Improved e-signing in SciNote blog

Improved e-signing in SciNote

Waiting for an electronic signature? New release speeds up the process.

4 min read

Listening to your requests, we greatly improved e-signing in SciNote for you! Check out this video on how you can request signatures from your colleagues and get them notified that the task is waiting for their review.

In brief, this is what you can now do in SciNote, in addition, to simply signing a task:

  • Request a signature from a specific person or a group.
  • Reject your signature, if you think the task needs some improvement.
  • Revoke your signature, if you have signed the task, but later want to withdraw your signature.
  • See the tasks that you need to sign in a new Signature requests widget on the dashboard.

Signing a task

Signing a task remains as simple as it was. Once the task comes to the In review status, any member of the project can sign the task. What is new is that you will now see this default signature request (from Scibot) with your name already listed in the new Signatures modal window. This opens when you click on the Sign task button below the task status.

The default signature request is a group request that any member of that project (apart from the Viewer role on the project) can sign and each gets the sign button with his/her name displayed by the request.

Invite people to sign a task

Once you sign the task, this signature request gets the “Signed” label. Note that as soon as the first project member signs the task, the request is fulfilled and gets the “Signed” label. You can either add another signature request or move the task to the Done state. If more signature requests have been added, all have to be fulfilled, before the task can be moved to the Done state.

signed task

You can always check the signature progress by clicking on the View signatures button. It shows you the information about the number of the given signatures versus all signature requests for this task (in the brackets). Also Project members who can only view the task (Viewer role), have the View signatures button displayed instead of the Sign button and they can see the list of signatures and signature requests without the options to sign or request a signature.

Requesting a signature

To request a signature, simply click on the aptly named Request signature button in the Signatures modal window.

request a signature

This will take you to a list of all team members that are eligible to sign the task you are currently working on.

This is not only a list of people but also a list of user groups defined by their role in a project: Project members (all roles, except the Viewers), Project owners, Project normal users, and Project technicians. You can check who are the members of the group by clicking on the info icon.

more info

Now, if you want a signature from a specific person, simply select one or more persons who need to sign the task, and click on the blue Request signature button.

request 1 signature

When you need a signature from someone from a certain group and it doesn’t really matter who specifically, then select the suitable role from the list. In case you need two signatures from a specific group, simply repeat the signature request process.

request 1 signature

Clicking on the blue Request signature button creates the requests and you will see them added to the list in the Signatures modal window.

sign a signature

Most importantly, these requests will also be sent to the reviewers and will appear in the new Signature requests widget on their dashboard.

Signature overview

Reminder of the requested signature

Once the request has been created, you have an option to send a reminder to the reviewer to sign the task, if you urgently need this signature. Any Project member (except for the Viewer) can do that.

Signature reminder

Sending the reminder will prioritize the request in the Signature requests widget on the reviewer’s dashboard.

Time stamp

Deleting a request

In case you’ve changed your mind, you have an option to delete the signature request that you created. Only the Project owner, Team administrator and Organization administrator have the power to delete requests created by others.

Delete signature

However, keep in mind that there should always be at least one signature request or one signature on any task in the In review status. So in case the task has not been signed yet and there are two signature requests, only one of them can be removed.

Fulfilling the signature request

Individual project member can sing each task only once. This implies that if you’ve received a group signature request as a Project owner and the personal request, you will get the option to sign the task displayed by the personal request, because this is considered of higher priority. In terms of hierarchy, personal requests are considered of highest priority, then come group requests for any user role and lastly, the Project members request as the most general one.

Reject a signature

Once you sign the request with your name, either personal or as part of a group request, it gets the “Signed” label. In case of a group request, as soon as anyone from that group signs the task, the request is fulfilled. The fulfilled request disappears from the Signature requests widget on the dashboard.

Rejecting the signature

Now you have an option to reject your signature on the task, in case you think the task has not been performed properly, if you’ve noticed a mistake, any missing data, or if for any other reason you consider the task needs to be improved before you approve and sign it.

For rejecting your signature on the task, you need to provide a reason for rejection in the comment. Mind that rejecting your signature, also invalidates any existing signatures on that task

Rejected signature

The task gets the label “Signature rejected” and clicking on it opens the Signatures modal, where you can see who rejected the signature with a reason displayed below and which existing signatures have thus become invalidated.

Signature rejected

The task should then be moved back to the unlocked state (to the Completed or In progress status) to be edited. When it is then moved to the In review state again, the reviewing and signing process restarts from the beginning.

Revoking the signature

Once you have already signed the task and you later-on want to withdraw your signature for any reason, you have an option to revoke your signature. Everyone can revoke his/her own signature, only the Organization administrator has permission to revoke other peoples’ signatures, if necessary.

Simply click the Revoke button and your signature will be removed from the task. The signature request will then reappear in the Signatures modal window and you can sign the task again, when you consider it suitable.