Creating, Using, and Sharing Templates

Box Sign enables you to create templates so you can automatically add the same fields and formatting to requests for signature.  With templates, you don't need to repetitively add the same fields to each request every time you send a new document for signature.

Making and testing a template takes a few minutes, but when done it makes working with Box Sign easier and faster.

Box Sign offers two ways to create a template:

• Templates within Box Sign
• Templates with tags in a base document

To create a template:

1. In the left-hand sidebar, click Sign.
2. At the top of the window, click the Templates tab.
3. In the top of the Templates page, click New Template.
4. Click + and select a file.
5. Users can choose whether to upload files from their desktop or from within their Box account.
6. Add recipients to the template by searching by their name or email address if they are a part of your enterprise or by adding a placeholder.
7. Configure the recipient settings, including “Placeholder Name” and “Role”, for each recipient.
8. If more than one recipient is added to the template, you will be able to modify the signing order by toggling the “Specify Signing Order” option ‘on’ and entering in the number for each recipient that corresponds to their desired signing or approval order.
9. (21 CFR Part 11 Requests): For GxP customers with Enterprise Plus and above plans, If your admin has enabled Box Sign for you, then you can select between 21 CFR Part 11 and standard request types for the template.
10. Choose the folder where you want to save the template.
11. Click Save.
12. In the document, click on one of the available* template fields and hold down the mouse button. Choose from:
    • Signature
    • Stamp
    • Initials
    • Date signed
    • Name
    • Company
    • Email
    • Title
    • Text input
    • Checkbox
    • Radio
    • Dropdown
    • Attachment (on Enterprise, Enterprise Plus, and Enterprise Advanced plans only)
13. Drag the selected field onto the document and release the mouse button.
14. After moving the placeholder field onto the document, adjust its position by clicking in the middle of the field and dragging it.  Adjust the placeholder field's size by clicking on the bottom-right corner and then dragging.

Add as many or as few placeholder fields as you want.  If you create duplicate fields, Box uses only the first field you created.

*If your admin has restricted certain field types for your account or group, those fields won't appear in the Signatures & Fields panel. For more information about field restrictions, see Enabling Sender Controls. 

To apply additional recipient authentication methods:

1. Select a recipient to modify and define their role (Signer, Approver or In-Person)
2. Choose an authentication method from the dropdown menu:
   • SMS Authentication – The sender must enter the recipient’s mobile phone number before sending the signature request.
   • Box Login – Requires the recipient to authenticate using their Box account.
     • If your organization is enabled with GxP Validation with Enterprise Plus and above, and the sender selects 21 CFR Part 11 as a request type, the authentication method will automatically be set to Box Login for all following recipients. Visit 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance Support for more information enabling this signature request.
   • Require Password – The sender must set a password that the recipient will need to enter to access the signature request.

For more information on authentication methods, see Additional Recipient Authentication.

To Add Prefill and Read-Only Fields:

You can streamline the signer’s experience with the ability to pre-fill name, text input, title, and company fields with text. Additionally, you can toggle specific fields as ‘read-only’ fields, locking any data that is pre-filled, restricting other signers from being able to modify the data within those fields.

Prepopulate a field with text by adding text in the “Pre-filled Text“ area of the field’s option menu. If text is pre-filled in a field, signers can see and edit the text if needed.

To lock a field’s value and prevent changes by signers, enable Read-Only under the field settings in the field’s option menu.

• The following fields can be toggled to be read-only:
  • Name
  • Text Input
  • Company
  • Title
  • Checkbox
  • Radio Button
  • Drop-down
• For a read-only field to be visible in a signature request, the field needs to have pre-filled text. If you attempt to send a request with empty read-only fields, a prompt will appear asking you to remove the empty fields and send the request.
  • It’s important to note that data filled out in read-only fields will not be displayed in the signing log of a signature request.
• For most fields, the ‘external identifier’ can be toggled ‘on’ or ‘off’. If enabled, the external identifier can be used by the Box Sign API to correlate this field with other data.
  • Learn more about external identifiers in our API documentation.

To customize email notifications

• You can customize the email notifications that signers receive when the template is sent out for signature, including email subject and email message.
• You also have the option of sending automatic reminders, which will send reminders automatically to signers who have not signed the signature request yet.
  • The first two reminders are sent in three-day intervals on days 3 and 6.
  • The final two reminders are sent in five-day intervals, on days 11 and 16.
• Additional options include:
  • Customizing the file name for the completed signature request file.
  • Customizing a scheduled expiration date based on the number of days from when the signature request is sent.

Add as many or as few placeholder fields as you want.  If you create duplicate fields, Box uses only the first field you created.

To save templates while preparing a document for signature:

1. After preparing a signature request — but before sending it — in the right-hand sidebar click Options.
2. Click Save as template.

To use a saved template:

1. In the left-hand sidebar, click Sign.
2. Click on the Templates tab.
3. Hover on a template name.
4. Click Use Template.

To edit, copy, or delete a template:

1. In the left-hand sidebar, click Sign.
2. Click on the Templates tab.
3. Hover on a template name and click the ellipsis button ("...").
4. Click the choice you want.

Using a template

After you've created templates, here's a general outline for using them:

1. In the templates tab, hover on the template you want to use. Box highlights the template and enables interactive buttons.
2. Click Use Template.
3. Determine the save location folder by clicking the ‘Save Location’ folder and selecting which folder you would like the final request and signing log to reside post-signature.
   • By default, Box saves requests in the My Sign Requests folder.
4. If the recipients and recipient properties were not configured in the template, you can add and modify recipients in the document preparation experience. You'll need to add recipients based on the type of recipient defined in the template.  For example, if the template is designed for a dental patient's signature, you'll need to add the name of the specific patient. You can toggle additional signer authentication settings from the document preparation experience. They are not configurable when creating a reusable template. You can learn more about signer authentication in Box Sign here.
5. Add customization to the request, if desired.
6. Send the request.

Sharing a template

After you've created a template and saved it in a Box folder, add collaborators to use the template.

• Adding a collaborator is the same as for any other Box file or folder.
• In order to use a template, a collaborator must have permissions to download a file.

Making templates non-modifiable when sending signature requests

As a template editor, you have the option to make templates non-modifiable. This option leaves the template as is for end users sending signature requests.

To lock a template:

1. In the right-hand menu of the specified template, click Edit.
2. On the right-hand sidebar, click the lock icon next the section titles (Recipients, Signature & Fields, Email Notifications, Options) - the editor can choose to lock one or more sections.
   • Locking the template toggles the modification prevention for the relevant section and limits the sender from making changes in this context.
   • In case of Recipients locking, the sender can still modify some configuration such as SMS Authentication and fill in recipient placeholders.
3. Save the template to apply the changes.

After saving, every new signature request created from the template will follow the modify policy and will prevent from users to modify in context of sections with lock toggled on.