Zoho Sign: Product Updates - Mid-2021

Zoho Sign: Product Updates - Mid-2021

Hello!

We are halfway through 2021, and it has been a busy journey for us at Zoho Sign.

Driven by the rise in remote work culture, the adoption of e-signatures by businesses and other organizations has become increasingly widespread. Here's an outline of all the features and enhancements we have introduced in Zoho Sign over the past six months and a sneak peek of what is coming.

What's new?
  • Document sharing
  • Template sharing
  • Windows app for signing with USB Token DSC
  • Print and sign support for regional conventions
  • Document type and folder management
  • On-demand bulk backup to cloud
  • Short-hand text tags
  • Merge enhancements in bulk send
  • Enhancements to limiting responses in SignForms
  • Enhancements to field properties in Document Viewer
  • Email bounce notifications
  • Support for spreadsheet upload
Document sharing
Administrators can now enable document sharing between users across the organization, allowing users to access and track the documents of other users that have been shared with them. This enhancement can be accessed by visiting the Users section and selecting the desired users to share documents between. It allows for better collaboration without compromising on internal data privacy.



Template sharing
Functioning largely similar to the document sharing enhancement, this allows administrators to now choose the users whom they want to share each template with. This helps with segmented access and prevents templates from being readily accessible to all the users upon creation. However, the users with whom a template is shared can only view and use it. Template creation and management is still only accessible to the administrators.



Windows app for signing with USB Token DSC
Zoho Sign now offers a USB Signer app on Windows that enables users to digitally sign documents using a USB token or drive carrying their digital signature. A USB token for digital signature is a digital signature certificate (DSC) in a password-protected device and in the physical form. This digital signature certificate is self-acquired by the signing individual from a regional certificate authority or identity provider. This type of signature is also referred to as advanced electronic signatures (AeS) in some legal contexts. Thus, this now allows users to sign documents using their personal or organizational digital signatures. The app can be downloaded on Windows from the Microsoft Store.



Print and sign support for regional conventions
Signers can now download the documents sent to them for signature, sign them physically, and then upload a scan of the signed paper documents back onto Zoho Sign to complete the digital signature process. Zoho Sign will attach its digital signature certificate onto the scanned copy that was uploaded and then proceed with the sign workflow as defined by the sender. This is handy in scenarios where regional conventions dictate that signers must sign documents physically and also maintain a copy in the form of signed paper documents. Alternatively, senders may also upload a scan of the signed paper documents they receive from signers, physically or via fax, on behalf of the signer and mark their signing activity as completed to advance the workflow onto the next recipient.



Document type and folder management
Users can now manage their document types and folders in Zoho Sign. By accessing the respective tabs in the Account settings section, users can edit or delete existing document types and folders or create new ones. Deleting a document type or a folder will not delete the documents associated with them. Users can associate documents with a document type and a folder, or modify existing associations, by editing the document signature requests from the Documents tab.



On-demand bulk backup to cloud
Users can now back up all their completed documents in bulk to one of the integrated cloud storage providers on-demand. Upon initiation, the backup task will immediately start saving a copy of all the completed documents belonging to their organization to the location specified in their cloud storage. Once the backup task is completed, an email notification containing a summary of the activity will be sent to the user from Zoho Sign. However, due to its potential to create a greater load on our servers, this feature will only be activated for organizations at the request of their administrators. Administrators can send a mail to our support team at any time requesting its activation.



Short-hand text tags
Users now have the option to use much shorter text tags in place of the older text tags in Zoho Sign. These tags function like merge tags for signer fields. When these tags are placed alongside the content in a document, they are automatically replaced by the corresponding signer fields upon upload to Zoho Sign for the signing process. An example of the newer short-hand text tag would be using {{FN:R1}} instead of {{First Name:Recipient1}}. For further information, users can send a mail to our support team requesting assistance and documentation.

Merge enhancements in bulk send
Apart from the predefined signer fields, users can now also merge recipient data onto custom text fields in documents when sending them for signatures using the bulk send feature. The data for the custom text field must be included in the bulk recipients CSV file in additional columns with the columns carrying the same headers as the respective fields' data labels. Similarly, a private note can also be added for each recipient by including the data in a column titled 'private_notes' in the CSV file.



Enhancements to limiting responses in SignForms
Users can now disable duplicate responses from the same email address in SignForms. When disabled, anybody trying access a SignForm document by entering an email address already used in a response made in the last 7 days, will, by default, be asked to contact the form owner. However, users also have an option to allow signers to resume signing the SignForm document if their previous response was incomplete.



