCRM ID (anna@..., bob@...) in one database. Keep one: remove the others. Remove the one that is wrong with its Remove button.

When an office database is restored under a new workspace ID, the links of the old database stay active in the TechieCRM cloud, and because one TechieCRM ID links to one CRM user ID they stop the same people linking a different CRM user ID in the restored database. This page cannot remove them: it reads the database you have open, not the old one. A workspace administrator retires them in the TechieCRM web portal instead: Workspace Admin ▸ Linked CRM Logins.

  • The page lists links in databases that may no longer be in use (another database of your workspace was used more recently), with each CRM user ID, TechieCRM ID and when it was linked, and the links made before the one-to-one rule.
  • Tick the links to retire and press Retire selected. Each is kept as history, marked as stopped with who retired it and when, and no longer blocks a new link. One entry goes in the activity log; when it cannot be written, nothing is retired.
  • Nothing is deleted and nothing is retired for you. Only an administrator of your own workspace sees the page, and only your workspace's links.
  • Retire links only of a database no computer uses any more: a computer still signed in to the old database can bring its link back with its next sync.

Remove. In the table, Remove in a row: with an administrator signed in on this page, after Remove the link of CRM user ID ...?; otherwise a small window asks for the TechieCRM ID linked to that row and both passwords (so a person can remove their own link without an administrator). A link is never deleted: it is marked as stopped and the table no longer lists it. The person then signs in to SQL Server with the CRM user ID, or links it again.

Every action runs in the background and the page stays responsive; the status line says Working.... Link my TechieCRM ID is your Primary colour (green unless you chose another) and Remove is marked in the warning red.

The office-wide sign-in setting

Let TechieCRM IDs sign in to SQL Server with a linked CRM login is one setting for the whole office, kept in the office database: every TechieCRM desktop and the local portal follow it, and an administrator changes it on either (the local portal's Config database ▸ Linked CRM logins, A13).

State What happens
On (the default, also when it was never changed) People may sign in with their TechieCRM ID with SQL chosen, through the CRM user ID linked to it (A3).
Off A TechieCRM ID with SQL chosen is refused: In this office a TechieCRM ID cannot sign in to SQL Server: an administrator turned it off. Sign in with your CRM user ID, or choose MongoDB. Signing in with the CRM user ID itself, and with MongoDB chosen, is not affected. Links are kept and can still be made.

To change it: on Linked CRM logins, Sign in as an administrator for this page, then Turn off (or Turn on). The answer appears under the button (TechieCRM IDs may no longer sign in to SQL Server. People choosing SQL Server sign in with their CRM user ID.), and the line under the setting says who last changed it. The change is recorded under your administrator CRM user ID and counts for every computer from their next sign-in.

The setting lives in a TechieCRM settings table that Prepare makes. On a database that has not been prepared the page says This database cannot keep the setting yet ... and there is nothing to change; it counts as On. When the setting cannot be read (the office database is busy), it counts as On and the page says so. Either way a TechieCRM ID still needs its CRM user ID's password to sign in.

Before this release the local portal kept its own copy of the setting for itself. It moves into the office database once: see A13, The office-wide sign-in setting.

The Licence page

The licence this computer runs on, reachable before anyone signs in. It mirrors the local portal's Licence page (A13): the same rows, the same order and the same words.

At the top a line says where you stand: Running on the 7-day trial: 5 days left. Activate your licence to keep going., Not licensed. Enter your licence key from techiecrm.com, or sign in with your TechieCRM ID and pick your licence., or Licensed: Full. (green when a real licence is active).

One licence for the desktop and the local portal on the same computer (October 2026). When either of them activates your office's licence, the other one uses it too: a desktop with no licence (or only a trial) takes it the next time it starts, without asking, and registers this computer with it at its next check-in (it works straight away even without the internet). The headline then adds Also activated by the local portal on this computer, so it is the same licence on both. A desktop that already runs on another real licence keeps it: that is another workspace.

This computer's licence lists, each label beside its value, Kind of licence, Licence key (only the start and end are shown), Tier, Trial, Status, Ends (with the days left), Workspace (and the TechieCRM account), This computer (and how the cloud recorded it), Seats and devices, Release phase and Check-in. A row the cloud has said nothing about is left out.

