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After creating a Web Form that uses an eSignature Template, you may find yourself a bit perplexed about how to edit the template over time and map new fields to your existing Web Form. Allow us to clear things up!
When you create Web Forms in Docusign eSignature, you are prompted to choose either to use an eSignature template from your account or create a standalone Web Form (for use in Maestro workflows). Creating Web Forms with eSignature templates, as opposed to sending traditional envelopes, has several benefits:
- Simplifies and streamlines the recipient experience, making filling out complex agreements easy and straightforward
- Reduces the risk of incomplete or incorrect information being filled into your agreements
- Creates an adaptive flow that conditionally shows the right fields, pages and even documents to your signers when it’s the right time
- Allows recipients to only have to fill in information once, and have that information replicated across your agreements as necessary, no duplication needed
Example Use Case
Are your customers consistently filling in the wrong section of a complex insurance form, or skipping needed fields entirely due to confusion over the agreement layout?
Create a Web Form that uses the insurance document eSignature template you have on your account, and the interface will walk your recipient through answering questions and filling out the fields that are necessary for them in a segmented, straightforward way that automatically leaves out any fields they do not need to answer.
How to Edit Your eSignature Template After Web Form Creation
If you do build a Web Form that uses an eSignature Template, a Web Form copy of that template is created. It is this copy that you will edit if you ever need to change the underlying documents or details of the envelopes that are sent out. This Web Form copy is not available in the All Templates area of Docusign (The original template is still there, but can be edited separately from the Web Form Template copy).
To edit the Web Form Template copy, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Select the Web Form from your account and click Edit Form. This will take you to the Web Form Builder.
- Step 2: Scroll down in the left panel and select the ‘Signature’ Page
- Step 3: On the right hand side, click the Pencil icon next to the word “Template.” This will take you into the Template Prep screen. Make any edits you wish and then choose Save and Close
- Step 4: If you added or removed any fields from your eSignature Template, you may need to map or re-map to fields on your Web Form. Back in the Web Form Builder, on the Signature page, click the Pencil icon next to “Template Connections” and associate any unconnected fields from the Template to the Web Form.
Video: Watch a walkthrough of the editing process
Follow along in this quick video to see this steps in action.
Best practices:
- Build out your eSignature Template as much as possible before importing it into the Web Form builder to avoid as much as possible any post Web Form-creation updates or maintenance
- If you still intend to send out traditional envelopes from your eSignature Template, you may need to duplicate the edits you made on the Web Form Template copy on the standalone eSignature template still in your account
- Test out your Web Form experience before making it available by selecting the Web Form URL yourself after development
Additional Resources
- Web Forms User Guide on the Docusign Support Center
- Get Started with Docusign Web Forms Instructor-Led Training Course on Docusign University
- Create Forms to Enhance the Signing Experience Self-Paced Course on Docusign University
Join the Conversation
Have you created Web Forms for your in-house agreements? What use cases are you currently employing? What benefits or struggles have you encountered? Drop your experience or questions in the comments—I’d love to hear from you.