Enhancements to field properties in Document Viewer
We have introduced new properties that can be set for signer fields in the Document Viewer screen - Resizable, Fixed width, Fixed height, and Character limit. It is now easier for users to duplicate a custom text field to create multiple occurrences of it containing the same data and properties. To do this, users can simply select the text field and then copy-paste it onto the document and reposition it wherever it needs to appear again. Alternatively, users can add more fields and set a common data label to make them share properties. This functions such that once the signer inputs the data in the first occurrence of the field, it is automatically filled into the subsequent occurrences.



Email bounce notifications
Users now get an email bounce notification when an email sent from Zoho Sign is not delivered to its recipient. This notification is received by the user in their mailbox and will carry a reason identifying the cause of failure due to which the email could not be delivered. This can be essential for organizations to identify and fix when a breakage occurs in communication related to paperwork due to email delivery issues.



Support for spreadsheet upload
Zoho Sign now supports the upload of spreadsheet documents for signing and sending for signatures. The supported file formats belonging to this type are XLS, XLSX, and ODS.

What's coming?
  • Qualified Electronic Signatures (QeS)
  • Signing with cloud-based identity providers for different regions
  • Trusted timestamping in documents
  • Offline signing
  • E-sign workflows in Google Docs
  • Software development kit (SDK) for mobile development
We are now in the final stages of introducing options to sign documents with several integrated regional and cloud-based identity providers. For the EU region, we will have Qualified Electronic Signatures (QeS) available via bit4id, a certified provider of digital signature services. For businesses in India, we will have cloud-based eSign or e-KYC (based on the guidelines laid out by the Controller of Certifying Authorities or CCA) available via eMudhra, a leading provider of digital identity services. We are also working with a few more vendors to make these capabilities available across other regions and hope to introduce them in the coming months.

Additionally, we are also working with several regional timestamping authorities (TSA) to introduce trusted digital timestamping in documents for added document security and validity. This also greatly reinforces Zoho Sign's legal applicability for use by governmental bodies and other public administration organizations.

Soon, there will also be an offline signing capability that enables agents to collect signatures in person from signers in remote areas without internet connectivity and also allows signers to download documents on their mobile apps and sign them offline at their convenience. Besides this, we are also nearing the release of a full-fledged software development kit (SDK) for mobile application and integration development using Zoho Sign's services. Users of the Google Workspace ecosystem will also soon have the capability to initiate sign workflows directly from their documents in Google Docs using Zoho Sign.

Do follow this space closely for our announcements (very soon!) introducing these capabilities.

If you need further details on any of these features or enhancements, feel free to comment below. For any other support or assistance needed, please write to support@zohosign.com.

Happy Zoho Signing!

Regards.
Sai Anand

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community





                                                  Use cases

                                                  Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  eBooks

                                                  Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Videos

                                                  Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Webinar

                                                  Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho Desk basics, from customization to automation and more

                                                   
                                                    
                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Ask the Experts


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner






                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                              Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                            • Recent Topics

                                                                                                            • Help: Populate “Contact Owner” details into Customer custom fields (for email templates) in Zoho Books

                                                                                                              We want to send invoices on behalf of our sales agents, and include the agent’s name, email, and phone in the email body using placeholders. Plan is to copy the Customer Owner details into three Customer custom fields, so they can be used as placeholders
                                                                                                            • Undocumented Books API error message - 1000 - The requested action could not be completed. Please try again. | Unexpected error

                                                                                                              This code sometimes throws this error 1000 - The requested action could not be completed. Please try again. | Unexpected error What does it mean? result = zoho.books.updateRecord("salesorders",organization.get("organization_id"),salesorder_id,sales_
                                                                                                            • Partial payments for retainer invoices

                                                                                                              When a customer does not pay the entire retainer invoice there is no way to apply a partial payment. PLEASE add this function.
                                                                                                            • Making Tags Mandatory

                                                                                                              When creating an expense, is it possible to make the Tags field mandatory?  I see the option in settings to make other fields mandatory, like Merchant, Description, Customer, etc, but nothing about Tags. Thanks! Kevin
                                                                                                            • Mass Update not trigger workflows

                                                                                                              Hi, I have performed a mass update of all records in a custom module using a custom view. I have a dummy checkbox on my module that I turn on or off - hoping to trigger all the new workflows that have been created for that module. However, no workflows
                                                                                                            • Multi-Select lookup field has reached its maximum??

