Signers, Signing Modes & Cohorts

Signer roles

Each row in a request's Signers table has a role:

• Signer - actually signs. Only Signer rows receive signing fields in the Designer.
• Viewer - can see the document via their own link, but isn't asked to sign.
• Approver - reviews/approves without necessarily placing a signature field.

Parallel vs. Sequential

Signing Mode on the request controls the order signers are notified in:

• Parallel - every signer can sign at the same time. All rows are treated as order 1.
• Sequential - signers sign in Signing Order. A later signer can't sign until everyone before them has finished.

Cohorts

Sequential signing order doesn't have to be one signer per step - you can give more than one signer the same order number, forming a cohort that can all sign in parallel before the next order is unlocked. For example 1, 1, 2, 3 lets the two order-1 signers sign in either order or at the same time; only once both have finished does order 2 become eligible.

Here, the first signer (order 1) must complete before either of the order-2 rows becomes eligible - and those two can then proceed in any order relative to each other.

Next: place the actual fields these signers will fill in - see The Signing Designer.