DocuSign is a virtual platform for documents and forms that typically need to be signed in person. By creating forms digitally, we reduce our paper usage and increase the ease of access to these forms for faculty, staff, and students alike.
Getting Started
All DocuSign forms must be created in the demo DocuSign environment - think of this as a sandbox, where you can create forms and test their functionality before going live with them. It is important to make and test forms in the demo environment because every envelope sent in the production/live environment costs $4.86 per envelope (note: IT is billed for this, not individual departments). The demo environment does not charge per envelope sent, because it is the test environment.
To access the demo DocuSign environment, navigate to the following link:
https://appdemo.docusign.com/
Use your OTC email address to log in, including the @otc.edu portion. This will create your OTC account on the demo environment, and bring you to the home page. The tabs at the top of the page that will interest you are:
Home - This is the homepage for the demo DocuSign website.
Manage - This page allows you to see the status of any envelopes you may have sent or received.
Templates - This page shows you any forms you have created on DocuSign, which are called Templates.
Creating a New Template
Once you are logged in successfully, you can begin creating new templates for your forms.
Click the Templates tab on the top of of the screen.
Click the blue NEW button on the left-hand side, and then select Create Template.
This will open the Prepare Template screen, and begin the process of creating a new template. The fields displayed on this page are as follows:
Template Name and Description - This is the title for your template/form, as well as an optional description for it.
Add Documents - This is where you will upload your documents that you want digitized.
Select Upload.
Find the document you wish to digitize on DocuSign and select Open.
The document will be uploaded to DocuSign.
Add Recipients - This is where you will specify who will be receiving this form. Some notes about this section:
The Set signing order checkbox, when selected, makes it so that your recipients receive the form in order instead of at the same time. I highly recommend checking this box and ordering your recipient list accordingly - the topmost users will receive the form first.
The Role field can be generic - ‘Student’, ‘Parent’, ‘Supervisor’, etc.
The Name and Email fields do not have to be filled in, however, if you have someone specific who will be receiving the form, you can fill in their information here.
On each recipient, you will see a drop-down box that says Needs to Sign. This is selected by default, and indicates that the particular recipient needs to sign the form. You can expand this box and select a different option for this recipient as needed:
The most commonly used items are Needs to Sign and Receives a Copy, but feel free to test the other functions to see what works best for your workflow.
Under the Customize drop-down menu, you can select Advanced Settings to further regulate what your recipients can and cannot do to the form when they receive it:
Message to All Recipients - This is where you can customize the verbiage of the email received by the recipients when the DocuSign form is sent.
Adding Fields
When you have your document uploaded and your recipient list set accordingly, you can select Next on the bottom-right corner of the screen to advance to the Add Fields screen. This is where you will set up the different fields you need each recipient to interact with when they receive your form.
You drag and drop different fields listed on the left-hand side of the screen to your document and can move, resize, and format them as needed:
noteThe fields are colored in relation to the role/recipient you are placing them for. You can change what role you are placing fields for using the drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the screen ('Student' in the above example).
The fields are colored in relation to the role/recipient you are placing them for. You can change what role you are placing fields for using the drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the screen ('Student' in the above example).
There are a variety of different fields to choose from. Most commonly used fields include:
Signature - Places a Sign box on the document for signatures. Recipients will be able to click this box and digitally sign documents.
Date Signed - Automatically generates the date in a MM/DD/YYYY format when a document is signed.
Name - Automatically places the name of the recipient.
Text - Allows you to place text boxes of variable length for short answers or other information.
Checkbox - Places a checkbox group on your form.
Radio - Places a radio button group on your form.
What’s the difference between checkboxes and radio buttons? Radio buttons only allow for one selection - you cannot select multiple radio buttons within the same group. Checkboxes, on the other hand, allow you to specify how many checkboxes can be selected in a group. You can find this feature by selecting a checkbox in a checkbox group and navigating to the Validation menu on the right-hand side. |
Once you place all of your fields, click the Save And Close button in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You can always go back to editing this form later by opening it under the Templates screen and selecting Edit.
Optional: Conditional Logic
DocuSign has a feature called conditional logic, which allows users to control their forms based on how the recipient interacts with them. Conditional logic allows for specified fields to either appear or hide depending on how the recipient interacts with its trigger.
You can find the conditional logic option by selecting a field you would like to apply it to, and navigating to the Conditional Logic drop-down menu on the right-hand side of the screen:
You can then use the Create Rule button to begin creating conditional logic for that field.
Example:
A user wants the following text box to appear only if the checkbox is checked.
The user will select the checkbox and then navigate to the Conditional Logic menu. They will click the Create Rule button. The following screen will then appear:
In this scenario, the checkbox is the trigger field. The user selects the drop-down box at the top and selects Checked:
The user then clicks on the textbox, causing it to appear differently:
This indicates that the Text field will remain hidden until the checkbox is checked. The user then clicks Done to return to the Add Fields screen. Now when the recipient accesses the form, they will not see the text field unless they mark that specific checkbox as checked.
How to Test Your Template
Once your template is set up the way you like, it is highly recommended it be tested before going live. This can be accomplished by:
Navigating back to the Templates tab on DocuSign.
Find the template you have made. There will be a Use button next to it.
This will allow you to create and send a test envelope. Feel free to use your own name and email address for every recipient field - that way you will receive the form as each intended recipient, allowing you to preview your template from all angles.
Testing your template allows you to verify it is working as intended and gives you insight as to how the form will look on the recipient’s end. If you are satisfied with how the template/form flows, it is time to move it to production for live usage.
A Note Regarding PowerForms
PowerForms are hyperlinks that link directly to your template and start the signing process. Essentially:
A user clicks on a PowerForm link that was created specifically for your template.
The template opens to a PowerForm Signer Information screen, as seen in the example below:
Once the information is filled, the user continues onto signing the form.
By having a PowerForm, you can provide a static link for your users to access your template at anytime, without you having to manually send an envelope to each of them individually. This link can be hyperlink embedded onto webpages, sent in emails, saved in a OneNote, etc.
Once your template is moved to production, IT will provide a PowerForm link for you.
notePlease note when you request a Powerform, specify any options you’d like such as to require Email Validation (good if only people with OTC accounts, like students or employees, will be signing) and if you want all signers to receive a copy of the fully signed document.
Please note when you request a Powerform, specify any options you’d like such as to require Email Validation (good if only people with OTC accounts, like students or employees, will be signing) and if you want all signers to receive a copy of the fully signed document.
Moving Your Template to Production
Up to this point, you have been working on the demo DocuSign environment. In order to move your templates to the production environment of DocuSign for live usage, you will need to inform the IT Help Desk by sending an email to helpdesk@otc.edu with the following information:
The name of the Template on the demo environment.
Optional - We are able to connect your template to Perceptive Content upon request. If you want the completed, signed form to file into Perceptive Content, please include:
The drawer in Perceptive Content you wish the form to file into.
The document type (DocType) for the document in Perceptive Content: transcript, email, application, etc.
Once the IT Help Desk receives your work order, a technician will find your template on the demo environment and download it. They will then upload it to the production environment, create a PowerForm link, and provide it to you. If they have any questions regarding the template, they will reach out to you first before moving it to production.
Your template is now live and ready to be used! |
