eSign Here: The New Forminator 1.13 Now Features eSignature and More!

eSign Here: The New Forminator 1.13 Now Features eSignature and More!

Signed, sealed, and delivered! With the release of Forminator 1.13, you can now receive electronic signatures on your WordPress forms and take advantage of several new requested features.

Forminator‘s new eSignature addition means that visitors can sign by mouse, trackpad, or finger (with touch devices) before submitting a form. Or, if they prefer, they can even upload signatures!

Inserting an eSignature form in your WordPress site has never been so simple. Users can now sign with their own signature…

…or upload them!

I’ll show you how to quickly and easily set up a form both ways and put it to use today! Plus, I’ll fill you in on other exciting updates and upgrades to Forminator’s latest version.

This post covers:

  • How to Create a New Form with eSignature in Forminator
  • How to Add a Signature Upload Option
  • Why You Will Want to Use eSignatures
  • Other New Requested Features in Forminator
Forminator cartoon signing a doc.
Forminator signing-off on the eSignature update.

Let’s get write into it!

How to Create a New Form with eSignature in Forminator

You can have an eSignature form set up and ready to use in just a few minutes (or less).

Just go to the Forminator dashboard and click the Create button to create a new form. If you need help learning how to set up a form, we show you step-by-step ways to create one here.

With the new form, select the E-Signature field in the Insert Fields screen.

For this example, we’ll create a basic contact form that will include Name and Email.

Once you click those fields, hit Insert Fields to continue.

Where you’ll pick what fields you want to include.
Pick the fields you want to include in your form.

Customize and edit the fields any way you want. Simply click the edit button and the Edit Field option.

What you’ll click to edit the fields.
What you’ll click to edit the fields.

The Signature field has a Labels tab where you can adjust the label, placeholder, and description.

The Labels tab.
The Labels tab.

There’s also a Settings area where you can adjust the signature file type to save your user’s signature in, customize the height of the signature field, adjust the stroke thickness, and even an option to force users to fill out this field.

The Settings area.
The Settings area to adjust several options.

If you want to incorporate CSS classes into your form you can do this in the Styling tab.

Where to add any additional CSS classes.
Where to add any additional CSS classes.

Finally, in the Settings area, there is the Visibility section.

The Visibility section.
The Visibility section where you’ll add rules.

This is where you can add Rules based on conditions and values (I’ll show you this below when we insert a file upload option).

An example of a rule.
An example of a rule.

In addition to being able to customize your e-signature forms, Forminator lets you edit options like recipient email notifications, colors, style, and more in the Edit Form area.

When you’re happy with the form you’ve created, preview it and hit Publish.

Presto! You now have a form that users can complete with their eSignature!

Example form with e-signature.
Example form with eSignature.

Forminator will give you a shortcode that you can use on your WordPress site in a post, widget, or page.

Along with signing digitally, users can also…

Add a Signature Upload Option

If you want to take eSignatures to the next level and give users an option beyond signing with their mouse or fingers, you can create a form with the capability to upload an existing signature. This is great for mobile devices and tablets, as you can upload a sig pic in a snap (try saying that 5x quickly).

When you create a new form, insert a Radio and Upload File fields along with the other necessary fields for eSignature.

The Radio and Upload file fields.
The Radio and Upload file fields.

We’ll go in and edit the Radio field and edit the Label and Options.

For the label, I’ve added the text: Do you want to sign or upload an existing signature image? You can customize the text however you want.

For the Options, I’ve added Sign and Upload Image. Also, click the Selected box next to Sign.

The Radio options.
The Radio options.

After doing this, hit Apply.

Next, go to the Upload Field and edit its sections.

You may want to select Multiple in the Type tab. Also, change the Label to something like Upload Signature.

The Upload field area.
The Upload field area.

In the same area, click the Settings tab.

Change the File Upload Limit to one (multi-file uploads is a new feature that I’ll mention shortly). You can change this to multiple file uploads, but “1” looks more user-friendly and is all that you’ll probably need in most cases.

