Activate digital signatures for contract signing

In this article you will learn how to switch on digital signatures for your membership contracts, choose between a full signature and an IP/timestamp record, configure the Sales Tool signature behaviour, and add the legal check boxes (T&Cs, privacy, marketing consent) that go with an online signing flow.

Contents

• Prerequisites
• Where members sign
• Activate digital signature on a contract document
• Choose an online signature mode
• Sales Tool signature options
• Add legal check boxes with text blocks
• What happens after signing
• Common pitfalls

Fast lane

1. Open Settings / Membership management / Contract documents, select your contract document.
2. In Options, set Contract signatures required to active and pick an Online signature mode.
3. (Online flow) Add an additional text block per legal topic (T&Cs, privacy, marketing) with the Display in online membership signing and Display check box options.
4. (In-studio flow) Open Settings / Membership signing / Sales Tool configuration, set Always request signature for underaged members and Allow signature via accessible text input as needed.
5. Test by starting a new contract: in the Sales Tool, the signature pad appears at the end; on a public offer page, the digital signature field and the check boxes appear above the submit button.
6. After signing, the executed contract PDF lands in the member's document history and is attached to the After membership signing email if you have that notification rule active.

Prerequisites

Before you switch on digital signatures, confirm the following are in place:

• Permission: Configure contract documents. Assigned in Settings / Resources / Roles.
• Permission (Sales Tool): Configure Sales Tool. Same path.
• Contract document configured: at least one contract document must already exist under Settings / Membership management / Contract documents. The digital-signature toggle is per document, so each one you offer needs to be reviewed.
• Membership offer that uses the document: the online flow only works for members who reach a contract that has signatures enabled.
• (Online flow) public offer page or sign-up link: configured under Settings / Landing Pages / Studio pages, Campaign pages, or Personalized offer pages.
• (Optional) Hardware: a signature pad connected to the workstation running the Sales Tool. Without a pad, staff can still capture a signature on the touch screen or fall back to the accessible text input.
• (Optional) Email notification: the After membership signing notification rule active under Communication / Administration / Notification rules so the signed PDF reaches the member.

Where members sign

Members can sign in three places. They share the same contract document and the same legal text blocks, but the signing surface differs:

• In the studio via Sales Tool: staff start a contract on the Sales Tool. At the end of the flow, the signature pad (or touch surface) is presented. The signature image is embedded into the contract PDF and stored on the member's record.
• Online via public offer page: the member completes a sign-up on a Studio page, Campaign page, or Personalized offer page. The digital signature field appears at the bottom of the form together with the legal check boxes. On submit, the signature is rendered into the PDF.
• Online via a personalised link: you send a member or lead a personalised online contract offer (see Personalized offer templates in the Settings). The recipient opens the link and runs through the same online flow as on a public page. There is no separate "send to e-sign" mailbox: the link is the e-sign workflow.

Activate digital signature on a contract document

1. Go to Settings / Membership management / Contract documents.
2. Click the contract document you want to enable. Repeat for each document where signatures should be required.
3. Open the Options card and click Edit.
4. Turn on Contract signatures required. With this on, every Sales Tool sign-up for this document will prompt for a signature before the contract can be finalised.
5. Pick an Online signature mode. The four modes are explained in the next section.
6. Save. Existing contracts are not modified; the change applies to new sign-ups from this point.

If you want to allow the signature only in the studio (Sales Tool) and not online, set Online signature mode to None. Members on public offer pages will then submit without a signature image; only the check-box agreements (see below) are captured.

Choose an online signature mode

The Online signature mode decides what the system records when a member signs online. There are four modes:

• None: online sign-ups do not capture a digital signature image. The member's submit click plus the check-box agreements form the contract record. Use this when your legal advisor accepts a click-through agreement.
• Mandatory: a signature field is presented and must be drawn (mouse or finger) before the contract can be submitted. The image is rendered into the PDF together with a timestamp. Use this when local law requires a personal signature.
• IP & timestamp: no signature field is shown. The system records the member's IP address and the submission timestamp and prints them on the contract PDF in place of the signature. Use this when your legal advisor accepts an electronic record without a drawn signature.
• Prefer signature, fall back to IP & timestamp: the signature field is shown and recommended. If the member cannot or will not sign (mobile keyboard, accessibility), the system falls back to IP plus timestamp. Use this as a permissive default that still records a visible signature for most members.

