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Gate Access with Agreements

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Lynne H.
  • Updated

Available on:  Advanced  Enterprise

Overview

Agreements are designed to provide a fast and simple way to gate content with a legally binding agreement, such as an NDA, which can be signed by your link recipient in as little as one click. 

Whenever the Require Agreement to view settinghas been enabled for your DocSend link, your shared content will be viewable by your visitor only after they have signed your Agreement and agreed to DocSend’s Terms of Service.

Important: Visitors are legally required to agree to use electronic records and signatures with DocSend’s Terms of Service in addition to your Agreement terms before being granted access to your Agreement-gated content.

Skipping Ahead

Types of Agreements

When configuring your Agreement to gate access to your content, you’ll be able to customize the visitor document signing experience using One-Click Agreements or Single-Party Agreements. A brief overview of each agreement type is provided below: 

One-Click Agreements

When using One-Click Agreements to gate access to your content, your visitors will be required to acknowledge your Agreement document single click before being granted access to your content. For example, if you’d like to gate your deck by requiring an NDA, using a One-Click NDA as an Agreement will require your visitors to acknowledge the terms of your NDA with a single click before being granted access to your content.

The signed copy of your One-Click Agreement will include your visitor’s signature on an appended signature page at the end of your Agreement document.

For more information, check out the One-Click Agreement Experience section below.

Single-Party Agreements

When using Single-Party Agreements to gate access to your content, you’ll be able to configure custom signer fields on your Agreement document and require visitors to complete signer fields and add their signature directly on your Agreement document in order to access your shared content.

The signed copy of your Single-Party Agreement will include your visitor’s signature directly on the document as configured in document setup.

For more information, check out the Single-Party Agreement Experience section below.

Manage Agreements

All users can access Agreements on the Agreements page. If you're an Owner or Admin, you can set up and manage Agreements from theAgreements page. While Members can preview all available Agreements on the Agreements page, only the Owner and Admins can make changes and create new Agreements. For more information on Owner, Admin, and Member roles, see User Roles. 

Important to note: Only one-click signable documents and single-party signable documents can be set as an Agreement. Multi-party signable documents are not supported. Fore more information, see Types of Signable Documents. 

Agreement State

Active Agreements are available to gate content in your links settings. All users can preview Active Agreements from the Agreements page, but only the Account Owner or Admins can edit an Active Agreement. Members cannot modify an Active Agreements document in any way. This includes renaming the document, changing the document thumbnail, updating the document to a new version, or moving the document to a different content folder.

Archived Agreements have been archived on the Agreements page by the Owner or an Admin. Once archived, these Agreements will not be available to gate content in your link settings. Once an Agreement has been archived, all users can edit and modify the document.  

Create an Agreement

As an Owner or Admin, you can set up an Agreement for company-wide use by directly uploading your Agreement document to the Agreements page. Once added, your Agreement will be available to gate content by checking the Require Agreement to view option in your Link Settings. 

To create a new Agreement, follow the steps outlined below:

  1. From the Agreements page, select Upload.
  2. If this is your first Agreement upload, choose the Content library destination folder where your Agreement will be housed. All future Agreement uploads will default to this destination, unless otherwise specified during the upload process. 
      • To change your Agreement destination folder, click the Change… button, located next to your destination folder name at the bottom of the upload window. Then, select your new destination folder.
  3. Choose from the file upload options available (e.g. My device).  
  4. Select your document and click Upload.
  5. Once processing is complete, you’ll be taken to the eSignature editor to configure eSignature fields. 
  6. Select the Let recipients sign with a single click checkbox option to create a One-Click Agreement, or drag and drop your desired signer fields onto the document to create a Single-Party Agreement. 
  7. Click Save to finalize the new Agreement. 

For more on adding fields to your document, see Create Signable Documents.

Alternatively, you can choose an existing one-click signabled document or single-party signable document to add as an Agreement by using the expansion arrow next to the Upload button. Then, select Add from Library and search for the existing one-click signable document or single-party signable document. 

If you don’t yet have any Agreements set up for access gating, you’ll have the option to use DocSend’s free NDA template by selecting Use Template on your Agreements page.

