# Creating and Managing Activities

The **Create and Manage Document Templates** section allows administrators to create, organize, and manage reusable document workflows in emSigner. Templates standardize frequently used business processes across teams and departments.

***

#### Overview

The template hierarchy in emSigner consists of two levels:

* **Templates (Workflows)** — Top-level business groupings such as HR, Finance, Legal, or Procurement. Each template acts as a folder container.
* **Activities** — Nested under templates, representing specific business use cases such as Onboarding Forms, Offer Letters, NDAs, or Invoice Approvals. Activities can be nested across multiple levels to further organize related use cases.

Each activity is later configured as either a Fixed Form or Flexi Form workflow, where documents, participants, and signature fields are defined.

***

#### Screen Overview

<figure><img src="/files/nrgeQzDKoII3TxaW2HYF" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The Create and Manage Document Templates screen includes the following areas:

* **Template list** — Displays all templates and their nested activities
* **Search and filter bar** — Locate templates or activities quickly by name
* **Inline action buttons** — Common controls available directly on each row
* **Action menu (⋮)** — Additional management options per row
* **Expandable detail panel** — Shows access, creator, and date information per activity

***

#### Template List

**Template Structure**

Templates appear as top-level folder entries in the list. Activities appear nested beneath their parent template or activity. Both templates and activities can be expanded or collapsed using the arrow icon on the left side of each row.

**Information Displayed Per Row**

For each template and activity, the following details are visible on the row:

* **Created By** — The user account that created the template or activity
* **Created Date** — The date the entry was created, shown alongside the creator name
* **Configuration Status** — A **Not Configured** badge appears on any activity that has not yet had a workflow set up
* **Inline action buttons** — Context-sensitive controls for that row

**Expanding an Activity**

Clicking the down arrow (▼) on an activity row expands an inline detail panel showing:

* **Created By** — The user who created the activity
* **Start Date / End Date** — Validity window for the activity, if applicable
* **Grant Access** — Displays current access status with a **MODIFY** shortcut link to update permissions directly
* **Department** — Name of the department with access, or *Access not granted yet*
* **User** — Specific user(s) with access, or *Access not granted yet*

<figure><img src="/files/sTetlq9iooZyy88N7Yws" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

***

#### Search and Filtering

Use the **Type to filter template** search bar at the top of the template list to locate any template or activity by name. Filtering applies in real time and is useful when managing a large number of templates.

***

#### Creating a New Template

<figure><img src="/files/BlUZi9rbOZGZcauDeT1Y" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

To create a new top-level template grouping:

1. Click **+ Create new template** in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. The **Create New Workflow** dialog appears. Enter a name in the **Enter Workflow Name** field (for example: *HR Department Forms*, *Finance Department*).
3. Click **Save** to confirm, or **Cancel** to close without saving.

Once created, the template appears immediately in the main template list and in the left-side Templates panel. Activities can then be added under the template, and access can be assigned before configuration begins.

***

#### Template and Activity Actions

Each row includes two types of controls: inline action buttons for the most common tasks, and an action menu (⋮) for additional management options.

**Inline Action Buttons**

<figure><img src="/files/uIe9aHHuJzvLh5UOV8RH" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

| Button                         | Function                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Create Sub Activity if any** | Creates a new activity nested under the selected template or activity. Each activity represents a specific business use case (for example: Onboarding Forms, NDA, Offer Letter). This button is available at every level of the hierarchy, allowing activities to be nested across multiple levels to further organize related use cases. |
| **Setup Template**             | Opens the selected activity for detailed workflow configuration. Available on activities only, not top-level templates.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |

> **Note:** If an activity is already mapped to a configured workflow, creating a new sub-activity under it will be restricted.

**Action Menu (⋮)**

<figure><img src="/files/i5PWkKRtNGGv0U7VXDp8" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Clicking the three-dot menu (⋮) on any row reveals the following options:

| Action              | Description                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Rename Activity** | Renames the selected template or activity. Useful when business terminology or use cases change after initial setup.          |
| **Remove Activity** | Permanently deletes the selected activity. This action does not affect other activities under the same template.              |
| **Grant Access**    | Opens access management for the selected activity, allowing you to assign access to specific departments or individual users. |

> **Note:** If the selected activity is already mapped with a workflow, both removing and renaming the activity will be restricted.

***

#### Template Access Management

Access controls determine which users or departments can view and use a template's activities to originate envelopes. Access can be managed directly from the template list.

**Granting Access**

To grant access to a template activity:

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the relevant activity row.
2. Select **Grant Access**.
3. Choose either **Department** or **User** access and select the target.
4. Confirm to apply.

Access can also be modified from the expanded detail panel by clicking the **MODIFY** link next to the Grant Access label.

**Access Types**

| Access Type                 | Behaviour                                                                                                                                                                      |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Department-Level Access** | Grants access to all users mapped to the selected department. Suitable for role-based or team-wide access.                                                                     |
| **User-Level Access**       | Grants access to a specific individual. If the user already belongs to a department that has access, user-level access takes precedence and overrides department-level access. |

If no access has been assigned, the template remains visible only to administrators and the creator. The expanded detail panel displays *Access not granted yet* for both Department and User fields in this case.

***

#### Left-Side Templates Panel

A collapsible **Templates** panel is available on the left side of the screen. It displays all templates in a condensed tree view for quick navigation. Each template can be expanded to show its activities. This panel updates in real time as new templates and activities are created.

***

#### What Happens Next?

After creating templates and adding activities:

* Click **Setup Template** on the relevant activity to begin workflow configuration.
* Choose between a **Fixed Form** or **Flexi Form** workflow type.
* Upload documents, define participants, and place signature and data fields.
* Assign access to departments or users so they can originate envelopes from the configured template.

> **Note:** Detailed configuration steps for Fixed Form and Flexi Form templates are covered in the subsequent sections of this guide.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://support.emsigner.com/initiate-and-sign-envelopes/using-templates/creating-and-managing-templates/creating-and-managing-activities.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.