Configure Signature Placeholders and Rules

Overview

Signature placeholders define where OneLaw inserts a Signatory's signature image and Signatory details when a precedent is assembled. They ensure signatures appear in the correct location and in the correct order when a Word document is generated from a precedent. The steps below describe OneLaw-specific behaviour and do not cover general Microsoft Word training.

You configure signature placeholders from the Signatures tab of the OneLaw Templates panel in Microsoft Word. The signature image anchors each Signatory's signature block, with the detail placeholders grouped around it. Those placeholders stay in the precedent until the document is signed, when the Insert Signature tool fills each one with the chosen Signatory's image and details.

This article explains how to configure signature placeholders for both single and multiple Signatories.

Note: Click any screenshot to expand it for a clearer view while following the steps.

Who can do this

• System Administrators
• Template Administrators

Before you start

• Check you have Template Administrator access in Word. The Author Templates group appears only for Template Administrators.
• Have the precedent open in Word, whether you are creating a new one or updating an existing one. The Signatures tab is available on a document-assembly precedent.
• Understand the difference between base templates and precedents.
• Know whether your precedent requires one or multiple Signatories.
• Know which Signatory detail fields your firm wants to include.
• Check that each Signatory's details, including their signature image, are saved in OneLaw.

A full list of supported components is provided in the Reference section.

Open the Signatures tab

Steps

1. Open the Signatures tab

   • In Word, on the OneLaw tab, in the Author Templates group, select Show/Hide Editor
     

   Result: The OneLaw Templates panel opens.

   • In the panel, select the Signatures tab.
     

Result: The Signatures tab shows the Insert signature placeholder button, and an At the cursor card whenever the cursor is on an existing placeholder.

Add a signature placeholder

You add each part of a signature the same way: the image first, then each detail you want beside or below it. Give them all the same Signatory so they are filled with the one Signatory's details.

2. Position the cursor

   • Place the cursor where the signature image or a detail should appear.

   Note: If Insert signature placeholder is unavailable, the cursor is inside a field or content control. Move it into ordinary document text and try again.

3. Open the insert panel

   • Select Insert signature placeholder.
     
     
     

   Result: The insert panel opens, ready to build one placeholder.

4. Choose the component
   • In the Component list, select what this placeholder holds:
     • Signature image is the anchor for the Signatory. Place it first.
     • A detail, such as Name, Role, Initials, Date, Phone, Mobile, Email, or Fax.
     • A separator, such as Separator / or Separator -, to sit between details on the same line.
       

5. Set the Signatory

   • In the Signatory box, leave the value as Default for a single signer. For a specific Signatory, overtype Default with a name, such as Witness, or pick a Signatory already used in the document from the list.

   Placeholders that share a Signatory name are filled with that Signatory's details when the document is signed.

6. Check how it is stored

   • Under As a, choose how the placeholder is stored. For a signature image, we recommend Bookmark; for the Signatory details, use Content control.
     • Bookmark places an invisible marker that leaves nothing on the page. This gives the cleanest output for a signature image, especially where a physical signature may be added by hand.
     • Content control places a visible placeholder in the document. For a signature image, this is a box you can colour: set Colour if you want (the default is White).

   Note: Bookmarks are invisible as you author. To see their markers, turn on Show bookmark markers in the document on the main Signatures tab view.

7. Insert the placeholder

   • Check the Will insert preview, which shows the exact placeholder that will be inserted, for example a text content control tagged OA SIGNATURENAME.
   • Select Insert at cursor.
     

   Result: The placeholder is inserted at the cursor. A content control shows as a box or field where the value will go; a bookmark is invisible.

8. Add the rest of the signature the same way
   • Each component is a separate placeholder inserted at the cursor, so position the cursor for each one before you insert it. For example, where a signature stacks down the page (image, then name, then role, and so on), start a new line for each component.
   • Repeat steps 1 to 6 for the image and each detail you want, keeping the same Signatory each time.

Set up more than one Signatory

For a document signed by several people, build one signature block per Signatory.

• Give each Signatory's placeholders a distinct Signatory name, and leave a single signer as Default.
• Repeat the image and details for each Signatory, positioning and formatting each block to suit your firm's layout.

Each Signatory's placeholders are filled with that Signatory's details when the document is signed.

Edit or remove a signature placeholder

You can change or remove a placeholder you have already added, without deleting and rebuilding it.

Steps

1. Select it in the document

   • Place the cursor on the signature placeholder.
     

   Result: The Signatures tab shows an At the cursor card naming it as a Signature placeholder, with Edit and Remove buttons.

2. Edit it

   • Select Edit.

   Result: The insert panel reopens with the placeholder's current settings.

   • Change the Component or Signatory, then select Update.

   Note: A signature image and a detail are different kinds of placeholder. To change one into the other, remove it and insert a new one.

3. Remove it

   • Select Remove, then confirm.

   Result: The placeholder is removed from the document.

Test Signatory behaviour

If you are working in a base template, create a quick test precedent from it to confirm the signature behaviour. If you are working in a precedent, run it using a test Party and Matter.

• Sign the document with the Insert Signature tool, choosing a test Signatory.
• Confirm each signature image appears as expected.
• Confirm all Signatory detail fields populate correctly.
• Look for missing values or raw OA SIGNATURE tags.
• For multiple Signatories, check the order, spacing, and layout.
• Print a test copy if a physical signature may be required.

Result

You have configured signature placeholders from the Signatures tab. When a document is signed with the Insert Signature tool, OneLaw inserts each Signatory's signature image and details into a complete Word document.

Reference

Supported signature components

You choose these from the Component list. You do not type the tags yourself; the Signatures tab builds them. They are shown here so you can recognise them in an existing precedent.

When you set a Signatory other than Default, the name is added to the tag, for example OA SIGNATURENAME Witness. A bookmark stores the same text with spaces written as underscores, for example OA_SIGNATURENAME_Witness.

Recommended articles

• Create a Base Template
• Create a Precedent