Whichever mode you pick, the resulting PDF includes the note "This document has been digitally completed" so the receiver knows the contract was concluded online.

Sales Tool signature options

The Sales Tool has two additional toggles that fine-tune the in-studio signing behaviour. They sit under Settings / Membership signing / Sales Tool configuration:

• Always request signature for underaged members: when on, every sign-up of a minor enforces both the member's signature (if old enough) and the legal representative's signature, regardless of the contract document setting. Use this to keep parent-and-child sign-ups water-tight.
• Allow signature via accessible text input: when on, members who cannot draw a signature (visual impairment, motor limitations, no pad available) can instead type their signature into a text input. The typed value is recorded in place of the image and printed on the PDF. Recommended for accessibility compliance.

Both toggles affect only the Sales Tool. Online sign-ups continue to follow the Online signature mode on the contract document.

Add legal check boxes with text blocks

A digital signature on its own does not capture consent for terms and conditions, privacy policy, cancellation policy, or marketing communication. For those, add additional text blocks to the contract document and mark them as check boxes:

1. Open the contract document in Settings / Membership management / Contract documents.
2. Scroll to the Additional text blocks card and click Create additional text block.
3. Enter the legal text (your wording, agreed with your legal advisor).
4. Tick Display in online membership signing so the block appears on public offer pages.
5. Tick Display check box so the member has to actively confirm the block before submitting.
6. (Optional) Use Refer to attachment to link a PDF or URL with the full document (T&Cs, privacy policy, cancellation policy).
7. Save.

Typical blocks to add:

• Contract consent as an alternative to a drawn signature when your Online signature mode is None or IP & timestamp.
• Terms and conditions with an attachment link to your T&Cs PDF or page.
• Privacy policy and cancellation policy, each as separate blocks.
• Marketing consent. For this one, use Display communication settings instead of Display check box so the member can opt into specific channels (Email, SMS, Letter, App).

If a block contains placeholders for the legal representative, the system will only let you use it for underage member flows. Mixing legal-representative placeholders into an online-only flow is rejected at save with an explanatory error.

What happens after signing

Once the member signs (in the studio or online), the contract goes through a fixed flow:

• The signature image or IP/timestamp record is embedded into the contract PDF, together with the date and place strings configured under Place, date/signature contractor in the document.
• The PDF is stored under the member's document history. Staff can re-download it from the member profile at any time.
• The member's Signature status moves from Agreement pending to Agreement signed. The status is filterable in member lists.
• If you have the After membership signing notification rule active under Communication / Administration / Notification rules, the signed PDF is attached to the confirmation email and sent automatically.
• If you used a personalised online offer link, the system records the lead's submission and converts the lead to a member at the same time.

For special cases (signature pad failure, manual back-fill, scanned signature), staff can correct the signature status from the member's overview screen with the Update contract signature status action.

Common pitfalls

• Signature is missing on the PDF. Check that Contract signatures required is on for that specific contract document. The toggle is per document; enabling it on one document does not enable it on others.
• Online sign-ups go through without any signature. The Online signature mode is set to None. Switch to one of the other three modes if you need a recorded signature or IP/timestamp.
• Browser cannot process the signature. The system rejects signatures captured by very old browsers and returns "The signature of the member could not be processed. Is your browser up to date?". Ask the member to use a current browser version.
• Minor signs without legal representative. Turn on Always request signature for underaged members under Sales Tool configuration. Without it, staff can finalise a minor's contract without the parent's signature.
• Accessibility complaints. Some members cannot draw a signature. Activate Allow signature via accessible text input in Sales Tool configuration, and use the Prefer signature, fall back to IP & timestamp mode online so members on touch keyboards are not blocked.
• Check box for marketing consent records nothing channel-specific. Use the Display communication settings option on that text block, not the plain Display check box. The first records per-channel preferences; the second only records a generic acknowledgement.
• Legal-representative text block rejected for online signing. The system blocks online use of text blocks with legal-representative placeholders because they imply an underage flow. Split the block into two: one for online (no legal-representative placeholder) and one for offline minors.
• Signed PDF never reaches the member. Activate the After membership signing notification rule and confirm the linked template attaches the contract document.