Create a signing

Go to the My Signings widget on the connectMLS homepage and click the green Create Signing button:

That brings you into the SmartMLS Sign platform and opens the New Signing screen:

1. Give your signing a name (this field is required).
2. Enter the MLS number of the property (optional).
3. Enter the property's address (optional).
4. Set an expiration date and time for the signing to be completed (this field is required). By default, the expiration date/time are set to 30 days from when you started the signing, but that can be adjusted to suit your individual needs.
5. If you would like the platform to send the signing participants reminders to complete their portion of the signing, use the Interval drop-down menu to dictate how often reminders are sent. The default is every day, but you can set it for anything between 1 and 7 days (or no reminders at all).
6. If you choose to send reminders, set the time you would like them sent.
7. If you have your own form or document you'd like to use for the signing, click Upload Document(s) to import it into the signature platform. You can either drag and drop the files or browse your local computer for the appropriate file(s). 
8. Click Select Template if you would like to use one of the forms/documents that are available to you through your SmartMLS membership. If you are a member of a Board of Realtors that has its own collection of forms, their forms will also be accessible to you by clicking Select Template.
   We have gone to great lengths to configure the templates ahead of time to make the process of filling them out and setting them up for signatures as straightforward and efficient as possible. Part of this process is configuring each template with the appropriate roles based on the nature of the form and the specific people (buyers, sellers, etc.) whose signatures are required.
9. After selecting your desired document or template, it will appear directly above the Sender field at the bottom of the screen. Click the green Continue button.
   
   You will then get a preview of the template that has been pre-configured with its default roles and fields:
   
   
   
   
   The template's participants appear in the upper left corner:
                                                        
   
   
   
   You can use the check boxes to see the fields that are assigned to them. If you would like to remove any of the participants, simply remove the check next to their role and their respective fields will become inactive. For instance, if there is only one seller of the property, remove the check next to Seller (Landlord) (2) and all fields associated with that role will no longer be required on the signing.
   
   Use the Select Contact icon   to insert the participants from your SmartMLS Sign contact list (if available). There is also a Create button (after clicking ) that allows you to add new contacts. If you don't want to add the contacts right now, these steps can also be performed when you are actually setting up the signing in the Signing Editor (we will cover that a little further down this article).
   
   Click the green Save and Continue button in the bottom right to continue to proceed:
   
   
   

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Signing Editor

Once the form displays, you should see that the fields are color coded. Pink fields are there for you (as the initiator of the signing) to fill out. The majority of these fields will either be free text, currency (for pricing information), dates or checkboxes/radio buttons.

• Checkboxes are used for fields where it is acceptable to have multiple selections.
• Radio buttons are for either/or fields where there can only be one acceptable selection.

Each participant role (buyer, seller, agent, etc.) has its own unique color. If you're using a form that has spaces for two of the same role (two sellers, for instance), fields that require their interaction will be shades of the same color (different shades of yellow). This design is intended to make it easy for participants to know exactly where they need to perform their specific tasks (provide their signature or initials).

There is a lot happening on the screen, so we will break it down over multiple images:

The Signing Flow section on the right-hand side displays the signers (also known as participants) and specifies the order in which signatures will be obtained (known as Stages). For instance, if the form you are using requires the seller(s) to sign first and then it gets sent back to the list agent, the sellers would be set up for Stage 1 and the list agent would be set up for Stage 2.

Here's a closer look:

Use the Edit icon  next to any Stage to edit the stage name, add/edit/remove participants, or set the signing order within the Stage. You can also delete a Stage by clicking the Delete icon.

Use the Edit icon next to any participant to add/edit that signer's information:

You can change the participant's role by clicking the drop-down arrow to the right of the Role field.
Click the drop-down arrow next to the first or last name to select/change the participant from your contacts list. If they are not in your contacts list, you can manually enter their name in this window.

You can use the   icon to rearrange (via drag and drop) the participants within the stage (this does not change their role). 

As you add participants into their respective roles, the form will fill out accordingly:

Here's a look at the signature section at the bottom of the form (once the participants have been assigned):

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The Participiants section in the top left allows you to select the specific actions required of each signer:

Note: we tried to configure the templates with the appropriate signature/initial boxes ahead of time so there is very little additional work you need to do before sending it out for signing. There may be times, however, when you'll need to add or remove an extra participant or adjust the tasks you'd like a participant to perform.

In these instances, use the Participants drop-down menu to select the appropriate participant:

After choosing the participant, you have several sub-menus of tasks to choose from:

• Use Participant Actions if you need to add a signature, initial or date field for the signer to complete.
  
• Use Participant Fill-in Fields if you need to add another field (other than a signature, initials or date) for the signer to complete.
  
• Use Participant Autofill to add a field that will automatically populate with information from the signer's contact record.
  
• Use Common fields to add any additional fields to the form that you (as the initiator) will fill out prior to sending the signing out.
  
• Use Markup to add annotations, highlights, strikethroughs, etc. to the form.
  

Once you've filled in all the pink fields and have verified that all participants and their respective tasks have been added to the form, you have two options:

1. Save Draft- saves your work so you can send the signing out later (it will appear in the Drafts section of the Dashboard).
   
   
2. Send Signing- emails the signing to the participant(s) in the first Stage. Once they perform their assigned tasks, the form moves onto any subsequent stages, or comes back to you for final review.

If you click either of these buttons and get a red error in the bottom right corner, you must address the issues referenced in the error and then try that same action again.

Once a signing has been successfully sent, it will appear in the In Progress tab on the Dashboard, allowing you to track its progress: