Use cases

Simple use case

For a simple workflow, where any member of a certain group of users can sign off an issue in order to quickly move it through the approval process, we recommend adding only one Electronic Signature custom field to a screen. If you need a guarantee that at least one authorized person signed it off, you can:

• add a condition that a signature is required
• define a role or group allowed to sign the issues
• add the Electronic Signature validator in the Any signed mode to the chosen transition

Advantages

• quick and simple approval process
• flexibility in terms of who has to sign off issues
• good for every-day, repetitive tasks

What needs to be done

To make it work, you’ll need to:

1. Add the Electronic Signature custom field to Jira.
2. Configure the Electronic Signature global settings.
3. Add the Electronic Signature validator in the Any signed mode to the final workflow transition.

Advanced use case

For more complex processes you can use multiple separate Electronic Signature custom fields - each one with a very limited scope. For example, one custom field can be signed by a member of the HR team but there could be also a separate custom field that only the finance director can sign.

In this case, it is convenient to configure a separate transition screen for each step, where each screen contains a different Electronic Signature custom field that only the assignee can sign. For example, instead of one “In Progress” status, you can create separate workflow statuses, such “Awaiting Acceptance by HR”, “Awaiting Acceptance by Finance Director”, or similar, and add a dedicated Electronic Signature custom field to a screen associated with each of those steps.

Advantages

• each custom field can be signed only by a defined group of people, or just one chosen person
• approvers know exactly where to sign, thanks to detailed names and descriptions you can add to each custom field
• everyone can see the progress, thanks to the signature counter
• the issue won’t make any progress without required signatures, thanks to the workflow validator

What needs to be done

To make the best out of this use case, you’ll need to:

1. Add the Electronic Signature custom field multiple times, each time with a distinctive name.
2. Configure the global settings for all the custom fields. (For example, add the Signature Counter panel to the issue view).
3. Define Approvers in the Custom field settings of each particular custom field separately.
4. Prepare a workflow with different approval statuses and associate them with transition screens.
5. Add each custom field to its proper transition screen.
6. Add the Electronic Signature validator in the Each signed mode to the final transition to make sure that all approvers have given their signatures.
7. Enable the Signature Counter in the global configuration.