Section What it does Who may
Activate Paste the key from techiecrm.com (it starts with TCRM-) and press Activate. A signed key works without the internet; any other key is checked by the TechieCRM cloud. Or press Sign in with your TechieCRM ID: the TechieCRM sign-in window lists your licences and activates the one you pick. After an activation the details fill in, TechieCRM is no longer read-only, and the licence is tied to this computer's local database (as the first-run wizard did). Anyone at the computer.
Check and copy Check now asks the TechieCRM cloud about the licence now and says what it answered (Checked just now, The TechieCRM cloud could not be reached, The TechieCRM cloud did not confirm this licence, ...). Copy puts the full licence key on the clipboard. An administrator: before sign-in, one signed in for the Linked CRM logins page (Go to Linked CRM logins takes you there).
Deactivate this computer Releases this computer on the TechieCRM cloud and removes the licence stored here. Before anyone signs in, type the TechieCRM ID that holds the licence and its password and press Check: the TechieCRM cloud checks the password and that this licence belongs to that account (without the internet, a signed key's owner can be checked by this computer's record of their last sign-in). Then Deactivate this computer asks Deactivate this computer? with what it does, and Yes, deactivate this computer or Keep it activated (the default). The licence holder before sign-in; a TechieCRM administrator once signed in.

This computer's local copy and the cloud sync choice moved to the Database page (see This computer's local copy and cloud sync).

What Deactivate this computer does, as the confirmation says:

  • This computer is released on the TechieCRM cloud, and the licence stored here is removed.
  • TechieCRM on this computer can no longer add or change records until a key is entered again. Your records can still be read.
  • Your data, settings and databases are not touched.
  • If a TechieCRM local portal also runs on this computer, the cloud may keep one device record for both. Releasing this computer here can then release it for the portal too.
  • If the cloud cannot be reached, the licence is still removed here, and the cloud may keep its record of this computer until it is removed in Workspace Admin on techiecrm.com.

Every action runs in the background; the status line says Working... or Checking with the TechieCRM cloud....

The Email page

Email accounts, signatures and how the Email window works live in Settings ▸ Email, for each person, and follow you to your other computers (12, Setting up email accounts). This page mirrors the local portal's Settings > Email as far as it applies here. It starts with Email accounts belong to each person: sign in, then set them up here.

What you see
Before sign-in (the gear) Sign in first: email accounts belong to each person. Open Settings > Email is greyed, with the same sentence when you rest the pointer on it. Nothing is read.
Signed in Your email accounts: Signed in as . Only you see these accounts., how many there are, and one line per account: the address, the name, Not read or Not used for sending when they apply, and whether the password is saved (password missing: open Settings > Email and type it when it is not, signed in with the provider for an account that signs in through its provider). You have no email accounts in TechieCRM yet. when there are none. If the accounts cannot be read, it says so (it never pretends you have none).
Open Settings > Email Closes the Configuration window and opens Settings on Email, where accounts are added, changed and tested. From the Administrator program it opens Preferences on Email.

The page only reads; nothing about your accounts is changed here.

The History notes page

History notes are the permanent activity log on a record (Chapter 17, History notes TechieCRM writes about changes and deletes). This page decides which of them TechieCRM writes, for the whole office: every computer that works on your office CRM uses the same setting, and only a TechieCRM administrator (MASTER, or a CRM user ID allowed to manage users) can change it. It starts with History notes are the permanent activity log on a record: TechieCRM writes them itself, and nobody can change or delete one. These settings are for the whole office, and only an administrator can change them.

Switch Default What it does
Log conflicts and refused changes On When the same field of a record was changed in TechieCRM and in the office CRM, the newer change is kept. With this on, a History note on the record says which value was kept and which was replaced.
Log every add, change and delete Off TechieCRM also writes a History note each time a record is added, changed or deleted in TechieCRM. Off by default because it adds many notes.

Under the switches the page says which notes are always written, whatever the switches say: the note when the office CRM refuses a change for lack of rights; a note on the client entry when one of its notes, meetings or to-dos is deleted; a note on the company or individual when one of its contacts is deleted; and, when a company or individual is deleted, a note on the deleting person's own user record listing what it held (kept in TechieCRM only, never in the office CRM).

What you see
Before sign-in (the gear) Sign in to TechieCRM to see and change these settings. The switches and Save are greyed. Nothing is read.
Signed in, administrator The two switches as the office has them, Not changed yet: these are the defaults. or Last saved by on UTC., and Save. Saving says Saved. Every computer in the office uses these settings from now on. If the change cannot be saved it says Not saved: and why, and nothing changes.
Signed in, not an administrator The switches as the office has them, greyed, with Only a TechieCRM administrator can change these settings.
TechieCRM's database not open TechieCRM's database is not open on this computer, so these settings cannot be read. The defaults apply: conflicts and refused changes are logged, everyday changes are not.

The setting is kept in the office's TechieCRM database (beside the office CRM), so the office server and the computers that work on the office network all read the same one. Laptops that work through the cloud (remote workstations) do not use it: they never write the office CRM, and the delete notes they write are always on.

Not yet available

  • The History notes page on the local portal's Config pages (the portal reads the same setting once its page is added).

  • The approval of a local portal as one of your devices on the Email page (it comes with the local portal's own email device approval).

  • The local portal's found lists do not yet take their selection from the same shared rule on the server; they follow the same rule in the page.