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BoldSign profile image Vijay Amalan
Vijay Amalan for BoldSign

Posted on • Originally published at boldsign.com

Make Digital Contracts Smarter by Adding Hyperlinks with BoldSign API

#esignature #digitalcontracts #addinghyperlinks #api

Digital contracts are often burdened by excess text, unclear references, and lengthy review cycles. Adding hyperlinks directly to eSignature documents addresses these issues by providing signers with immediate access to supporting information. With the BoldSign eSignature API, organizations can incorporate hyperlinks into contracts programmatically, making the signing experience clearer, faster, and more efficient.

Why use hyperlinks in documents?

Clickable links can enhance your documents by:

1. Immediate access to missing information

Signers often pause because they do not understand a clause, term, or policy.

Hyperlinks let them open the reference instantly instead of:

  • Emailing your team
  • Searching your website
  • Requesting clarification
  • Waiting for a response

This removes delays and keeps the signer in the flow.

2. Fewer back-and-forth clarifications

When key documents (privacy policy, fee schedules, disclosures) are linked, signers do not need to ask for attachments or updated versions. Less back-and-forth = faster sign-off.

3. Real-time guidance during decisions

Links to help articles, FAQs, or instructions allow signers to self-resolve questions on the spot. This prevents confusion at critical steps, increasing the likelihood they will finish the process without dropping off.

4. Reduced cognitive load

Hyperlinks replace long explanations in the contract. Signers can skim the contract and open details only if needed, making the review experience lighter and faster.

5. Higher trust and clarity

When sensitive terms link to authoritative pages (legal policies, regulatory documents), signers feel more confident. Higher trust increases the probability that they will complete the signing process.

6. Updated information without reissuing documents

Linked content stays current even if policies change. No need to resend revised PDFs — signers access the latest version immediately.

Supported hyperlink types

You can use the FormField object with the fieldType set to Hyperlink to create the following types of links:

  • Webpage link 

    • Format: The URL should start with either http or https, e.g., https://www.google.com. 
    • Behavior: Opens the specified webpage in the signer’s browser. 
    • Use case: Link to product pages, documentation, or external forms. 

  • Email link 

    • Format: mailto:“example@gmail.com”. 
    • Behavior: Opens the signer’s default email client to compose a message. 
    • Use case: Provide a contact email for support or inquiries. 

  • Phone link 

    • Format: tel: +{phone number with country code}. 
    • Behavior: Initiates a call using the signer’s default phone application. 
    • Use case: Offer direct phone support or contact options. 

Step-by-step guide: sending a document to the signer with a hyperlink form field

When sending a document to a signer, set the fieldType to Hyperlink.

You must also:

  • Provide the  hyperlinkText (text to display) along with the actual hyperlink value within the value property.
  • Ensure that a hyperlink field is not used alone. Because hyperlink and label fields are considered common fields, at least one additional form field (other than dateSigned or a label) must be assigned along with them for all signers in the document.

Refer to the documentation to install the SDKs for your application’s technology stack. After installation, generate your API key in BoldSign. Use the API key generation guide for detailed steps.

Example code for sending signature requests with hyperlinks 

cURL

    curl -X 'POST' \
    'https://api.boldsign.com/v1/document/send' \
    -H 'accept: application/json' \
    -H 'X-API-KEY: {your API key}' \
    -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
    -F 'Title=Sample Document' \
    -F 'Signers={
      "name": "hanky",
      "emailAddress": "hankyWhites@gmail.com",
      "signerType": "Signer",
      "formFields": [
         {
           "id": "HyperLink",
           "fieldType": "Hyperlink",
           "pageNumber": 1,
           "bounds": {
             "x": 50,
             "y": 600,
             "width": 150,
             "height": 50
           },
           "hyperlinkText": "Employee Handbook",
           "value": "https://www.google.com"
         },
         {
           "id": "HyperLink_2",
           "fieldType": "Hyperlink",
           "pageNumber": 2,
           "bounds": {
             "x": 50,
             "y": 600,
             "width": 150,
             "height": 50
           },
           "hyperlinkText": "Company email address",
           "value": "mailto:{emailAddress}"
         }
      ]
    }' \
     -F 'Files=@{your file}' \
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.NET:

