Guide · Updated · By Buğra Sözeri
How to Collect Signatures With an Online Form
Sometimes you do not know in advance who will sign. A climbing gym needs a waiver from everyone who walks in, a school needs consent from every parent, an event needs every volunteer to agree to the rules. Emailing each person a document does not work when you do not have their email yet. A public signing link, also called a web form, flips it around: you publish one link, and each person who opens it signs their own copy.
Step by step
- Prepare a single-signer template. Start from a template such as a liability waiver or medical consent form, or upload your own PDF or Word file. Place the fields the signer fills in: signature, date, and any text fields such as emergency contact.
- Turn it into a web form. In eSignSimple, create a web form from the template. You get a public link that starts with /f/.
- Share the link. Put the link on your booking page, in a confirmation email or in your email footer, or print it as a QR code for the front desk.
- Signers fill in and sign. Each person opens the link, enters their name and email, completes the fields and signs in the browser. No account and no app are needed.
- Review submissions and switch off when done. Every submission appears in your dashboard as its own signed document with an audit trail. When the season or event ends, switch the link off and it stops accepting signatures immediately.
What is a web form, and how is it different from sending?
When you send a document, you choose the signer: you enter their email, they get a personal link, and the audit trail shows the document was delivered to that address. A web form is public. You do not know who will open it, so the signer types in their own name and email. Everything else is the same: they sign their own copy, and you get a completed document with a certificate.
That difference decides when to use which. Web forms are ideal for standard documents that anybody may need to sign: waivers, releases, consent forms, visitor agreements, terms for a sign-up. For a negotiated contract, or anything where you must be sure a specific named person signed, send it directly instead (see how to send a document for signature).
What gets recorded for each submission?
Each submission becomes its own document in your dashboard. The audit trail records the name and email the signer entered, the time they signed and their IP address, and the certificate of completion includes a SHA-256 fingerprint of the signed PDF. The signer receives their signed copy by email, which also gives them a record.
Be clear about what that proves: it shows that someone with that email and name signed at that moment. It is not identity verification. For most waivers and consent forms, that is the standard across the industry. ID verification is coming soon to eSignSimple and is not live yet; see ID verification.
Using QR codes at the front desk
The easiest way to get a waiver signed on arrival is a QR code on the counter. Generate a QR code from your /f/ link with any QR generator, print it, and let people sign on their own phones while they queue. The signing page works in a mobile browser, so there is no app to install. If people do not have a phone handy, open the link on a tablet at the desk.
Keep the document short and readable on a small screen. A two-page waiver with a signature and a date gets signed; a twelve-page one gets abandoned.
Which templates work well as web forms?
Anything with a single signer and the same text for everyone: our liability waiver, fitness waiver and event waiver for activities, the medical consent form for treatments, and the photo release, model release and video release for shoots and events. Browse all of them in the template library.
Documents with two parties signing, such as a lease, do not fit a web form, because the form has one signer. Send those with multiple signers; see how to send a document to multiple signers.
Web form or bulk send?
Both give each person their own copy. The difference is who starts it. With bulk send you already have the list: paste names and emails or upload a CSV, up to 200 people per send, and each gets a personal link. With a web form, people come to you. If you have the parents' emails, bulk send the consent form and you will know exactly who has not signed; if you do not, publish a link.
Limits and cost
Each web form accepts up to 30 submissions per hour, which keeps bots from flooding your dashboard and is plenty for a busy front desk. Each submission counts as one document toward your plan. The Free plan includes 5 documents a month, so it is fine for trying it out; if the link will live on your website, Personal at $4.99 a month is unlimited. More details on the web forms page.
Our take
A public signing link is the most underrated feature in e-signature for small businesses. Gyms, studios, tutors and nonprofits do not need a complicated workflow; they need one link that turns every visitor into a signed waiver with a record. Use it for standard single-signer documents, send directly when identity matters, and switch old links off when the season ends so outdated wording stops collecting signatures.
Frequently asked questions
Can people sign my form without an account?
Yes. Anyone with the link enters their name and email and signs in the browser, with no account or app.
Is a waiver signed through a web form legally valid?
Electronic signatures are generally valid for waivers in the US, the EU and many other places, but whether a particular waiver holds up depends on its wording and local law. Have the text reviewed if the risk is significant.
Can I make a QR code for my signing link?
Yes. Paste your /f/ link into any QR code generator, print it, and signers scan it with their phone camera.
How do I stop a form collecting signatures?
Switch the web form off in your dashboard. It stops accepting new signatures immediately; existing submissions stay in your account.
Can a web form have more than one signer?
No. Web forms are built from single-signer templates. For documents that several people sign, send them with multiple signers instead.
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