What you'll achieve
You'll send an invitation to the right email address, choose the intended membership type and confirm that the invitation is pending. You will also know how to resend or cancel it.
This guide finishes with an invitation. It does not finish the person's access setup. Roles and permissions determine what an accepted member can do and must be checked separately.
Who this is for
This guide is for an Organisation Administrator with permission to manage the organisation. An Organisation Administrator is also a licensed Collaborator, with additional organisation-wide responsibilities.
What this changes
The person receives an email inviting them to join your organisation in Backstory. The invitation records a membership type, but that type is not a complete access decision. Effective access can also come from organisation-scoped roles and permissions.
Before you send anything, be clear about:
- why the person needs access;
- whether they need Participant or licensed Collaborator access;
- which role they will need after joining; and
- who will confirm that their final access is correct.
Before you start
Check that you have:
- the person's correct work email address;
- their agreement or a valid organisational reason to invite them;
- the intended membership type from the options your organisation provides;
- an available licence if the chosen type is licensed; and
- a plan for the role and permissions they will need after accepting.
Do not send a speculative invitation while ownership or access scope is still unclear.
Send the invitation
1. Open the members page
Open Settings > Organisation > Membership > Members.
The page shows current members and any pending invitations. Choose Invite Member.
2. Enter the email address
Under Email Address, enter the person's correct work address. Check it carefully before continuing. An invitation sent to the wrong address can expose the organisation's name and the fact that it uses Backstory.
3. Choose the membership type
Under Type, choose the appropriate option from your organisation's configured list.
Use the product language carefully:
- a Participant completes selected assigned actions, such as an attestation;
- a Collaborator is a licensed platform user; and
- an Organisation Administrator is a Collaborator whose roles and permissions allow organisation-wide administration.
The membership type is not the final permission assignment. After the person accepts, check their effective role and permissions.
4. Add a personal message, if useful
The Personal Message is optional. Keep it short and explain why the person is being invited.
Do not put passwords, confidential case details, policy text or unnecessary personal information in the message. It will be sent by email.
5. Send the invitation
Choose Send Invitation.
Backstory closes the form and refreshes the members information.
Check it worked
Find the email address in Pending Invitations. Check the displayed type and the person who sent the invitation.
Ask the recipient to confirm that the email arrived. Do not ask them to forward the invitation link back to you.
After they accept, confirm that they appear in Current Members. Then check their role and effective permissions using the organisation's role-management process. Do not assume that accepting the invitation completed their access setup.
Manage a pending invitation
You can resend or cancel an invitation while it is still pending. Choose the action that matches the access decision.
Resend it
If the recipient cannot find the message, ask them to check spam or quarantine first. Then use Resend invitation in the pending-invitations row.
Ask the recipient to use the newest invitation email. Do not make claims about the expiry of an older link unless the product shows that information for the invitation you are managing.
Cancel it
Use Cancel invitation when:
- the email address is wrong;
- the person no longer needs access; or
- the access decision needs to be reconsidered.
Confirm the cancellation when Backstory asks. If the invitation was sent to the wrong address, record that fact through your organisation's security or privacy process where appropriate.
Keep a useful record
Record the access decision in the change or joiner record your organisation uses. Include:
- who was invited;
- who approved it;
- the membership type chosen;
- the role intended after acceptance; and
- the date the access was checked with the new member.
The Pending Invitations table is operational evidence, not a replacement for your organisation's approval record.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Invite Member is missing | Confirm you are in the right organisation. Ask another Organisation Administrator to check your effective access. |
| The email address is wrong | Cancel the pending invitation and create a new one with the correct address. |
| The email has not arrived | Ask the recipient to check spam or quarantine, then use Resend invitation. |
| The needed type is not offered | Stop. Ask the person responsible for organisation configuration to review the available membership types. |
| The person joined but cannot do their work | Check their role, permissions, membership status and licence. Do not send repeated invitations as an access fix. |
| The person received more access than intended | Treat this as an access issue. Correct the role or membership status promptly and record what changed. |
Security and human judgement
Give people only the access they need. A friendly invitation is still an access-control event, so verify the recipient and the purpose before sending it.
Never sign in as the invited person to test their access. Ask them to confirm what they can see, or use the administrator's access-troubleshooting view without exposing their credentials.
What's next
When the invitation is accepted, use GUIDE-ORG-002: Manage members, roles and access to check the person's role and GUIDE-ORG-003: Manage licences and account levels for any seat allocation. Ask them to check the first task they need to complete.
Need help?
Use your organisation's Backstory support route. Include the recipient's email address only through an approved private support channel, and describe the invitation status without copying the invitation link.