    using BoldSign.Api;
    using BoldSign.Model;
    using System.Collections.Generic;

    class Program
    {
       static void Main()
       {
           // Initialize API client
           var apiClient = new ApiClient("https://api.boldsign.com", "Your API key");
           var documentClient = new DocumentClient(apiClient);

           // File to upload
           var documentFilePath = new DocumentFilePath
           {
               ContentType = "application/pdf",
               FilePath = "C:\\path\\to\\your\\file.pdf" // replace with actual file path
           };

           var filesToUpload = new List
           {
               documentFilePath
           };

           // Hyperlink field (web link)
           var hyperlinkField = new FormField(
               id: "Hyperlink",
               isRequired: true,
               type: FieldType.Hyperlink,
               pageNumber: 1,
               hyperlinkText: "Employee Handbook", // text to display
               value: "https://www.google.com",     // actual hyperlink value
               bounds: new Rectangle(400, 200, 125, 25)
           );

           // Hyperlink field (email link)
           var hyperlinkMailField = new FormField(
               id: "Hyperlink_2",
               isRequired: true,
               type: FieldType.Hyperlink,
               pageNumber: 2,
               hyperlinkText: "Company email address", // text to display
               value: "mailto:someone@company.com",     // must start with mailto:
               bounds: new Rectangle(400, 200, 125, 25)
           );

           // Collect all form fields
           var formFieldCollections = new List
           {
               hyperlinkField,
               hyperlinkMailField
           };

           // Define signer
           var signer = new DocumentSigner(
               signerName: "David",
               signerEmail: "david@cubeflakes.com",
               signerType: SignerType.Signer,
               formFields: formFieldCollections
           );

           var documentSigners = new List
           {
               signer
           };

           // Send document for signing
           var sendForSign = new SendForSign
           {
               Signers = documentSigners,
               Title = "Sample Document",
               Files = filesToUpload
           };

           var documentCreated = documentClient.SendDocument(sendForSign);
       }
    }
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Python:

    import boldsign

    # Configure API client
    configuration = boldsign.Configuration(api_key="Your API Key")

    with boldsign.ApiClient(configuration) as api_client:
        document_api = boldsign.DocumentApi(api_client)

        # Define form fields
        form_fields = [
            boldsign.FormField(
                id="HyperLink",
                fieldType="Hyperlink",
                pageNumber=1,
                bounds=boldsign.Rectangle(x=50, y=700, width=150, height=50),
                hyperlinkText="Employee Handbook",  # text to display
                value="https://www.google.com"      # actual hyperlink value
            ),
            boldsign.FormField(
                id="HyperLink_2",
                fieldType="Hyperlink",
                pageNumber=1,
                bounds=boldsign.Rectangle(x=50, y=600, width=150, height=50),
                hyperlinkText="Company email address",  # text to display
                value="mailto:someone@company.com"      # must start with mailto:
            )
        ]

        # Define signer
        document_signer = boldsign.DocumentSigner(
            name="David",
            emailAddress="david@cubeflakes.com",
            signerType="Signer",
            formFields=form_fields
        )

        # Prepare document for signing
        send_for_sign = boldsign.SendForSign(
            title="Test",
            files=[r"C:\path\to\YourFile.pdf"],  # replace with actual file path
            signers=[document_signer]
        )

        # Send document
        document_created = document_api.send_document(send_for_sign)
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PHP:

    <?php
    require_once "vendor/autoload.php";

    use BoldSign\Configuration;
    use BoldSign\Api\DocumentApi;
    use BoldSign\Model\{
        FormField,
        Rectangle,
        DocumentSigner,
        SendForSign
    };

