The ability to close a deal online with signed contracts is a fantastic convenience for many kinds of businesses.
The problem is, most digital signature services and solutions like DocuSign tend to be cost-prohibitive for freelancers and small enterprises.
But if you’re a WordPress user, you’re in luck. There’s an affordable and beginner-friendly solution for creating digital contracts with signature fields.
In this article, we’ll walk you step-by-step through the process so you can create your own, fully customized online contract in WordPress.
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How to Create Online Contracts in WordPress
Here’s exactly how to make a web form that works as an online contract in WordPress.
If you prefer a written tutorial, keep reading on below.
Step 1: Install WPForms
First things first, you need WPForms installed on your website. Because you need to create a digital contract, it’s vital to have access to the Signature Addon available in WPFroms Pro.
Once you’ve purchased the WPForms Pro license, you can learn about installing the plugin on your site here.
WPForms is the best DocuSign alternative for WordPress. And it makes it incredibly easy for you to accept digital signatures and for users to sign your forms as we’ll show you in the next steps.
Also Read: Electronic Signature vs Handwritten: What’s the Difference?
Step 2: Get the WPForms Signature Addon
Before we can start creating a digital contract form, we’ll first need to install the Signature addon.
Open your WordPress admin area and hover your cursor over WPForms in the menu bar on your left. Then, click on Addons on the expanded menu.
You’ll find yourself in the addons library of WPForms. Simply scroll down or use the search box to immediately locate the Signature addon on this page.
When you’ve found it, click on the Install Addon button underneath.
The addon will finish installing in just a few seconds. You can confirm a successful installation by checking that the Status now reads Active.
Well, that was easy!
Let’s now move on to the next step and start building an online contract form with fields for capturing digital signatures.
Step 3: Create a Contract Form
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to WPForms » Add New.
Immediately, the WPForms form builder will load in a full screen. Let’s start by naming our form and choosing a template. If you’re looking for a specific form template, you can use the search box to the top left of the templates area.
We’ll choose the General Contract Form template for this tutorial because it has all the fields you’ll likely need for your digital contract.
As soon as you select the template, it will start loading in the form builder. You’ll notice the template has all the important fields like Name, Email, Address, Phone, Signature, and more.
While this particular template comes pre-loaded with signature fields (one for each party), you’re free to add more if you need to. All it takes is drag and dropping the field you need from the left-hand pane to your right.
We also encourage you to customize the template if you’d like to change anything about it.
For instance, you may want to try editing the signature ink color. To do that, simply click on the Signature field you want to change the ink color for. This will open its Field Options on the left-hand pane.
Now, click on the Advanced tab on the left and look under it to find the ink color option. Click it to open a color picker, which allows you to select any color by clicking on it.
If you want to use the same color across multiple Signature fields, you can simply copy the hex code (that is the code that appears in the ink color box after you select it, such as #2248b5) and paste it in the ink color box of the other fields.
This will ensure the color perfectly matches for all your signature fields.
When you’re finished customizing your form, go ahead and press Save at the top right.
Step 4: Publish Your Digital Contract Form
You can now go ahead and publish your form to start collecting digital signatures at your convenience.
The easiest way to embed forms in a page is by using the WPForms embed wizard. You can start it by pressing the Embed button next to Save at the top of the form builder.
You’ll see a modal popup asking you if you’d like to embed the form in an existing page or a new one. For this tutorial, we’ll embed the form in a new page by clicking Create New Page.
After you’ve done that, you’ll see another popup asking you to name your page. Enter any name and press Let’s Go.
At this point, you’ll find yourself inside the WordPress block editor with the form already embedded. You can add additional content to this page using the regular blocks if you need.
When you’re ready to take your digital form live, press the Publish button at the top right.
And now for the most important part.
With your form published, go ahead and check it out. You can also fill it out and sign it digitally to confirm it’s working perfectly as it should.
And that’s it! You can now create a digital contract and start collecting signatures electronically for easy record-keeping.
FAQs on Creating Digital Contracts in WordPress
Still got more questions about creating online contracts? The following commonly asked questions might help shine more light on the subject.
Why create signed online contracts in WordPress?
Creating signed online contracts on your WordPress site is a win-win situation for both you and your clients.
Online contracts on your website:
- Make it easy for clients to sign your contract. With WPForms, you can allow your clients or freelancers to sign documents and online contracts using their mouse or touch screen.
- Easier record-keeping. You don’t have to send email attachments back and forth when you’re using WordPress for online contract signing.
- Allow you to close deals faster. Since you can close more deals in a shorter period of time, your signed online contract forms may lead to faster business growth.
WPForms is the perfect WordPress online contract plugin to make this easy.
What must my digital contract include?
When it comes to creating a service agreement or online contract, many small businesses shy away from using a lawyer. It’s true that you can save on legal fees by doing a quick Google search and writing it up by yourself.
However, when you create an online contract, you’re making a huge business decision. A lawyer can make sure the agreement is written correctly, so you can avoid legal issues down the line.
A typical online contract will usually:
- Specify the terms of service and payment
- Ask for client details including physical address and phone number
- Get the signature of your client
This reduces the workflow when you need a signature before starting work.
To get an idea of what a service agreement or online contact for your business might look like, you can google and look at a sample agreement contract. Most business owners should be able to adapt samples to suit their own needs.
Can I collect payments within the contract form itself?
Absolutely, you can collect payments within your contract form.WPForms comes with payment processor integrations including Stripe, PayPal, and others. You can easily add a payment field to instantly collect payments via credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal with a digitally signed form.
Is it safe to store contract information in WordPress?
For general agreements, proposals, or non-disclosures, you can safely store contracts on your WordPress site as long as you’re taking proper precautions. However, for highly sensitive contracts (related to health, finance, and so on), it’d be wiser to invest in a dedicated encrypted system offering enterprise-level security.
Can I use WordPress for rental agreements?
Yes, you can use WordPress for rental agreements. You can use an agreement form to capture your own as well as the tenant’s signature and store it on your WordPress site. You can even export the form if you’d like to keep a paper record of it too.
Next, Set a Closing Date on Your Online Contract
If your quote expires on a certain date, you can set up your form so that it automatically closes. Check out this guide to adding a form expiry date to find out how to set it up.
Want to save more time with WPForms? Try creating a job application form so that you can quickly gather all the information you need to select the best candidate.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started with the most powerful WordPress forms plugin today.
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