Want to create legally binding contracts or agreements and have them digitally signed and returned from the convenience of your WordPress website?
If you work with contracts or legal agreements on a regular basis, you can very easily imagine how much time and work would be saved by taking the process of filling and signing digital. No more hand delivering documents or waiting on post. No need to work another meeting into your schedule or drop off/pick up paperwork. No paper hard copy to keep up with and possibly lose (or spill coffee on!) until the deal is done.
Being able to generate properly formatted documents and collecting a legally binding digital signature for WordPress form submissions sounds like a wonderful thing, right? But yes, it can definitely present challenges to take that step into digital, signed documents…
How do you get the digital document formatted the way you need it to be? So many options are not very mobile friendly.
Plenty of WordPress plugins exist that have the ability to add a digital signature, but the matter of that signature being legally binding can be… questionable.
Services do exist that will handle all this for you, but monthly cost can undoubtably be a blocker.
Getting a process in place to generate contracts and collect a digital signature for WordPress isn’t technically challenging! In fact, it’s pretty simple. Following the steps below will get a system in place to collect the information you need from any client right from your WordPress website, generate a contract using that info, and then have it digitally signed. Here’s how you do it!
Here’s how to create signable contracts from any WordPress form submission by connecting to eSignatures.io!
This simple 3 step process will enable you to:
- Collect any client data you need included for a contract or legal agreement from the convenience of your WordPress forms
- Send that data into the eSignatures.io service to generate a contract (from a mobile-friendly template you get to format)
- Have the document digitally signed, and have that signature be legally binding
If that’s what you’re looking for, carry on. It doesn’t get any easier than this for you or your clients… especially for no more that $0.49 per contract!
1. Get set up with Zapier.
The Ninja Forms Zapier add-on is the tool that establishes the link between WordPress and the application you want to send data to. First, get Zapier installed and activated. on your website.
Next, create an account with Zapier themselves. Now you’re ready to get started!
2. Make a Zap!
Integrations between applications handled by Zapier are called Zaps. We’ll be creating a Zap that will connect Ninja Forms with your target service. It’s super simple. Just log into your Zapier account and click “Make a Zap!
3. Setup your zap to connect any WordPress form with eSignatures.io
Just search Ninja Forms in the Choose App & Event search bar to find us:
Leave “New Form Submission” set as the Trigger Event and Continue. You’ll now be shown a webhook:
Copy it, then head back to WordPress and into your form (or create one to the specifications you need). Add a Zapier action and paste the webhook into the Zapier Webhook field:
Now Publish (save) the form, Preview the form, enter test data into each field (do not skip this step!), and Submit the form preview. Now head back to Zapier, and Continue.
You’ll now be prompted with a few options to proceed. We recommend to Test & Continue to make sure the webhook has succeeded in establishing a connection. If anything goes wrong, Zapier will give you troubleshooting steps.
On a successful test, it’s now time to connect to eSignatures.io. Same as before, search and select them:
Since it’s your only option in this case, Create Contract will be pre-selected for you:
If you do not have an eSignatures.io account, take a moment to create one now, design the template you need, and then return here when that’s done.
Continue and you’ll be prompted to sign into your eSignatures.io account, enter your API key (they provide instruction on how to find it if you need help in this step), and then Continue again.
Back in your Zap, you’ll now be able to select your Template and provide signee information. You can have multiple signees even though those fields are not pictured below.
Note that Signer name, email, etc can be populated directly from fields on your WordPress form. The email that sends the contract can also be customized here. There are tons of options, so take some time moving through this carefully and making sure everything is just the way you want it to be. Test and Continue now, and you’re done!
If you followed these 3 steps, you can now use any form to generate a contract and collect a digital signature for WordPress form submissions!
One of the most beautiful things about WordPress is being able to take the stock experience and make it truly your own. Thousands on thousands of plugins offer nearly limitless integration to products and services produced by people all over the world.
It’s a big world though, and the WordPress.org repository can’t possibly cover it all. That’s where Zapier comes into play, connecting you to apps that don’t have an official plugin yet. We’re proud that your WordPress forms in part make that connection possible.
We hope you enjoy your new connection! What integration would you like to see a tutorial for next?
DanielNug says:
Thank you for sharing with us, I always find out something new from your posts.
Quay Morgan says:
Awesome, happy to help. If there’s anything you’d like to see a write-up on, we’re always open to suggestions too!
MIRAJA DESIGN says:
Thanks for this. However, I am shocked Ninja Forms has not offered an integrated way to do signatures yet. It is hands down my favorite form management plugin to use. But this signature thing keeps coming up for my clients. So many of the other form plugins out there offer this as an add-on at little extra cost. Approve Me makes it easy to add signatures to Ninja Forms but they are ridiculously expensive. Using eSignatures.io looks promising. But it has several moving parts to make it work. We have to pay $50 for the Zapier Ninja Forms add-on, then pay per signature. Zapier works most of the time, but I have seen it fail on several occasions. I suppose that’s a little better than paying Approve Me. But I can’t help but feel Ninja Forms is dropping the ball by not offering an easy to use, integrated signature add-on that doesn’t break the bank. I literally can spend a one time fee of $28 for a contract plugin over on Code Canyon that handles this. I would rather use and support Ninja Forms. I am a long time Ninja Forms user. It is my go-to form management plugin. I recommend and use it for most of my clients. I hope the developers get woke on this issue. Thanks for all you do guys!