Digital Signatures
Collect typed e-signatures on waivers and policy forms, with full audit trails including legal text snapshots, timestamps, and IP addresses.
What digital signatures are
Digital signatures in Campium let someone type their name on a form question to acknowledge legal or policy text. The signature question is powered by a signature profile field, and Campium stores the typed name, the legal text shown at signing time, the date and time, the IP address, and browser and operating system details.
Use digital signatures on forms when you need a clear record of agreement for common camp workflows:
- liability and activity waivers
- photo and media releases
- medical or allergy acknowledgments
- behavior or code-of-conduct agreements
- permission for off-site trips
- handbook or policy acknowledgments
This page covers signature profile fields used on forms. If you need drawn signatures or formal agreement workflows for staff employment documents, use Contracts in Admin → Contracts instead.
How it works
The setup has five parts: create a signature field, place it on a form, add the legal text, collect the typed name on the Portal, and review the signed record later.
Create a signature profile field
An admin creates a profile field in Admin → Profile Fields and marks it as a signature field for the correct user type.
Add the field to a form
A staff member opens the form in Communication → Forms, goes to the Questions tab, and adds that signature field as a question.
Add legal text to the form question
On the signature question, staff enter the waiver, release, or policy text the signer must agree to before submitting the form.
Family types their name on the Portal
On the Portal, the signer reads the legal text in a scrollable area and types their full name in the signature field.
Review the signed record
Staff review signatures later from the profile Signatures tab or from form response PDFs and exports.
Create a signature profile field
Create the profile field first so it is available in form questions.
Open Profile Fields
Go to Admin → Profile Fields.
Create a new field
Click Add New Field.
Configure the field
Enter a clear Field Name, such as Liability Waiver Signature.
Set Is this a signature field? to Yes, then choose the correct user type such as Camper, Guardian, or Staff.
Save the field
Save the field so it can be selected from the form question picker.
When you set Is this a signature field? to Yes, Campium stores the field as text automatically. Signature fields are labeled SIGNATURE in field pickers. You can also create a new signature field from inside a form on Questions → New Question → Add New Profile Field.
Add the field to a form
After the field exists, add it to the form that needs the signature.
Open the form
Go to Communication → Forms and open the form you want to update.
Open the Questions tab
Select the Questions tab and click New Question.
Choose the signature field
Find the signature profile field in the list. Look for the SIGNATURE label to confirm you picked the correct field.
Add it to the form
Click Add To Form to create the signature question on the form.
Signature questions appear with an orange highlight. Campium treats them as required, so families cannot submit the form without typing a name. The do not auto-populate option does not appear for signature fields because each submission creates a new audit record.
Add legal text
The signature is only complete when the question includes the legal text the user is agreeing to.
Open the signature question
On the form Questions tab, click the signature question you added.
Find the Legal Terms editor
Locate Legal Terms that user is agreeing to.
Enter the legal text
Paste or write the waiver, release, or policy text in the rich text editor.
Adjust the question label if needed
Optionally update Question Text. This label appears above the legal text block and helps families understand what they are signing.
Save the question
Save the question after reviewing the wording.
Campium requires legal terms before you can save the question. If the editor is empty, the question will not save. Campium also sanitizes HTML when you save the legal text.
Merge fields in legal text
Legal text can include merge variables that fill in names from the related camper or profile data.
| Variable | Typical use |
|---|---|
[first_name], [last_name] | Camper or signing user name |
[camper_first_name] | Camper-specific prefix |
[guardian_1_first_name] | Primary guardian |
[guardian_2_first_name] | Secondary guardian |
If a merge variable is not recognized, Campium removes it when the form renders.
What families see on the Portal
On the Portal, families see the legal text inside a scrollable box with a maximum height of about 250 pixels. Below that, they see a single-line field where they type their name in a signature-style font.
After they type their name, they submit the form the same way they submit any other form. If the signature field is blank, the form cannot be submitted.
Families type their name for form signature fields. They do not draw a signature on screen.
What Campium stores
Each signature submission creates an audit record and also saves the typed value on the related profile field.
| Stored item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Typed signature | The name they entered |
| Legal text snapshot | Exact HTML or text they agreed to at that moment |
| Question label | Custom question text on the form |
| Form | Which form was submitted |
| Date/time | When they signed |
| IP address | Visitor IP |
| Browser / OS | Client info from the user agent |
| Profile field answer | Same typed value on the signature profile field |
If you change the legal text later, older signature records still show the text that was on the form when the user signed.
Viewing signatures
Review signatures from the profile record when you need the full audit trail, or from the form response PDF when you need a submission copy.
Profile Signatures tab
Open the profile when you need to see the signature record, legal text, and signer details in one place.
Open the profile
Open a camper, guardian, or staff profile.
Go to Signatures
Click More → Signatures.
Review the signature table
Review the table for the signer, signed text, date, form, and audit details.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Who signed |
| Signature | Typed name |
| Date | When the form was signed |
| Form Name | Source form |
| Question Text | Signature question label |
| Legal Text | Full legal text, expandable with Show More |
| IP Address | Signer IP |
| Browser/OS Info | Browser and operating system details |
Use the export buttons on this tab to download the records as PDF or Excel. The Signatures tab shows signatures for all family members tied to that profile context.
Form responses and PDFs
Form response PDFs include the signature legal text as its own section above the question and answer table. Campium resolves merge variables in that PDF output, so the rendered document reflects what the signer saw.
The typed signature also appears in the responses table like any other field answer. That makes it easy to filter, review, or export alongside the rest of the form submission.
Tips and best practices
Writing legal text
Keep paragraphs short so the text is easier to review in the Portal scroll area. Put the most important terms first, use merge fields where a name helps clarify the agreement, and have your legal counsel review the final wording.
One field, many forms
Create one signature field for each purpose, such as a liability waiver or photo release, then reuse that field across forms. You can still customize the legal text on each form question to match the event, season, or program.
Cloning forms
When you clone a form, Campium copies the signature questions and their legal text with it. Review each copied question before publishing the new form so season-specific dates, terms, or program names stay accurate.
User types
Choose the correct user type when you create the signature field. Use Guardian for parent-signed waivers and Camper for camper-specific acknowledgments or releases.
Digital signatures vs Contracts
Use form signatures for waiver-style acknowledgments on forms, and use Contracts for formal agreement workflows that need contract-specific tools.
| Form signature | Contracts | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Signature profile field + form question + legal text | Contract template + instance |
| Portal UX | Scroll legal text and type name | Read contract and type or draw signature |
| Typical use | Waivers, releases, policies on forms | Employment agreements, staff contracts |
| Staff review | Profile Signatures tab; form PDF | Profile Contracts tab; Admin → Contracts |
Troubleshooting
Quick setup checklist
Use this checklist before publishing a form that requires signatures:
- Create a profile field with Is this a signature field? set to Yes
- Add the field to the form from Questions → New Question
- Open the question editor and enter the Legal Terms
- Confirm the question is Required
- Test on the Portal to confirm the legal text displays, the name is required, and the form submits
- Confirm the signature appears on More → Signatures and on the form response PDF