How to create and send a Template
Templates are extremely handy if you find you are sending the same documents over and over again. They’re easy to create, and once set up, you just need to add your party details and you’re good to go!
Setting up your Template
Step 1
Go to 'Templates' on the left-side panel and then click 'New Template'.
Step 2
Click inside the box to open up your files and select a document to upload, or just drag a file into the box.
Step 3
You should now see the page where you can add your fields. Your parties are on the left hand-side, to add more, just click the ‘+’ icon.
To edit the names of parties, hover your mouse over them and click the pencil icon. We always recommend naming your parties to correspond with their role in the Template – tenant/landlord/client etc. This makes it a lot easier when assigning them to your party later on, we’ll talk more about this below.
When adding fields, make sure to have the correct party selected on the left as this is the signer the field will be assigned to.
Step 4
On the right-hand side of the document, you've got images of each page in your current selected document, this is how you navigate page-to-page. Most importantly, you've got our various field icons.
A field is our term for the boxes that you place on your document, in order from top-to-bottom, we have:
- Text Fields (The Yellow 'A') - Our utility field for entering text for any type of information, names, addresses, you name it!
- Signature Fields (The Green Pencil) - A field specifically allowing the signer to draw, type or upload an image of their signature.
- Date Field (The Purple Calendar) - The field for setting and selecting dates, move-in dates, dates of birth, etc
- Dropdown Field (The Grey Bulletpoints) - Create a list of options for your signer to select from.
- Checkbox Field (The Red Tickbox) - A nifty tool to allow your signers to make selections, opt-in or out, all sorts! You can even group the checkboxes to make your signer choose one option from multiple.
- Upload Field (The Orange Cloud) - Our little sleeping giant field! Needing your signer to upload proof of address? ID? Bank Statements? This'll be the one.
Simply click the icon for the field you'd like to place, then click where you'd like to place it on the document, easy as that! If you'd like this Template to have fields that you fill in before you send it - click here for more information
Step 5
You can rename a Template at the very top. Just click the pencil icon to the right of the title to rename it, then click the green tick to save the title.
Unlike sending an envelope, you only need to add your fields onto this Template once and it will auto-save for next time.
Once your Template is set up, we’re ready to send it out!
Sending your Template
Okey dokey, so you've got all your fields set up as they need to be, but now it's time to send!
Sending an envelope featuring a Template can differ ever so slightly to sending an envelope featuring an uploaded document, for more information on that, click here.
Step 1: Selecting your Templates & naming your Envelope
Firstly, you'll need to select your documents, you'll see a page like this:
From here, you'll be able to label your envelope. This is the overall title of the parcel of your documents that your signers will see, it'll also serve as the identifier for the envelope on Signable itself.
To select your documents, select 'Select Template(s)' - this will pull up a list of all of the Templates you currently have saved within Signable. Select your Templates and they'll highlight in blue with a tickbox in the corner:
Once satisfied with your selection, click 'Confirm Selection'.
You'll be able to reorder your documents by either clicking and dragging them or selecting the arrows to the left of the Template title.
Now that's done - click next!
Step 2: Adding your Parties & Assigning Roles
A party is just another word for the signer on your document, adding them is easy as anything!
Signing Sequences
You can also set the signing sequence for multiple party envelopes as well, by selecting the 'Sign in order of Parties' toggle above Party 1, you dictate whether the envelope is sent in one of two ways:
The above will send the envelope to all parties at once, rather catchily titled 'All at Once' signing. This is great if you've got load of signers and don't overly need to worry about sequencing.
The above will send the envelope sequentially, also known as 'One at a Time' signing. This is a wonderful solution if the order of signing is important or someone needs to 'sign off' on the document at the end.
For more information on signing sequences, click here
Personalising your Envelope:
Each party can have a wee bit of personalisation too, by clicking the 'Add' dropdown under 'Receives a copy only', you can add a password and a personal party message. More info on personalising your envelope can be found here.
Adding & Assigning
By default, an envelope featuring a Template will include the number of parties that your Templates were set up for, you can add more by selecting the '+ Add a party' button below the final party. It'll look something like this:
Once you've got all the parties you need, add their details! You'll need their full name and functioning email address for them.
Now comes the crucial part, you've got to link the party details (name & email) to the signer role you've set up on the Template, these are the fields they'll be expected to fill in.
In my example, I've got two parties & two documents. I need my client to fill in the Data Processing form and the sample contract - so I assign them to the controller role on Template 1 and client on Template 2. The only other party is the agent, all they need to sign is the contract - so they get assigned to 'Agent' on Template 2. When it's done, it'll look like this:
And that's the parties assigned to the signer roles we set up previously!
One thing to note, you won't be able to have less parties than your Template was set up for, so if you have a document with varying party numbers (like a tenancy agreement), it pays to have multiple copies for different party compositions!
You can also set a party to 'Receives a copy only', this will remove them from the signing process but send them a signed copy of the document upon completion of all parties. Think of it like cc'ing someone in when sending an email!
Onto the next step!
Step 3: Adding prefills
Now, this particular screen pertains to any fields you've set up to prefillable. What are prefillable fields, I hear you ask? I've got just the article right here! We won't go into how you precisely set up prefills in this article, but should you want to - click that link and you'll be right.
Now, if you don't see this screen - feel free to move to Step 4 of this guide!
However, if you see any categories to fill in, this is your chance to fill them in before sending, in my example, I've set up a field to prefill a contact phone number:
Any prefill that you don't fill in will default to whichever signer the field was originally placed for.
Once that's done - click next, you're almost there!
Step 4: Adding & Editing Fields
This step may not require too much of your attention - you'll see your a familiar page with your document in the centre, parties on the left and field icons on the right.
If you need to edit the Templates you've set up in any way - this is your chance! You can remove fields, add new ones, even add whole new signers! The process is exactly as it was above in the 'Setting up your Template' section.
Previewing the Document:
Before you continue to your envelope's summary - you can preview the document as your first signer by selecting the 'Preview' button found at the top-right of the page, the perfect way to make sure you've dotted the i's and crossed the t's! Clicking the button will open a new tab and show you how it looks:
Once you're happy - close any preview tabs and click the 'Summary & Send' button found towards the bottom right.
Step 5. Envelope Summary
Here we are - all wrapped up! You've set all your parties up, added your fields, you're nailing it. Here's your last chance to check everything and make sure you're sure everything's as you want it.
You'll see each category outlined, with an 'Edit' button to the right, clicking this will allow you to jump back to any stage in the process and tweak things as required. Need another party? Want add a document? You can do it!
Quick Tip: It's worth noting that you on any of the previous steps, you'll be able to click 'Back' to return to the previous step but this Summary section allows you to jump back and forth at will.
One final note, you'll see two extra options within the list:
- 'Auto-Reminders' allow you to schedule automatic email reminders being sent at daily increments to any errant signers at no extra cost to yourself
- 'Expires' corresponds with an expiry date you can set where the envelope will automatically cancel - working to a deadline? This is the tool for you!