    // Configure API client
    $config = new Configuration();
    $config->setApiKey('Your API Key');

    $documentApi = new DocumentApi($config);

    // Define form fields
    $formFields = [];

    // Hyperlink field (web link)
    $formField = new FormField();
    $formField->setId("HyperLink");
    $formField->setFieldType("Hyperlink");
    $formField->setPageNumber(1);
    $formField->setBounds(new Rectangle(['x' => 50, 'y' => 700, 'width' => 150, 'height' => 50]));
    $formField->setHyperlinkText("Employee Handbook"); // text to display
    $formField->setValue("https://www.google.com");    // actual hyperlink value
    $formFields[] = $formField;

    // Hyperlink field (email link)
    $formField = new FormField();
    $formField->setId("HyperLink_2");
    $formField->setFieldType("Hyperlink");
    $formField->setPageNumber(1);
    $formField->setBounds(new Rectangle(['x' => 50, 'y' => 800, 'width' => 150, 'height' => 50]));
    $formField->setHyperlinkText("Company email address"); // text to display
    $formField->setValue("mailto:someone@company.com");    // must start with mailto:
    $formFields[] = $formField;

    // Define signer
    $documentSigner = new DocumentSigner();
    $documentSigner->setName("David");
    $documentSigner->setEmailAddress("david@cubeflakes.com");
    $documentSigner->setSignerType("Signer");
    $documentSigner->setFormFields($formFields);

    // Prepare document for signing
    $sendForSign = new SendForSign();
    $pdfFilePath = 'C:/path/to/YourFile.pdf'; // replace with actual file path
    $sendForSign->setFiles([$pdfFilePath]);
    $sendForSign->setSigners([$documentSigner]);
    $sendForSign->setTitle('Non Disclosure Agreement');

    // Send document
    $documentCreated = $documentApi->sendDocument($sendForSign);
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Java:

    import com.boldsign.ApiClient;
    import com.boldsign.Configuration;
    import com.boldsign.api.DocumentApi;
    import com.boldsign.model.*;

    import java.io.File;
    import java.util.Arrays;

    public class SendDocumentExample {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            try {
                // Initialize API client
                ApiClient client = Configuration.getDefaultApiClient();
                client.setApiKey("Your API Key");

                DocumentApi documentApi = new DocumentApi(client);

                // Hyperlink field (web link)
                FormField hyperlink1 = new FormField();
                hyperlink1.setId("HyperLink");
                hyperlink1.setFieldType(FormField.FieldTypeEnum.HYPERLINK);
                hyperlink1.setPageNumber(1);
                hyperlink1.setBounds(new Rectangle().x(50f).y(900f).width(150f).height(50f));
                hyperlink1.setHyperlinkText("Employee Handbook"); // text to display
                hyperlink1.setValue("https://www.google.com");    // actual hyperlink value

                // Hyperlink field (email link)
                FormField hyperlink2 = new FormField();
                hyperlink2.setId("HyperLink_2");
                hyperlink2.setFieldType(FormField.FieldTypeEnum.HYPERLINK);
                hyperlink2.setPageNumber(1);
                hyperlink2.setBounds(new Rectangle().x(50f).y(800f).width(150f).height(50f));
                hyperlink2.setHyperlinkText("Company email address"); // text to display
                hyperlink2.setValue("mailto:someone@company.com");    // must start with mailto:

                // Define signer
                DocumentSigner signer = new DocumentSigner();
                signer.setName("David");
                signer.setEmailAddress("david@cubeflakes.com");
                signer.setSignerType(DocumentSigner.SignerTypeEnum.SIGNER);
                signer.setFormFields(Arrays.asList(hyperlink1, hyperlink2));