                                                                                                              Hi there, I want to create a multi-select lookup field in a module but I can't select the model I want the relationship to be with from the list. From the help page on this I see that you can only create a max of 2 relationships per module? Is that true?
                                                                                                            • Generating CRM reports based on date moved in staged history

                                                                                                              Hi everyone, I'm trying to generate CRM reports of jobs (I think these are called usually deals) based on when they were moved to a particular stage, ie all jobs that were moved to Proposal/Quote in the previous financial year. I can see from other similar
                                                                                                            • Modules for missed calls, emails, texts etc

                                                                                                              Hi there. Is there a way to create a module that would automatically show a list of all inbound calls that were missed by our users, as well as any inbound SMS's, emails & WhatsApp messages. That way, a user who is available, can work through that list
                                                                                                            • Subforms and automation

                                                                                                              If a user updates a field how do we create an automation etc. We have a field for returned parts and i want to get an email when that field is ticked. How please as Zoho tells me no automation on subforms. The Reason- Why having waited for ever for FSM
                                                                                                            • Conditional layouts - support for multi-select picklists

                                                                                                              Hi, The documentation for conditional layouts says the following: "Layout Rules cannot be used on the following field types: Auto Number Lookup Multi Select Lookup User Lookup Formula File Upload Multi Line" I have a custom module with a multi-pick list
                                                                                                            • Ability to Set a General Email Signature for the Organization in Zoho Recruit

                                                                                                              Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request a feature that would allow us to set a general email signature at the organizational level within Zoho Recruit. Currently it is only possible for individual users to create their
                                                                                                            • Custom Buttons & Links Now Supported in Portals

                                                                                                              We’ve just made portals in Zoho Recruit more powerful and customizable than ever! You can now bring the power of Custom Buttons and Links to your Candidate, Client, Vendor, and Custom Portals — enabling portal users to take direct action without recruiter
                                                                                                            • Change Last Name to not required in Leads

                                                                                                              I would like to upload 500 target companies as leads but I don't yet have contact people for them. Can you enable the option for me to turn this requirement off to need a Second Name? Moderation update (10-Jun-23): As we explore potential solutions for
                                                                                                            • CC and/or BCC users in email templates

                                                                                                              I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submitted
                                                                                                            • Is there a way to show contact emails in the Account?

                                                                                                              I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detail
                                                                                                            • Live webinar: Transform data into impactful visuals with Zoho Show

                                                                                                              Data is frequently a core part of a presentation, whether it’s a sales pitch, project update, research report, or performance review. But when it’s just numbers on a page, the message you’re trying to convey can get buried. The real magic happens when
                                                                                                            • Zoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025

                                                                                                              Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worth
                                                                                                            • File attachments not working - web version

                                                                                                              Since Notebook announced better file attachments, I have experienced file attachments failing. When uploaded from my pc to the web version, notebook just spins. Acting like the attachment is very large. When it's 30k. If I cancel out of this, the notecard
                                                                                                            • API - Barebones Data for Send Doc For Signiture

                                                                                                              I am learning how to use with Zoho Sign API. I am wondering if someone can give me a bare bones JSON data sample for "Send Document For Signature". Below is the blank data that is pre-populated in postman. Seems like there is more here than the bare minimum
                                                                                                            • Revenue Management: #2 How to compute revenue?

                                                                                                              In our previous post, we discussed the revenue recognition standards under IFRS 15 and ASC 606 and the five-step model. Now, let's examine three distinct business scenarios to see how the standards and model work in practice. This will help you understand
                                                                                                            • External lookup in CRM (as in Books)

                                                                                                              Hello Context: We have a CRM module, similar to Deals, but for Purchasing. Once the PO is created, a link to this PO should be updated in that "deal". In Books, you can add a custom 'external' field which can look up into CRM modules. I'm asked to have
                                                                                                            • "Undo Send" Feature

                                                                                                              Would love it if TeamInbox had an "Undo Send" feature, that gives you 10 seconds or so to "undo" the sending of an email. Many other email clients already have this feature, and my clients really miss it, as it has saved them many times in the past when
                                                                                                            • Better Notes Commenting

                                                                                                              Hi, I'd like to suggest better collaboration tools for NOTES. The current notes section for Accounts, Contacts and Deals is not ideally suitable for any degree of communication or collaboration. When responding to a note, there is no ability to leave
                                                                                                            • Zoho Sites

                                                                                                              Does anyone have experience building Zoho sites or know how I can find someone who does?
                                                                                                            • Zoho Crm Lagging