Archive an Agreement

Owners and Admins can archive an Agreement by  following the steps outlined below:

  1. From the Agreements page, expand the More Options [...] menu next to the Agreement you’d like to archive. 
  2. Select Archive from the dropdown menu. Agreements that are not currently used to gate any links will be archived immediately.
  3. If your Agreement is currently used to gate one or more links, you’ll be prompted to select one of the following options:
    • Choose a replacement Agreement to protect the link(s): If chosen, you’ll need to select a replacement Agreement from your existing Agreements. All links previously associated with the original Agreement will now be gated by the replacement Agreement. When visiting the impacted link(s), visitors will need to sign the replacement Agreement before accessing your content. 
    • Disable access to the link(s): This option will disable all links that were previously gated by theAgreement. The impacted links will no longer be accessible to visitors. 
    • Leave the link(s) without Agreement requirement: This option will remove Agreement  gating from the link and disable the Agreement setting for all links previously gated by the Agreement. The attached link will retain the Require Agreement to view setting. Although your visitors will no longer be required to sign your Agreement before accessing your content.
    • Confirm your choice to archive the Agreement.

To permanently remove an Agreement from your Archived Agreements permanently, expand the More Options [...] menu next to the archived Agreement and choose Remove from the dropdown menu, then Confirm the action. Once removed from your Archived Agreements, the Agreement cannot be unarchived. Archived and removed Agreements will still be listed in your Content library.

Unarchive an Agreement

As the Account Owner or Admin, you can unarchive an archived Agreement by following the steps outlined below: 

  1. From the Agreements page, expand your Archived Agreements by clicking the expansion arrow. 
  2. Expand the More Options [...] menu next to the desired Agreement. 
  3. Select Unarchive from the options provided. 

Once an Agreement is unarchived it will become an Active Agreement, and your visitors will be prompted to sign your Agreement when accessing any links still associated with the Agreement that were previously left ungated when the Agreement was archived. 

Replace an Agreement

To replace an Agreement with a new document or update it to a new version:

  1. Locate the Agreement you’d like to replace on the Agreements page and expand the More Options [...] menu. 
  2. Select Replace with new upload from the dropdown menu. 
  3. Choose from the file upload options available.  
  4. Select your document and click Upload.
  5. Once processing is complete, you’ll be taken to the eSignature editor to Let recipients sign with a single click, or configure customizable signer fields. 
  6. Once your fields are in the desired location on your document, click on the Save button to complete your Agreement replacement. 

Once replaced, all existing links with that configured Agreement will be automatically updated to reflect these changes. Signed copies of the previous Agreement will be available to download at the visit level. To access any content gated by this Agreement, visitors will need to sign the new version of the Agreement.

Rename an Agreement

You can rename your Agreement at any point. This new name is an alias to help your team easily identify Agreements. Renaming your Agreement from the Agreements page will not rename your file as listed in the Content library. As a best practice, we recommend having unique aliases for each Agreement.

  1. Go to your Agreements page.
  2. Locate the Agreement you wish to rename and select Rename Agreement from the More Options [...] dropdown menu. 
  3. Enter the new document name and click Confirm to save your changes.

Agreement Processing Status

When you upload or replace an Agreement, you’ll run into some Agreement processing status prompts that provide context on whether the Agreement was successfully processed. 

  • Pending: The new Agreement upload is still processing. These will not display as options in the link modal.
  • Updating: The replacement Agreement is processing.
  • Invalid: The new Agreement failed to upload. Invalid Agreements are not displayed as options in the link settings modal.
  • Reverted: When replacing the Agreement fails, the update will reflect as reverted, keeping the original Agreement.

Configure Agreements in Link Settings

Once the Agreement is created, you can select Require Agreement to view in the link settings. When enabled, the visitor must enter their name, email and sign your Agreement before viewing your shared content.

  • By default, the Require email to view link setting is also enabled as this requires the visitor to enter the email as part of the Agreement process.
  • If an Agreement document is not configured, the Agreement link option will not be accessible. An Owner or Admin will need to set up a new Agreement on the Agreements page.
  • If the active Agreement document is removed, all links that require your Agreement will still have the Agreement link option enabled, but visitors will not be prompted to sign an Agreement. The visitor will still be asked to enter their name and email in order to view the shared content.

Visitor Experience

One-Click Agreement Experience 

In order to gain access to your shared content, visitors will perform the following steps: 

  1. Enter their Name and Email along with any other configured Link Settings. Note: Name and Email will always be required to sign an Agreement. 
  2. Check the box to certify that they have reviewed and agree to the terms of your Agreement and DocSend’s Terms of Service. 
  3. To view the Agreement document, click the Agreement name in the certification text. 
  4. Complete signing by selecting I agree. Complete signing. 
  5. Once completed, a copy of the Agreement document with an appended signature page will be automatically emailed to the visitor and the link owner, and the visitor will be redirected to your shared content. 

Single-Party Agreement Experience

In order to gain access to your shared content, visitors will perform the following steps: 

  1. Enter their Name and Email along with any other configured Link Settings. Note: Name and Email will always be required to sign an Agreement. 
  2. If prompted, fill out the configured custom fields and sign the Agreement. 
  3. Agree to the following: use of electronic records and signatures, DocSend’s Terms of Service, and your Agreement terms.
  4. Complete signing by selecting I agree. Complete signing. 
  5. Once completed, a copy of the signed Agreement will be automatically emailed to the visitor and the link owner, and the visitor will be redirected to your shared content. 

DocSend Certificate 

Once signed, both you and the visitor will be emailed a zip file containing a signed copy of the document and a certificate detailed with an audit trail of all the events leading to the signature. Signatures collected with One-Click Agreements will be included on an appended signature page at the end of the Agreement document, while signatures collected with Single-Party Agreements will be shown directly on the Agreement document.

The certificate will include the following information:

  • Document name: The name of the Agreement document
  • Document ID: A unique id for the signed document and matching certificate
  • Original checksum: A hash of the original document’s location
  • Signed checksum: A hash of the signed document’s location
  • Page count: Number of pages in the document
  • Signatures: Number of completed signature fields on the document
  • Signature: An image of the visitor’s signature

The audit trail will include a UTC timestamp of when the event occurred. The events captured include:

  • Terms agreed: When the visitor checks the checkboxes for agreeing to use electronic records and signatures, DocSend’s Terms of Service, and the Agreement terms.
    • Includes: Visitor name, visitor email, IP address, location, user agent
  • Document signed
    • Includes: Visitor name, visitor email, IP address, location, user agent
  • Document completed: DocSend generated the signed PDF.
    • Important: Two additional events are unique to the Agreement signature and will always be included in the audit trail of every signed Agreement document 

View and Export Signed Agreements

To view all collected signatures associated with your Agreement, navigate to theAgreements page and select View Signatures next to the desired Agreement. This will redirect you to the Signatures tab on your Agreement’s document page, which lists all collected signatures along with the date signed, signing source, and more. This page can also be accessed by selecting your Agreement from the Content library and navigating to the Signatures tab on your document page. 

To download a signed copy of your Agreement, simply select the Download Signed Document icon next to the desired Contact’s signature information. To download a CSV listing all signatures and signing contact information, select Export Table. For more information, see The eSignature Experience: In-app Experience. 

You can also see who’s signed an Agreement in the Recent Activity tab of the document, the Accounts page, and the Contacts page. You can download a copy of the signed Agreement from any of these pages. If notifications are enabled, you can also receive notifications when a visitor signs an Agreement for a document.

Visitors who have signed any Agreement will have a green Agreement tag next to their contact information. When clicked, the Agreement button on the visitor's Contact profile in DocSend will provide the most recent Agreement signed by that viewer.

Downgrade from Advanced

Downgrading from Advanced will disable all links utilizing Agreements. You can remove the Agreement from yourAgreements page before downgrading; however, all links with the Agreement option enabled will still be deactivated. 

To reactivate disabled links, you can update the link settings any time and uncheck the Require Agreement to view link setting. Alternatively, upgrading back to Advanced or Enterprise will also reactivate the links.

Things to Consider

  • Agreements support only one signer at this time.
  • Agreements do not support Save to Dropbox at this time. 
  • Agreements are signed at the contact level, not the account/company level. By signing an Agreement, an individual is only signing on behalf of themselves and not the company.
  • Agreements can be created and signed on most mobile devices.
  • Currently, DocSend does not sync Agreements data to Salesforce.
  • DocSend is compliant with UETA and ESIGN regulations, which are specific to the US only. We recommend you seek additional legal advice to see if Agreements will work for your organization.  
  • Trialing users have a 50 signature limit across Agreements and signable documents.
  • The document configured as an Agreement does not support Watermarking. 
  • The Agreement configured at the Space link-level will be the only Agreement available for Granular Space permissions. 
  • Custom fields will not be visible when previewing the document.
  • If you want to add a new Agreement from the content library, only existing single-party signable documents can be added as an Agreement.
  • Active Agreements are marked with an AGREEMENT tag when accessed outside of the Agreements page.
  • When an Admin uploads an Agreement, Member users will not be able to update or edit the document in any way.
  • If an Admin cancels Agreement creation when customizing fields, the document will still be uploaded, but will not be listed as an Agreement available for access gating.  

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