Interactive client input into your online agreement forms is limited to a single electronic signature, and multiple required, and/or optional, initial fields. Therefore a good understanding of the design, and function, of required, and optional, initial fields, in online agreements, can be a big help when creating your agreements, and guiding your clients through the signing process.

Required and Optional initial fields are added to agreements using their respective replacement values. %clientinitialX% (where X is the identification number of the field) for required initials, and %clientinitialoptionalX% for optional fields. Because of the unique numbering protocol required for these replacement values, they are not included in the Replacement Values drop down menu in the top right of the agreement editing interface.

Each initial field, regardless of its required, or optional, mode must have a unique number.

It's not imperative that they be in any particular numerical order, but your agreement's initial fields will not work properly if any two, or more, fields, whether required, or optional, use the same number.

The maximum total number of required/optional initial fields allowed in a single online agreement form is 30.

Following are some design considerations to keep in mind as you determine how you want to use initial fields in your agreement:

Required initial fields are excellent for legal clauses you want your clients to acknowledge they have read before their signature will be accepted.

Optional initial fields work well where it's not imperative to have a response before the client signature is accepted.

While reviewing an online agreement, in the signing interface, required initial fields display with a light red frame and optional initial fields display with a light blue frame.

Agreements that include at least one required initial field display an indicator above the signature block:

And by clicking Show me the first one the signer is immediately taken to the first required initial field if any were missed when they attempt to Accept their signature.

Once all of the required initial fields have been filled, their signature can be accepted.

Filling initials via laptop or desktop computer simply requires placing the cursor in the initial field and keying in the appropriate initials. The frame turns green when an initial has been successfully entered.

Tap once in the initial field to place the cursor there, then key in the appropriate initials.

And that's all it takes to enter initials into online agreements.
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