The file upload limit settings.
The file upload limit settings.

After you’ve done this, click Apply.

Next, go to the Signature field and the Visibility tab.

Here, you can adjust the settings to include the rule of signing or uploading an image in the Field section.

Also, make sure the Condition is required and you have Sign as the option.

Visibility settings where you can see the condition is set at ‘Is’ and ‘Sign’.
Visibility settings where you can see the condition is set at ‘Is’ and ‘Sign’.

Then, click Done and Apply.

Go to the Upload Field and set a similar condition there — just like the one you created in the Signature field.

The only difference is in the dropdown, you’ll want Upload Image to be displayed.

The Upload Field visibility section where ‘Is’ and ‘Upload Image’ are the conditions.
The Upload Field visibility section where ‘Is’ and ‘Upload Image’ are the conditions.

And once you have completed this, hit Apply, and you’re all set!

When you preview the form, you’ll see that there are now two options for signature fields: Sign or Upload Image.

Here’s what the form looks like when ‘Sign’ is selected:

The Sign preview.
The Sign preview.

And when ‘Upload Image’ is selected:

The Upload Image preview.
The Upload Image preview.

Users can drag and drop or choose files when uploading their eSignatures.

It’s always good to have options and now users can have their preferred method of signing the form.

Why You Will Want to Use eSignatures

Besides receiving a ton of requests from our members for this feature, eSignatures have a number of benefits and advantages that you might not be aware of, such as:

  1. Simplicity: eSignatures are simple and easy to use. This is probably the biggest reason to use them and Forminator makes it effortless and effective.
  2. Security: eSignatures are a safer and more secure option than using traditional paper documents. Why? Because you not only get their signature, you also have traceable information on when they signed it, who signed it, and where it was signed. Try to beat that using traditional paper!
  3. Convenience: With more and more businesses working remotely and transacting around the world, electronic signatures allow for remote authentication. That’s much easier (and cheaper) than mailing, printing, or scanning documents. And…we’re one step closer to living the paperless office dream…woohoo!
  4. Speed: Signing forms and documents digitally can all be done in a matter of seconds, so there’s much faster turnaround time.
  5. Low Cost: You save money on paper, postage, supplies, and time. Time is money, money is money, and using eSignatures saves both!
  6. It’s Legit: eSignatures are legally valid and can be used on registration forms, online petitions, any terms of service agreements, non-disclosure agreements, application forms, contracts, and more.
  7. The Future Is Now: You’re seriously not thinking about buying a new (gulp!) fax machine, are you?

Now that you know all about signature forms…

What Else is New?

eSignature forms weren’t the only new features released in version 1.13. Forminator has some other goodies up his digital sleeve, including:

  1. Multi-file upload: One of the new features is multi-file upload. It allows your users to upload more than just one file in the File Upload field with a drag & drop interface.
  2. Advanced Date field Restrictions: The Datepicker field now has a Limits tab. This is where you can restrict selectable dates in your form date picker field (e.g. future dates only, specific days of the week, etc.).
  3. Integration with FortressDB Plugin: FortressDB is a WordPress plugin that works by storing data files on a secure Google Cloud server and gives you full control over who has it, instead of saving files in the wp-uploads public folder. FortressDB now integrates with Forminator.

Keep in mind, eSignatures are only available with Forminator Pro. All of the other new 1.13 updates are available with Forminator’s free version.

If you’re not a WPMU DEV member and want to check out Forminator Pro, try us for free for 7 days. You’ll get 24/7 support, access to all of our other award-winning plugins, blazing-fast hosting, and much more.

A Sign of Things to Come

Features like eSignature are a sure “sign” of our commitment to keeping on improving Forminator and all of our other plugins regularly.

You can keep tabs on what’s coming up next for all our plugins by checking out our Roadmap.

Finally, a special thanks to our developers for the continued improvements and maintenance that keep Forminator forming 5-star reviews.

And on that note, it’s time to sign off…