Before you start
Sending sales order documents for signature is a company-level option that The Layer switches on for you. Once it is on, the settings below appear on sales order output templates. If you have not set up a sales order template before, start with Setting up and using sales order documents. To send a document once it is set up, see Sending a sales order document for signature.
1. Allow the template to be signed
Go to Settings, Output Templates and open the sales order template, for example your letter of authority. The template must have Sales Order Compatible ticked. If you have just ticked it, save and reopen the template.
Tick Can Be Sent For Signature.
Save.
Only documents generated after you tick this can be sent.
2. Add the details the customer fills in
Under Signer Fields, click Add field for each detail the customer types in when they sign, for example their current provider or the numbers to port.
Key: a short name using lower case letters, numbers and underscores, such as numbers_to_port. You use it to place the field on the page.
Label: what the customer sees, such as Numbers to be ported.
Group: fields with the same group are shown together under that heading.
Type: single line, multi line (for a list such as several numbers), or email.
Required: the customer cannot sign until it is filled in.
Max length and Help text: optional.
Details The Layer already holds, such as the company name and addresses, do not need fields. Use the usual sales order snippets for them, and they are filled in when the document is generated.
3. Place the fields and the signature on the page
Edit the template's pages and type these where each value should appear:
$$so_field_key$$: a signer field, using its key, for example $$so_field_numbers_to_port$$
$$so_signblock$$: a ready-made block with the signature, name, job title, date and email
Or the parts on their own: $$so_sign_image$$ (the signature), $$so_sign_name$$, $$so_sign_position$$ (job title), $$so_sign_date$$ (DD/MM/YYYY) and $$so_sign_email$$
If the document has more than one signature box, for example a main form and a continuation sheet, place the signature snippets in each. Every one is signed.
With signing switched on you can also place addresses a line per row: $$sales_order_billing_address_street1$$, _street2, _street3, _city, _county and _postcode, and the same for $$sales_order_shipping_address_street1$$.
4. Check the template
When you save, the template page warns you about any $$so_field_...$$ on a page that has no field, and any field that is not placed on a page. A field that is not placed is still asked for, and appears on the signed copy's final page.
Then try it end to end without involving a customer:
On a test sales order, tick the template on the Documents tab and click Generate.
Click Send for Signature, choose the document and click Try it yourself first.
Fill in the page and sign. You download the signed copy marked TEST COPY on every page. Check every detail is in the right box and every signature box is signed.
Nothing is sent or stored when you try it yourself, so you can repeat it after every change to the template.
Do not use square brackets [ ] in the template's text. They stop custom fields merging on that page. Signature and field snippets work on the template's pages, not in its header or footer. If a page has been edited for one order with the Documents tab's Edit, its signature boxes may stay empty; the signature still appears on the signed copy's final page.
Emails
The request email and the signed-copy email use standard wording. If you would like your own wording, speak to your representative at The Layer.