Assigning data and metadata fields to internal and external collaborators allows document owners to control who fills out which data fields while preparing the draft.

Assigning data and metadata fields is helpful when collaborators should only provide specific contract data without permission to edit other fields in the document.

This article contains the following topics:

• Assigning data fields to others
  • Assigning data fields to accounts with access to the document
  • Assigning data fields to accounts without access to the document
• Assigning multiple data fields at once
  • Editing the data fields assigned to others
• Assigning data fields to multiple accounts
• Removing assignees from data fields
• Filling in assigned data fields as a recipient
  • Recipients' permissions to data fields
  • Editing data fields by multiple assignees
• Assigning metadata fields
• Removing assignees from metadata fields
• Assigning data fields automatically

Can I assign data fields to others?

Yes, you can assign data and metadata fields to collaborators in any draft. There are several ways of assigning data and metadata fields, depending on your collaborators' access to the draft.

Assigning data fields to others with access to the document

• Click on the data field you wish to assign in the editor:

• Click Assign to and choose the collaborator from the dropdown list:

• The list will consist of your team members and all accounts with access to the draft:

• Alternatively, you can add a collaborator who does not already have access to the draft by inserting their email address:

You can do the same from the data fields sidebar:

• Click Assign to in the sidebar 
• Select the collaborator from the dropdown list
• After selecting, confirm by clicking the Save button:

Assigning data fields to others without access to the document

• Assigning data fields by adding a new collaborator will automatically share the draft with them and grant "Fill document" permissions:

• • They will receive an email notification informing them that a draft has been shared and they have been assigned data fields:

• Share access to the document first: Alternatively, you can first share access with "Fill document" permissions and then assign data fields to the collaborator:

Can I assign a collaborator to multiple data fields at once?

You can select data fields in bulk and assign them to a collaborator.

• Open the document and access the data fields sidebar
  • Click on Assign to 
  • Select the collaborator
  • After selecting, you will see the option to select data fields
  • You can select all fields at once
  • Once all fields are selected, the label will change to Deselect all

Can I edit assigned data fields?

Yes! You can change the data fields you have assigned to collaborators from the share module in your drafts:

• Click on the "Share" button in the draft
• Click on the field(s) under the collaborator you wish to edit
• Edit the assigned data fields
• Click Save to complete
• You will now see the new data fields added/removed from the collaborator's list: 

Can I assign several accounts to the same data fields(s)?

Yes! You can assign several people to the same data field(s). They will all have the ability to edit the fields' values.

How can I remove others as data field assignees?

You can remove assignees directly from the editor or from the data fields sidebar:

You can then reassign it to new accounts, keep the current selection or leave the field unassigned. 

How can recipients fill in assigned data fields?

Only the account(s) assigned to a data fields can fill in their value.

When assigning data fields to a recipient, the draft will be shared with them, and they will be granted "Fill document" permissions. This allows them to edit/fill the assigned data fields and signee details and grants them access to add attachments.

• Any collaborator who is assigned to the data field will always be notified by email.
  • After opening the document from the email, all assigned data fields will be listed at the top of the data fields sidebar.
• All assigned data fields can also be marked "required," ensuring they must be filled in to send the contract for signature.

Read more about the different types of permissions in shared drafts here.

What are the visibility permissions of recipients?

• Recipients can view all data fields added to the document body as text fields.
• Recipients can only edit and see as data fields those fields which were assigned to them.

Can all assignees change the same data field values?

All accounts assigned to the same data fields will be able to change their values.

The document owner will be allowed to see who has changed the values chronologically under the document history section in the editor.

Can I assign metadata fields to others?

Yes! You can also assign metadata fields to anyone from your company.

As metadata fields are only visible to internal collaborators, external collaborators cannot be assigned to, or see, metadata fields.

Can I remove metadata fields assignees?

To remove a collaborator assigned to a metadata field, click "assign to" from the data fields sidebar, select the internal collaborator, deselect the metadata fields assigned to them, and click Save.

Can I assign data fields to others automatically?

Yes! You can now use the "Share a document" action in the Automation Builder to assign all or only selected data and metadata fields to others.

Automatically assigning all data fields to others:

• To do that, you need to choose the "Fill document" permission (or any higher level permission) when configuring the automation action and then set the toggle "Assign all data fields" on:

• Once the automation gets successfully executed, all data fields in the document will be assigned to the selected collaborator.
• Metadata fields that are available in the shared document will also be assigned to the chosen collaborators only if they have internal document access as a part of the same company:

Automatically assigning some data fields to others:

• You can also disable the "Assign all data fields" toggle and select specific data fields to assign from the following drop-down list:

Once the automation runs, the draft will be shared with the selected collaborators, and the selected data (and metadata fields for internal collaborators) fields will be assigned to them:

• At the moment of your automation creation, all available in the chosen document metadata fields will be included in the list of data fields to assign.
  • If you assign external for your company collaborators to all fields in the automation, they will not see the metadata fields, but only the data fields.
  • Only internal for your company collaborators will be assigned to metadata fields in the sidebar, as shown in the video above.

If you still need additional information or assistance, reach out to us at any time via our Online Support Chat or by sending us an email.