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Fields

eSignature Field

Contract Express 8.10 introduced simplified markup to add eSignature configuration to your template. The same markup is used for both DocuSign and Adobe Sign. Contract Express will detect the relevant eSignature provider at the time document is generated and eSignature provider-specific syntax is added to the document at that time.

Defining signatories

eSignature recipient fields are used to define the signatories. When the document is sent for eSignature, these people will receive a DocuSign or Adobe Sign invitation to sign the document.
Recipient fields are added to the template in the following format:
{
esignature recipient
 “email”
with name as
 “name” }
  • Email: email address is used as the unique identifier of the recipient, mandatory attribute
  • Name: first name and last name of the recipient, optional attribute
Examples
{ esignature recipient "john.doe@mail.com" with name as "John Doe" }
{ esignature recipient RecipientEmail with name as RecipientName }
{ esignature recipient RecipientEmail }
Where the name attribute is not specified, the email address will be passed as the name to the eSignature provider.
If there are multiple recipients defined with the same email address, the first eSignature recipient field will be used.

Anchoring the signature and other fields

To specify the place in the generated document where the signatory’s signature will appear, you can use a signature anchor field.
There are other fields for additional information that can be collected at the time the document is signed. These are the date, initials, name, company, title, and email.
Anchors can be used to specify the location on the generated document for each of these inputs. It is important to remember that each anchor must belong to a specific signatory who is identified by the email address.
Anchor fields are added to the template in the following format:
{
esignature anchor
 “email” anchor-type }
  • Email: email address is used as the unique identifier of the recipient, mandatory attribute
  • Anchor-type: signature, initials, date, name, company, title or email
Examples
{ esignature anchor “john.doe@mail.com” signature }
{ esignature anchor “john.doe@mail.com” initials }
{ esignature anchor “john.doe@mail.com” date }
{ esignature anchor “john.doe@mail.com” name }
{ esignature anchor RecipientEmail signature }
{ esignature anchor RecipientEmail company }
{ esignature anchor RecipientEmail title }
{ esignature anchor RecipientEmail email }
These anchor fields are supported by both DocuSign and Adobe Sign.
When Contract Express generates the document, these anchor fields are replaced with the eSignature provider-specific placeholder text. For DocuSign the placeholder text is added in white font colour. DocuSign does not remove this text and the signature and other fields are added on top of this text. For Adobe Sign the placeholder text is black as Adobe Sign removes this text from the document when the signature fields are added.
The anchor fields also drive relevance for the variables inside it. If there is an eSignature anchor field for an email address that is not defined with an eSignature recipient field, this recipient will be automatically defined by Contract Express and the email address will be used both as the email address and name.

Using DocuSign templates

DocuSign templates are used to create custom eSignature settings and workflows, such as the action each recipient needs to take, their role, and the order in which they will receive and sign the documents.
When documents are sent to DocuSign from Contract Express, all recipients will have the default action "needs to sign" applied with a parallel signing order, unless a DocuSign template has been applied.
Applying a DocuSign template
DocuSign templates can be applied to generated documents by adding a field in the Contract Express template that uses the following format:
{
esignature template
 "DocuSign template name" }
{
esignature template
 "DocuSign template ID" }
Examples
{ esignature template "Mutual NDA" }
{ esignature template "Order Form" }
{ esignature template "4fbcfb2f-21af-4e99-8b0f-770938fc058f" }
Mapping DocuSign template roles
You can map the eSignature recipients to the DocuSign template's roles by further defining the eSignature recipient fields using the following syntax:
{
esignature recipient
 “email”
with name as
 “name”,
role as
 "role" }
Examples
{ esignature recipient "john.doe@mail.com" with name as "John Doe", role as "Landlord" }
{ esignature recipient RecipientEmail with name as RecipientName, role as "Disclosing Party" }
{ esignature recipient RecipientEmail, role as "Client" }
If you map a recipient to a role that does not appear in the specified DocuSign template, a new role will be created automatically in the envelope and given default settings.
Repeated recipients
If you have a repeated recipient with a static role that is mapped to a single DocuSign role, only the first repeated recipient will be mapped to the DocuSign template recipient. All subsequent recipients will be added to the envelope with the default settings.
To ensure all repeated recipients are mapped, you can create distinct roles in the DocuSign template and assign each of these to the corresponding repeated recipients in the Contract Express template.
Where the number of recipients is unknown, best practice is to create the maximum expected number of recipients with the same role to the DocuSign template.
If you wish your repeated recipients to sign in a specific order, you can apply distinct roles on your Contract Express template using repeatcounter. Make sure your DocuSign template has roles to match.
Example (single DocuSign Template)
[
repeat TenantCount
 {esignature recipient TenantEmail with name as TenantName, role as "Tenant"}]
[
repeat TenantCount
 {esignature recipient TenantEmail with name as TenantName, role as "Tenant"
+repeatcounter
}]
When the envelope is reviewed in DocuSign before sending it for signature, any DocuSign recipients that are not mapped to a Contract Express recipient in the document will need to be deleted manually. If the option to automatically send to DocuSign is enabled on the Contract Express template, any DocuSign recipients that are not mapped will be ignored.
Example (multiple DocuSign Templates)
You can also create individual DocuSign templates for each potential number of recipients and use a computable in your Contract Express template to use the corresponding DocuSign templates for the number of recipients selected.
For example, create three separate DocuSign templates named:
  • DocuSign template - 1
  • DocuSign template - 2
  • DocuSign template - 3
Configure each of them with the relevant number of recipients and actions. Your Contract Express template should contain the following field:
{ esignature template DocuSignTemplateComputable }
Where DocuSignTemplateComputable is a computable variable with the following definition: “DocuSign template - “RecipientCount This way, the computable variable will update with the number of recipients for the particular document generated and point to the relevant DocuSign template.
DocuSign custom strings and fields
You can use DocuSign custom fields in your Contract Express templates. Custom fields can be created in your DocuSign templates to capture information from the signatory beyond the standard fields provided.
The placement of both custom and default fields in the generated document can be set up in the DocuSign template via the location tab. The “AutoPlace” feature in the DocuSign location tab allows you to specify a string that will locate the position of the field. These strings should be added to your Contract Express templates using the same font color as your document background (usually white) to prevent them from showing up in the final generated document.
DocuSign template custom AutoPlace strings can work alongside ContractExpress eSignature fields. Make sure you are not using both to avoid duplication.

Additional Note

The old-style markup with the computable variable CE_ESignature_Signees and eSignature provider-specific anchors in the template will continue working in Contract Express 8.10 and later, but will not work if the template is used with HighQ Doc Auto.
Please also note that both types of markup cannot be used in the same Contract Express template; any old-style markup will be ignored where the new eSignature fields are detected.
For more information about the old-style markup see Configure signatories within the template for versions 8.9 or lower.

This article applies to:

  • PRODUCT: Contract Express

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