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho Support Team, Starting from today, my Zoho CRM has been extremely slow and laggy when accessing any pages or modules. This is affecting my work and overall productivity. Could you please help to check if there are any ongoing issues or if there’s
                                                                                                            • Is there a way to reference/attach mails to deals/contacts when the mails haven't come through their contacts normal email and the mail comes through software / app who use their mail system

                                                                                                              There are often system mails that come through systems or other software which use their email addresses since they use their own mail servers to mail. This causes an issue as it does not record the mail in the history of the CRM since the email is not
                                                                                                            • Recommendation

                                                                                                              I give up on Zoho. It's never going to be an all in one solution, their own apps don't even connect. Can any one recommend an alternative at least for the crm / people.
                                                                                                            • CRM - Site/Location

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho, One massive oversight of the Zoho CRM is the inability to add multiple sites or locations to one account. Many organisations have several (in some cases, hundreds) of sites across the country or even the globe. The workaround to this, of course,
                                                                                                            • An unknown error occurred. Please contact support

                                                                                                              Whenever I visit this page I see this. I changed browser and still the same. Can someone from Zoho help me please?
                                                                                                            • How to Streamline Pick & Ship

                                                                                                              Is there a way to streamline the built-in pick and ship process? I guess mostly on the ship side. Our current process allows us to choose shipping super fast. It's an EasyPost plugin for WooCommerce. You have to populate the boxes / weights / shipping
                                                                                                            • How to add, delete or rename the "payment method" drop down?

                                                                                                              When we recorded payment in invoice, there's a "payment method" drop down with choices like cash, bank transfer... We want to add and delete or rename some new selection. How to do such adjustment? Please advice.
                                                                                                            • Smarter data gathering with Query component in Wizards

                                                                                                              Dear All, Introducing the Query Component in Wizards for CRM! A smart search field that saves you time and effort, and helps you manage and gather data more efficiently than ever before. Long and complex record entries can be overwhelming and prone to
                                                                                                            • Introducing teamspaces and team modules in Zoho CRM mobile app

                                                                                                              Hello everyone, We have an exciting update to share in the Zoho CRM mobile app. As part of CRM For Everyone—a new set of features that reflect our vision to democratize CRM and make it accessible for all—teamspaces and team modules are now available on
                                                                                                            • Client Script - change page and/or section background colours

                                                                                                              Hello, Would anyone be willing to help me with a bit of Client Scripting code? I have had a go myself but only been able to alter the form field styles, not the overall page/section/heading styles. I want to set a different page background colour for
                                                                                                            • Client Script | Update - Introducing Subform Events and Actions

                                                                                                              Are you making the most of your subforms in Zoho CRM? Do you wish you could automate subform interactions and enhance user experience effortlessly? What if you had Client APIs and events specifically designed for subforms? We are thrilled to introduce
                                                                                                            • Zoho SalesIQのチャットボット、ブロックのコピー機能

                                                                                                              Zoho SalesIQのチャットボットの構築でドラッグアンドドロップで作成を行っているます。 内容は同じブロックのコピーペースト機能がないみたいなのですが、同一のブロック、同一の複数のブロックをいくつも作成する場合は、皆様はどのように行われていますか? 例えば添付の4つのブロックをまとめてコピーして、別のフローの先につなげる場合です。 教えていただけますと幸いです。よろしくお願いいたします。
                                                                                                            • Questions About Zoho Commerce Member Portal

                                                                                                              Hello, A couple questions about the Zoho Commerce Member Portal: 1. Can I add only specific pages be added to the Members Portal, and not the entire website? 2. When a customer signs up on my Zoho Commerce site, is there a setting that gives me a chance
                                                                                                            • Cancel and refund

                                                                                                              Hi, Yesterday I paid for the Zoho email subscription. Within a few minutes, I realized that the subscription counts one email ID as one user. To make another email ID for the same domain name, I'd have to pay for another user. I emailed right away to
                                                                                                            • Online Payment Fees

                                                                                                              We don't take many online credit card payments so the merchant service provider (PayPal) charges us the 2.9% fee for processing the amount. I would like the ability for the fee to be automatically added to the total amount for "ease of payment". We'd
                                                                                                            • Error occured. please try again!!!

                                                                                                              I created a new list. Added two new contact's email addresses. I try to EDIT either one of them to add their first name, last name and phone number. Whatever I try to edit and update, I get the error message  Error occured. please try again!!! And it doesn't update any of their info. I tried just editing first and last name. Still get the error. No matter what I try to update, I get the error. I tried creating a new list, and adding just one email address and then edit it and also get the error.
                                                                                                            • Next Page