Set up signed approvals
F2 Signed Approval has three fundamental functionalities:
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Signature phrases, which are managed through phrase administration.
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Automatic attachment of signed documents upon record approval, which is managed through document templates. Read more in Document templates.
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Automatic record creation upon record approval, which is managed through approval flow setup. Read more in Approval process.
These functionalities support a vast range of processes involving signed approvals. These processes can also involve case participants and case templates as described in the Case participants and templates section.
The following sections describe the setup and use of the presented functionalities.
Signature phrases
Signature phrases are merged into document templates along with any other phrases and merge codes. The signature phrase syntax is as follows: The code begins and ends with a “$” and must contain the word “signature” followed by the name of the relevant signature phrase. Separate the two elements of the code with a colon.
Signature phrases in document templates must thus follow this format:
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$signature:final_approver$
Create new signature phrase
Signature phrases are created and managed in the “Phrase administration” window, which opens from the “Settings” tab. Managing phrases requires the “Phrase administrator” privilege.
Create a Word document containing the actual signature and save it locally. Then, in F2 click New phrase in the “Phrase administration” window to create a new phrase.
In the “Create new phrase” dialogue, name the phrase. Add a description if relevant and assign the phrase to a group using the “Group” drop-down menu. Then click Select document to import the Word document with the phrase to F2.
Click OK to create the signature phrase.
To make it easier to find phrases containing signatures, create a new group named “Signature”.
| It is important to create the signature phrase before attempting to merge it with a document template, otherwise the phrase code will be replaced by an error message. |
Manage signature phrase variants
Organisations can use phrase variants to handle merging of signature phrases for multiple users. A phrase can have multiple variants. If the criterion for a specific variant is met, the variant will replace the default phrase when merging. The criterion for merging a variant is that said variant matches the username of the relevant approver.
Phrase variants are created using the same process as regular phrases, but their names are important. F2 can only recognise a phrase variant when it follows a specific syntax: [name of the default phrase]%[username].
For instance, a default phrase named “final_approver” can have a variant for the user Maisy Moore, whose username is “mmo”. The phrase variant must then be named “final_approver%mmo” when created in the “Phrase administration” dialogue.
Use the name of the default phrase when setting up the document template - in this instance, $signature:final_approver$. F2 will evaluate all variations of the phrase relative to the specific approver’s username and merge the associated variant.
| If an approver does not have an associated phrase variant, the default phrase is used. Keep this in mind when setting up the default phrase, e.g. by using the organisation’s logo for this phrase. |
Apply signature manually
It is possible to merge signature phrases outside of approval processes. Switch to edit mode on the record, right-click on the relevant document and select Insert my signature in the context menu. The signature phrase is then merged into the document.
The user applies their personal phrase variant, if they have one, when clicking Insert my signature. If the user has no associated phrase variant, or if no phrase variants exist, the default phrase is merged.
The manual merging option can be disabled through a configuration. Configurations are made in cooperation with cBrain.
Document templates
You can set up documents so they are automatically attached to the records F2 creates upon final approval. . In the document area of the record window, open the properties of the relevant document via its context menu. Check the box “Include upon reply creation when approval is final”.
Set up document template
All users can create personal document templates for their daily work. Furthermore, users with the “Template administrator” privilege can create templates available as standard documents for the entire organisation or specific authorities or units.
Create a Word document outside F2. Add merge codes and phrases, including the relevant signature phrase. Remember to use the proper signature phrase syntax, i.e. $signature:final_approver$.
Next step is importing the document template into F2. Click Document templates in the “Settings” tab to open the “Templates” dialogue.
In the “Templates” dialogue, right-click the folder or unit in which you wish to place the template. Select New template in the context menu.
In the “New template” dialogue, click Browse… to import the document template located outside F2.
Give the template a title and click OK.
The next step is to ensure that the document template will be attached to the record automatically created by F2 upon final approval. . This is set up by checking a box in the document properties. Right-click the relevant template and select Properties.
The “Document properties” dialogue opens. Check the box “Include upon reply creation when approval is final” and click OK.
Approval process
The final approval in an approval process can trigger the creation of a new record with copies of the original approval record’s attachments to which any signature phrases within the attachments are merged. The trigger is the checkbox “Create a reply when approval is final” in the “New approval” and “Edit approval” dialogues. Check the box at any time from creation until the final approval.
F2 can be configured to automatically merge signature phrases upon final approval. Configurations are made in cooperation with cBrain.
Set up approval template
Regularly used approval processes can be saved as approval templates.
Two types of templates exist:
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Personal approval templates: Templates created by individual users that are only visible and usable by them.
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Shared approval templates: Templates available to select units or the entire organisation. These are created by users with the “Template administrator” privilege, who also decide who can view and use the templates.
Open the “Approval templates” dialogue from the “Settings” tap to create new shared approval templates.
Click New approval template in the “Approval templates” dialogue.
Set up the steps (1) of the desired approval process in the “New approval template” dialogue. Next, the template must be set up to automatically trigger the creation of an answer record upon final approval. Check the “Create a reply when approval is final” box (2) to enable this function.
Click Save as template. The “Save as template” dialogue opens. Name the approval template. Check the “Template placement” box to make the template available to all users in the authority or a certain unit (select the authority or unit).
Click OK to save the approval template.
Case participants and templates
If the approval record is on a case with a case participant, the case participant is added as a recipient to the record created upon final approval. If there are multiple case participants, a record is created for each. This also enables the use of merge codes for case participants in the relevant document template.
Once the case has been created, add participants to the “Case participants” metadata field.
Case participants can also be added during case creation by using a case template. If a selected case template includes the “Case participants” field, the field is added to the case creation dialogue and may be pre-filled or mandatory. F2 Case Templates is an add-on module.
Case templates can also be set up to automatically add the sender of an email as a case participant during case creation. This applies to cases created based on a received email, e.g. a request from a citizen.
Case participants can also be added manually in the “New case” dialogue, if a selected case template includes the “Case participants” field.
| It is only possible to add case participants that already exist in F2’s participant register. |
Set up case template for received emails
Firstly, enable the “Case participants” field in the case template. The case template must utilise an installation reference of the “Sender” type. This type of reference can only be added to the “Case participants” field. Besides this setup, the case template may be set up according to the authority’s needs.
