Template roles and privileges in BoldSign

In BoldSign, templates are a powerful way to standardize and speed up recurring document workflows. When working with templates, there are three distinct key roles involved, such as the Template Creator, the Sender, and the Signer. Understanding these roles and their permissions helps teams maintain control, consistency, and efficiency.

Roles in an organization using BoldSign templates

Templates in BoldSign involve three key roles, each with specific responsibilities and permissions. The roles include:

1. Template creator

• Who they are: Usually a team member, team admin, or account admin within the organization.
• Role in the organization: Responsible for creating reusable templates that define document structure, placeholder roles, form fields, signing order, and permissions for senders.
• What a template creator can do:
  • Create new templates from scratch or from existing documents.
  • Add/remove documents and form fields.
  • Define signer roles and assign fields to those roles.
  • Set signing order and authentication methods.
  • Configure what senders are allowed to modify when using the template.
  • Share templates with specific team members or the entire team.
  • Edit or delete templates (with admin restrictions for others’ templates).

Template usage settings controlled by the template creator

When creating or editing a template, the creator can decide how much flexibility to give senders:

Files

Template creators can control whether senders can add, remove, or replace attachment files in templates by enabling or disabling options. These options include:

• Allow sender to add more files.
• Allow sender to replace, rearrange, and delete files.

For more details on how to control sender actions for file attachments, refer to our article on:
How to restrict users from uploading or modifying files in a template?

Recipients

Template creators can decide if senders are allowed to add additional recipients when using the template.
The option includes:

• Allow sender to add more recipients
  • If enabled: The sender can add more recipients beyond those defined in the template.
  • If disabled: The sender cannot add any extra recipients; they must use only the predefined roles.

Document message

Template creators can control whether senders can edit the message that accompanies the document.
The option includes:

• Allow sender to edit the document message before sending.
  • If enabled: The sender can customize or edit the document message before sending.
  • If disabled: The sender must use the default message set in the template without changes.

Field Configuration

The template creator can enable or disable options to control what senders can do with template fields. These options include:

• Allow senders to add new fields.
• Allow senders to edit or delete fields.
• Allow senders to set default values only for fields (restricted editing).

For more details on restricting sender actions on template fields, check our articles:

• How to use template field configuration in BoldSign?
• How to allow senders to edit or delete template form fields?

Signer options

The template creator can control whether signers can reassign or print and sign the template documents by enabling or disabling options such as:

• Allow signers to print and sign.
• Allow signers to reassign.

2. Sender

• Who they are: Any authorized user in the organization who uses the shared template.
• Role in the organization: Initiates the signing process by sending documents based on the template without altering its core structure.
• What a sender can do:
  • Choose shared templates and send documents based on them.
  • Map real recipients/email addresses to the placeholder roles defined in the template.
  • Customize allowed elements (add files, edit fields, add recipients, etc.) based on template settings.
  • Edit the document message and send reminders.
  • Track status and receive completed documents.
  • Cannot modify the core template itself.

3. Signer (Recipient)

• Who they are: Typically, an external party (client, vendor, or partner) outside the organization.
• Role in the workflow: Completes the signing process securely.
• What a signer can do:
  • Review the document and fill in assigned fields.
  • Sign electronically or initial as required.
  • Reassign their role (if allowed).
  • Print and upload a wet signature (if allowed).
  • Download the completed document and audit trail.

Template permissions and role-based actions

The table below summarizes the main differences in permissions and actions for each role when working with templates:

By understanding these three roles and the available permissions, teams can design efficient, secure, and reusable template workflows in BoldSign.