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Developers

Reduce Errors In Signed Documents With Data Validation

by 
Claire Murdough
November 16, 2015
3
minute read
Reduce Errors In Signed Documents With Data Validation
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New look, same great product! HelloSign is now Dropbox Sign.

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You asked for it. We built it. Data validation is now available to all Dropbox Sign users on a Pro plan or above and to all our API plan holders. This is just one of the ways we’ve updated our signer experience to make it easier to get your docs signed quickly and accurately. 

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Read below to learn more or visit the FAQ to get started with data validation right away.


Why We Built Data Validation

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Ever make a typo when filling out an online document? Us too. Turns out a lot of Dropbox Sign users were facing that same issue when their signers were filling out documents. 

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This meant our customers were having to spend a lot of time auditing errors in the documents they got back. One customer even dedicated a whole day each week to manually check documents for accuracy, correct data, and communicate the updates with their customers! 

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We wanted to offer an easy way to set rules to prevent those errors from happening in the first place.

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What Data Validation Does

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Data validation gives you the option to set a specific rule for each of the text fields in your documents. This gives you the power to proactively protect against signer typos and increase the accuracy of the information you collect. 

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You’ll get better, more useful data, save time sorting through inaccurate data, and create a smoother signing process as a result.

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What Data Validation Looks Like

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Here’s a quick look at what it looks like when we break the rules by adding letters to a numbers only field:


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A signer won’t be able to complete the document until they’ve cleaned up the field to match the formatting rule.

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How to Set Up Data Validation

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To set up data validation, open up a document in your Dropbox Sign account like you normally would. As soon as you format the doc with your first text field, you’ll see a new option in the drop down menu called “Validation Type."


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Set the rule that makes sense for your text field and then click out of the menu box. 

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Simple as that! 

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Data validation is available for a number of other commonly used data formats like social security number, zip code, and more. You can see a full breakdown of data validation in our FAQ.

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Note: Data validation verifies the format of the data collected. It does not verify the data itself. For example, a signer won’t be flagged for entering data like 555-555-5555 or an incorrect phone number.

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Ready to Try it Out for Yourself? Enter the Testing Zone

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 Enough talking about data validation – time to play around with the feature!

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We’re always hungry for feedback – let us know what you think. Not on a Pro + or API plan? Click here to upgrade for access to data validation and unlimited documents.      

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