📚 Part of the series Application Building Phase II: The Slate-hosted Application

The Slate-hosted application can collect applicant signatures and require them for submission.

Depending on when your database was provisioned, your application may look different:

• Newer databases come with a signature page that collects signatures as free text, which is then mapped to an application-scoped field called Application Signature. This form page can be customized like any other custom application page.

• Older databases used the standard signature page, identified by the part ID certify. This page has fewer options for customization. You can replace the default certify page with a custom form page.

Five steps to create a custom signature page ✅

To make this page, you will:

1. Create a Slate-hosted-application-page-scoped form

2. Either use the Signature form field widget, or create a custom field to collect the signature.

3. Replace the Certify page in the application base with the form and comment out <part id =”certify”> from the appropriate application base.xml file.

4. Create an application requirement for the custom signature

5. Activate the application logic.

Let’s go through each step in more detail.

Step 1: Creating the Slate-hosted application page

This form serves as the host for the widgets you'll create later.

1. Go to Forms.

2. Select New Form.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Page Title: Enter the name that appears to the applicant as the page title.

   • Folder: Save the form in an existing folder, or select Other to create a new one.

   • Status: Confirmed/Active

4. Select Save.

5. Select Edit Form.

6. Select Edit Properties.

7. Set Scope to Slate-Hosted Application Page.

8. Select Save.

9. Delete all default form fields.

Step 2: Collecting signatures

You can capture the applicant’s signature in one of two ways:

Option 1: Add the signature widget

Collects cryptographically-secured, timestamped signatures on the person record.

📝 Note

Signatures do not currently map to system fields, and there are instances where signatures collected in the Signature form field widget may not render as expected—for example, in data containers, document export queries, or when exporting to Auto PDF or certain scoped forms in the Reader. If you depend on these methods, consider using option 2 (an application-scoped field).

To add the signature widget to the form:

1. Select Edit Form.

2. From the form palette, select the Signature widget.

3. In the Export Key field, enter a computer-friendly (only lowercase, no spaces) name, like signature_widget

4. Configure the remaining widget settings as desired.

5. Select Save.

Option 2: Create a custom application-scoped field  

Collects signatures as a free text form field mapped to an application-scoped field.

1. Go to Database → Fields.

2. Select New Field

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Scope category: Records

   • Scope: Application

   • ID: Enter a computer-friendly field ID, for example, custom_signature

   • Name: Enter a name for the field.

   • Folder: Keep fields organized by placing them in folders. To create a new folder, select Other.

   • Field type: Free Text

   • Unique for Merging: Do not use value for merging

4. Select Save.

5. Select the Force refresh cache link.

6. Go to Forms.

7. Select the form you created previously.

8. Select Edit Form.

9. From the form palette, select Text Box.

10. Configure the following settings:

    • Label: Enter an applicant-facing label for the signature field.

    • System Field: Select Application Fields, then select your custom signature field. The field ID appears in the Export Key field.

11. Select Save.

Step 3: Configuring the application base

To add our custom signature page to the application base and remove the default signature page:

1. Go to Database → Application Editor.

2. Select an application base.

3. Select Edit Menu.

4. From the list of application pages, select Signature.

5. Select Delete.

6. Select Add Link.

7. Configure the following settings:

   • Type: Custom Form Page

   • Subtype: Select the form you created in Step 1.

   • Label: Enter an applicant-facing title for the page.

8. Select Save.

📖 The Application Editor

The default certify application page has standard application logic of its own, which we must disable in the application base file:

1. Go to Database → Files.

2. In Search Files…, enter the name of your application base. For example, /apply/.

3. Select the application base file, which ends in base.xml. Make sure you are selecting the specific application base if you have more than one.
   

4. Press cmd/ctrl + F to open the WYSIWYG editor’s search bar.

5. In the search bar, enter <part id="certify">.

   

6. Add a comment around the entire tag to disable it:

   <!-- <part id="certify>
        </part> -->

7. Select Save.

Step 4: Creating an application submission requirement

To create the application logic that requires applicants submit their signature:

1. Go to Database → Application Logic.

2. Select Insert.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Inactive

   • Type: Submission Requirement

   • Section: Select the form you created in Step 1.

   • Name: Enter an applicant-facing name for the submission requirement.

   • Warning: Hard Fail

   • Base: Configurable Joins - Application

4. Select Subquery Filter.

5. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Active

   • Name: Enter a name for the subquery filter, like “Not Exists - Signature”.

   • Type: Dependent subquery

   • Aggregate: Not Exists

   • Exports: Select Export.

6. If you chose Option 1 (the signature widget):

   1. Select Form Field Value.

   2. Select the default join, Application / Form Responses.

   3. Select Save.

   4. Select the Form Field Value export you just created.

   5. In the Form Field Export Key field, enter the signature field’s export key that you created earlier.  

   6. Select Save.

7. If you chose Option 2 (the custom signature field):

   1. Select the custom signature field.

   2. Select Save.

8. Save the subquery filter.

9. Save the application logic record.

Step 5: Activating the application submission requirement

1. Go to Database → Application Logic.

2. Select the requirement you created in the previous step.

3. Set the requirement’s Status to Active.

4. Select Save.