Last week we showed you what Dropbox Sign’s embedded requesting looks like. Now it's time to take a closer look at Dropbox Sign’s embedded templates.Below we'll share a few common use cases for embedded templates and go over some of the benefits of this great addition. 

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Read on to learn more!

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What Are Embedded Templates?

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Dropbox Sign's embedded templates allow your users or customers to create their very own document templates directly within your company's website or application. 

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Embedded templates are a Dropbox Sign API feature, and can easily be included in most Dropbox Sign integrations. (As a reminder, every Dropbox Sign API integration is customizable to fit your needs. We'll work with you to create the best workflow possible!)

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What’s the Difference Between Embedded Requesting and Embedded Templates?

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While embedded requesting only allows your users to upload and send documents for signature, embedded templates give your users the power to create and save document templates right on your website. 

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This means your customers don't have to format important documents over and over again. They simply have to set up the template once (on your website or application), save the template (to your website or application), and reuse that template in the future (within your website or application).

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Documents like sales contracts, HR onboarding paperwork, rental agreements, and other high volume documents are great candidates for embedded templates. Other possibilities include tax forms, NDAs, event paperwork, and more.

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What Do Embedded Templates Look Like?

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Imagine for a moment that you’re the CEO of an HR platform called “CIRQLHR.” 

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CIRQLHR is a platform that allows HR professionals to simplify everything about HR, from onboarding to exit interviews. You have a customer base of 200 HR professionals, all of whom use CIRQLHR’s platform to organize and send HR documents to employees in their respective companies.You’re happy with the ease at which they can send documents for signature online using embedded requesting, but you’d like to add more value to your platform by allowing your customers to automate the process further. 

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That’s where Dropbox Sign’s embedded templates come in. 

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Using the Dropbox Sign API, you can embed the power of Dropbox Sign templates into your platform, giving your HR professionals the ability to create, save, and reuse templates directly on your CIRQLHR website. 

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Here’s what it might look like.

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Step 1. The Customer Uploads a Document

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The customer first uploads the document(s) they’d like turn into a template to the CIRQLHR platform. In the case of HR, this might be a W-2, W-9, NDA, employee handbook, exit form, etc. 

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We’ll be using a W-9 form in our example.

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Step 2. The Customer Formats the Document

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The customer then formats the document as usual, using special fields like checkboxes, text, initials, and signatures. Your customers will have option to select specific field labels at this time. These labels trigger relevant data to automatically populate into the fields. (JobAdder, a Dropbox Sign customer, has a great example of this functionality.)Customers can set data validation for their fields as well, preventing against formatting errors.

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Step 3. The Customer Saves the Template for Future Access

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Once the document has been formatted, the customer names the document and saves it as a template.The template can be accessed at any time from their CIRQLHR’s dashboard.

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Step 4. The Customer Uses Their Saved Template

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To use a template, a user simply selects the saved template and proceeds with the normal embedded requesting flow. Instead of formatting fields in the document, however, they'll be greeted with the pre-formatted fields they saved earlier.

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That's it! 

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Embedded templates are easy for your customers to set up, easy for them to use, and will provide a huge value to them.

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Who Benefits from Embedded Templates

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• The company integrating embedded templates. The company or owner who builds embedded templates into their website or product benefits by adding the value of an exceptional online document workflow to their platform or service. Embedded templates are a huge selling point for companies and add so much to any platform or workflow.
• The users of embedded templates. The customer who uses embedded templates to upload a document, format it, and save it for future use benefits from a totally seamless document management experience. They don’t have to format their documents each and every time (eliminating administrative redundancy) and can navigate through the template creation process without being sent away to another site.
• The signer. The signer of the template benefits from an easy and intuitive online signing flow. They simply receive the prepared document in their email account, fill it out, and sign it in a few clicks. A saved copy of the completed document is automatically sent to their email address.

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Examples of Embedded Templates

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Any document that needs to be sent out over and over again benefits from embedded templates. 

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A few examples include:

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• Sales contracts. Sales teams can use embedded templates in a CRM to create sales contract templates which can be later sent out with ease.
• HR paperwork. HR professionals can create templates for their high volume documents (like W-9s, W-2s, NDAs, etc) and parse these documents to the entire company in just a few clicks.
• Financial paperwork (including tax forms). Financial forms (like investor documents, accredited investor paperwork, and W-9s) can be prepared and saved as templates to be sent out as needed.
• Rental documents like leases. Complicated leases can be formatted once, then saved as templates for future use. This cuts down tons of time!
• Service provider contracts. The online marketplace eDoula.biz uses embedded templates to empower their service providers. Providers simply create service contract templates which they can save to eDoula.biz's platform.

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Learn More

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Visit our documentation to learn more about the Dropbox Sign API and the functionalities available.

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If you love the sound of templates, but aren’t sure if you need them to be embedded, you might be the perfect fit for standard Dropbox Sign templates. Read more about Dropbox Sign templates here.