Box Status
Print

Creating, using, and sharing templates

End User , Box Sign , Article , New , Product Utilization , Instruction

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:

To create a template:

  1. In the left-hand sidebar, click Sign.
  2. At the top of the window, click Templates.
  3. In the top of the templates page, click New Template.
  4. Click + and select a file.
  5. Choose the folder where you want to save the template.
  6. Click Continue.
  7. While the document file is displayed, click on one of the available fields in the right side panel and hold down the mouse button.
  8. Drag the selected field onto the document and release the mouse button.
  9. Select if you want to have specific fields be Read-Only.
    • You can leave the pre-filled text of the Read-Only fields empty. However, when using the template, users need to provide values for these fields or remove them before sending a request from the template.
  10. 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.
  11. Click Save Template. The template is saved in your template folder.
    • If the template has locked fields and there are Read-Only fields without pre-filled text, a warning appears. To save the template, the sender must either provide values for empty read-only fields or delete them. If no fields are locked, then no warning message appears.

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.

 

Some important notes to keep in mind
  • The input fields in the template are assigned to the Recipients field in the order in which the email addresses are added to the contact field, and are not the same as the order of signing.  For example, "Contact 1" can be the first or last signer depending on what you specified in the order of signing.
  • You can use the recipient groups feature in templates. You can either add specific recipients to the group when you create the template, or leave the recipients field blank to place a placeholder for the recipient group.
  • The font size of the input is determined by the height of the field.
  • Signing order position "0" should be used only for the Sender.  All recipients of a document must  have a signing order position greater than "0".
  • If you need to add input fields to the template before sending (such as name, address, amounts) assign extra input fields to yourself and add an order of signing so the receiver receives the document only after you've completed the input fields.

 

To use a saved template:

  1. In the left-hand sidebar, click Sign.
  2. At the top of the window, click Templates.
  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. At the top of the window, click Templates.
  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 Box Sign homepage, hover on the template you want to use.  Box highlights the template and enables interactive buttons.
  2. Click Use Template.
  3. Select where you want to save the request.  By default, Box saves requests in the My Sign Requests folder.
  4. Add recipients to the request.  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.
  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.

So, to share a template, we suggest you add collaborators as “Viewers” as this enables collaborators to use the template but not to upload files to your template folders.

 

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 2FA 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.

Related articles