                // Prepare document for signing
                SendForSign sendForSign = new SendForSign();
                File file = new File("C:/path/to/YourFile.pdf"); // replace with actual file path
                sendForSign.setFiles(Arrays.asList(file));
                sendForSign.setSigners(Arrays.asList(signer));
                sendForSign.setTitle("Non Disclosure Agreement");

                // Send document
                DocumentCreated documentCreated = documentApi.sendDocument(sendForSign);
                System.out.println("Document created with ID: " + documentCreated.getDocumentId());

            } catch (ApiException e) {
                System.err.println("Error occurred: " + e.getMessage());
            }
        }
    }
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Node.js:

    import { DocumentApi, DocumentSigner, SendForSign } from "boldsign";
    import * as fs from "fs";

    async function sendDocument() {
      // Initialize API client
      const documentApi = new DocumentApi();
      documentApi.setApiKey("Your API Key");

      // Define form fields
      const formFields = [
        {
          id: "HyperLink",
          fieldType: "Hyperlink",
          pageNumber: 1,
          bounds: { x: 50, y: 600, width: 150, height: 50 },
          hyperlinkText: "Employee Handbook", // text to display
          value: "https://www.google.com"     // actual hyperlink value
        },
        {
          id: "HyperLink_2",
          fieldType: "Hyperlink",
          pageNumber: 1,
          bounds: { x: 50, y: 700, width: 150, height: 50 },
          hyperlinkText: "Company email address", // text to display
          value: "mailto:someone@company.com"     // must start with mailto:
        }
      ];

      // Define signer
      const documentSigner = new DocumentSigner();
      documentSigner.name = "David";
      documentSigner.emailAddress = "stacywilson@cubeflakes.com";
      documentSigner.signerType = DocumentSigner.SignerTypeEnum.Signer;
      documentSigner.formFields = formFields;

      // File to upload
      const fileStream = fs.createReadStream("C:/path/to/NonDisclosureAgreement.pdf"); // replace with actual file path

      // Prepare document for signing
      const sendForSign = new SendForSign();
      sendForSign.title = "Agreement";
      sendForSign.signers = [documentSigner];
      sendForSign.files = [fileStream];

      try {
        // Send document
        const documentCreated = await documentApi.sendDocument(sendForSign);
        console.log("Document created with ID:", documentCreated.documentId);
      } catch (error) {
        console.error("Error occurred:", error.message);
      }
    }

    // Run
    sendDocument();
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In the previous code examples, make sure to set values for the following fields:

  • hyperlinkText : The text to display for the hyperlink.
  • value : The actual value for the hyperlink, e.g., a valid URL, email address, or phone number. 

Once the code is executed, the document will be created with a hyperlink form field, and an email will be sent to the signer for signing.

Here is a sample display of a signing page featuring hyperlinks:

Hyperlink
Hyperlink

Refer to this documentation on adding hyperlinks.

Business Impact

Organizations benefit from:

  • Shorter review cycles
  • Fewer clarification requests
  • Faster decision-making during signing
  • Higher completion rates across workflows
  • Reduced friction for customers, partners, and employees

With minimal implementation effort, hyperlinks transform a static PDF into a dynamic, context-rich digital contract.

Best practices for hyperlinks 

  • Keep hyperlink text descriptive  Example: Use “View terms of service” instead of “Click here.” 
  • Avoid overloading documents with too many links  Too many links can confuse signers.
  • Test links on several devices  Ensure they work on desktop and mobile form factors. 
  • Use secure URLs (HTTPS)  Keep your contacts safe and prevent security warnings. 

Conclusion

Clickable hyperlinks are a simple yet powerful way to enrich your documents and streamline communication. With BoldSign’s API, integrating them into your signing workflow is smooth and efficient. 

Ready to enhance your documents with clickable hyperlinks? Create a free sandbox account and explore the BoldSign API documentation to start optimizing your workflows today. 

We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback or questions in the comments below. Need assistance? Reach out to our support team or schedule a personalized demo—we’re here to help.

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Note: This blog was originally published at boldsign.com

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