If you’ve ever had your team accidentally overwrite each other’s work, missed an important email, or watched a campaign go sideways because someone clicked the wrong button, you know: collaboration tools can be a blessing or a curse. This guide is for folks using Woodpecker who want to keep their team working together—without stepping on each other’s toes or giving everyone the keys to the castle.
Here’s how to actually set up and manage your team, users, and permissions in Woodpecker, minus the fluff.
1. Know What You’re Actually Managing
First, let’s get real: “team management” means more than just inviting people and hoping for the best. In Woodpecker, you’re dealing with:
- Users: The actual people on your account.
- Roles/Permissions: What each person can do (or not do).
- Workspaces/Campaigns: Where the work actually happens.
Some tools overcomplicate this. Woodpecker keeps it pretty straightforward, but there are gotchas if you’re not paying attention.
2. Add Users (the Right Way)
Step 1: Go to your main dashboard and find “Team” or “Users” in the sidebar. (If you don’t see it, you might not be an admin—check with whoever set up your account.)
Step 2: Click “Add User” or “Invite Teammate”. Enter their email address.
Step 3: Decide what role they get (more on this in the next section). Don’t just hand out admin rights because it’s easy.
Step 4: Hit “Send Invitation.” They’ll get an email—sometimes it takes a minute or gets caught in spam. Warn them.
Pro Tip:
Only invite people who actually need access right now. Extra seats can cost you, plus it’s one more person to manage.
3. Understand Roles and Permissions (Don’t Skip This!)
Here’s where most teams get tripped up: not everyone should be able to do everything.
The Default Roles
Woodpecker usually gives you a few standard roles:
- Admin: Can do everything—add/remove users, change settings, see billing, etc.
- User/Member: Can run campaigns, see stats, manage their own stuff, but not mess with account-wide settings.
- Read-only/Guest: Can look, but not touch. Good for the boss who just wants to peek at results.
Check your Woodpecker plan—some lower tiers don’t let you customize roles much beyond this.
How to Assign the Right Role
- Think about trust and risk. Who actually needs admin rights? Usually just one or two people.
- Match the role to the job. Sales reps running campaigns? “User.” Someone managing billing and integrations? “Admin.”
- If in doubt, start with less. You can always bump up permissions later; you can’t un-send that “oops, deleted the campaign” moment.
What to Ignore:
Don’t waste time trying to create a perfectly detailed permission matrix from day one. Get the basics right and adjust as you go.
4. Set Up Workspaces (If You Need Them)
Not every team needs multiple workspaces. Here’s when it makes sense:
- You manage totally separate brands or clients.
- You have different teams who shouldn’t see each other’s prospects.
If you don’t have these problems, skip it. Keeping things in one workspace is usually simpler.
How to create a workspace:
- Go to “Workspaces” or “Accounts” (name may vary).
- Click “Create Workspace.”
- Give it a clear name. (“Acme Sales 2024” beats “Workspace 3.”)
- Add users. Double-check who gets access so you don’t mix up sensitive data.
Pro Tip:
Don’t make a new workspace every time you start a new campaign. Use tags or folders instead. Workspaces are for big separations only.
5. Control Campaign Access
Let’s say you have multiple users and campaigns. You probably don’t want everyone editing everything.
Campaign-level permissions are basic in Woodpecker. Usually, if you have access to a workspace, you can see its campaigns. But:
- Assign campaign owners: Make it clear who’s in charge. Use naming conventions (“[John] Q1 Outbound”) if you have to.
- Limit editing: Only let the campaign owner (or admins) make changes. Everyone else can view.
- Use folders/tags: Organize campaigns so people aren’t tripping over each other’s work.
What doesn’t work:
Trying to micromanage every campaign with custom rules. Woodpecker isn’t built for that level of granularity—use a simple process and communicate.
6. Audit and Adjust Regularly
Don’t “set and forget” your team settings. People come and go, responsibilities change, and old campaigns pile up.
How to stay sane:
- Quarterly review: Once a quarter, go through your users and roles. Remove folks who left or don’t need access.
- Spot-check permissions: Pretend you’re a user—can you see or do more than you should?
- Clean up campaigns: Archive or delete old stuff so the dashboard doesn’t turn into a junk drawer.
Pro Tip:
Schedule a recurring calendar reminder for this. Otherwise, it’ll never happen.
7. Handling Common Headaches
Here’s what trips up most teams (and how to fix it):
- Too many admins: Limit this to people who actually need it. If everyone’s an admin, no one’s accountable.
- Forgotten users: When someone leaves, remove their access immediately. Don’t wait for “the next big review.”
- Unclear ownership: Every campaign and workspace should have a clear owner. Write it down somewhere, even if it’s just a shared doc.
- Permission confusion: If someone can’t do what they need (or can do too much), fix it right away. Don’t just tell them to “ask around.”
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over every minor permission setting. Focus on what actually affects your workflow.
8. Integrations & API: Who Gets Access?
Integrating Woodpecker with your CRM, Slack, or other tools? Be careful who can set up or change these connections.
- Only admins should touch integrations. Messing up an API key can break your whole workflow.
- Document what’s connected. Keep a simple list of what’s integrated and who set it up.
If you’re not using integrations, skip this. Don’t add complexity you don’t need.
9. Quick Troubleshooting
- Invitation emails not arriving? Check spam/junk. If all else fails, re-send or use a different email.
- User can’t see a campaign? Double-check their workspace access and role.
- Someone “accidentally” deleted something? Reach out to Woodpecker support ASAP—sometimes they can restore data, but don’t count on it.
Keep It Simple, Adjust As You Go
Managing teams and permissions in Woodpecker isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overcomplicate. Start simple: invite only who you need, give the lowest permissions that work, and review things regularly. The goal is to help your team work together without chaos—not to build a permissions maze nobody understands.
As your team grows or your needs change, iterate. Don’t be afraid to tweak, remove, or reorganize. Most importantly, keep communication open—no tool can replace that.
And if something feels clunky? Don’t force it. Sometimes a quick chat does more than any settings page ever could.