The default nature of Adobe Acrobat Sign is to secure a user’s content from all other users not explicitly invited to view or interact with that content.

Agreements implicitly include all the recipients.  Library documents are explicitly shared in the template properties.

However, there are roles in most organizations that require oversight of transactions without the observer being directly involved or groups of agents that need to have a general awareness of all transactions within their group.

User content sharing allows one user or group to share their content with any other user or group.

Two types of user content sharing are available:

• Basic – User View Only
  • When UserA shares their content to UserX:
    • UserX can view (and only view) all the content that is visible on UserA’s Manage page
  • Basic sharing has a limit of 100 “shared out” accounts and 100 “shared to me” accounts
• Advanced – Group and User View with Modify and Send optionally
  
  • Advanced sharing has a default value of 500 accounts that can be “shared out” and 500 accounts that can be “shared to me”
    • If you need more than 500 shares either way, contact your success manager
  • When UserA shares their content to UserX:
    • UserX can view all the content on UserA’s Manage page
    • UserX can modify an agreement that is in process (if enabled)
    • UserX can send an agreement on behalf of the user (if enabled)
      • UserX is noted in the history and audit log as sending on behalf of UserA
      • The agreement is owned and managed by UserA
  • Group Sharing is enabled
    • When UserA shares their content to GroupN:
      • All members of GroupN can view all the content on UserA’s Manage page
      • All members of GroupN have the authority that the share established (Send and/or Modify) for UserA
    • When GroupN is shared to UserA:
      • UserA can see all the content for all users in GroupN
      • UserA has the authority to Send and/or Modify agreements (as configured) for all members in GroupN

User Interface

Basic sharing

Users under the basic sharing model can establish, review, and cancel their shares in their Personal Preferences section. All users (admins included) have the same experience.

There are two discrete pages, one for the inbound shares (View Other Accounts), and one for the outbound shares (Share my Account):

Users request shares by clicking the plus icon and entering an email for the user they want to establish the share with.

After the share is requested, it exists in a “Pending” state until the requested user either accepts or declines the invitation.

Advanced account sharing

Advanced account sharing is available to the enterprise tier of service only, and must be enabled by submitting a ticket to the support team.

When an account is converted to advanced sharing, the user interface changes from two discrete pages to one, tabbed page called Sharing Status:

The two tabs align to the two pages used under basic sharing rules:

• My Account Shared With > Share My Account
• Shared With Me > View Other Accounts

Users establish shares by clicking the plus icon, which opens a pop-up that allows the user to either enter an email address or select users or groups from a list of the current account user and group objects.

• The arrow to the right of the group name expands the groups to list the users
• The plus icon adds the user/group to the share request (in the top input field)

Account administrators have the authority to fully establish a share between their user and any other user within their Acrobat Sign account without approval.

Group administrators have the authority to fully establish a share between their user and any user within their group without approval.

Group admins that attempt to establish a share with a user or group outside of their group will create a “Pending” share.  The other user must explicitly approve (accept) the share request for the share to be established.

• Requests to share with a Group generates email to the group administrator, who accepts or declines any pending shares.

Non-admin users can request a share (based on the configured controls) that remains “Pending” until the other party accepts or declines the share request.

Group sharing

Administrators (under advanced sharing rules) have the ability to share the group they are the admin of, and to manage the shares that are tied to the group (vs. their user).

Group sharing works mechanically the same as user shares, except the group is a larger container, and by sharing with a group, the user gains access to all content from all users in that group.

If a user is removed from the group, that user’s content is no longer in the group, so is no longer visible.

To access the Group level sharing as a group admin:

• Log in to your Group Admin user
• Navigate to Group > My User Group > Sharing Status

Account admins can manage the shares for all groups in the account and can fully establish shares between groups without requiring acceptance by another user.

To access group sharing as an account admin:

• Navigate to Account > Groups > {Select the group you want to share}

When the Group menu loads, click on Sharing Status

Additional controls to manage shares between accounts

Viewing shared content

The content shared to your user is displayed on the Manage tab.

At the top-left of the manage page, you can see a drop-down arrow next to Your Agreements

• Click the arrow to expose the list of users/groups that are shared to you
• Select the user/group you want to view
• There is also an option to select All Shared Agreements, which returns all shared content

The page refreshes to show the Manage page content of the selected user/group:

Advanced sharing controls

Controls

The administrative controls for user sharing can be found in Account Settings > Security Settings > Account Sharing

• Sharing can be configured at the Account level, propagating the settings down to all Groups
• Sharing can also be configured at the Group level, over-riding the inherited Account level values.

Basic sharing controls define if sharing is allowed, and the method by which sharing is initiated:

• Do not allow account sharing – The interface for account sharing is removed from the user interface for the configured account/group.
• Allow request to share account – Allows the users in the configured account/group to request to view the content of another user
• Allow sharing own account – Allows the users in the configured account/group to share their account to another user
• Both – The user can both request and offer sharing 

Advanced sharing enables an additional set of permissions:

• With external accounts – When enabled, users will be able to share a view of their account content with users in other Acrobat Sign accounts.
  • Sharing to an external account establishes a read-only relationship.
• With internal accounts – When enabled, users can share their content with other users in their (the same) Acrobat Sign account.
  • Enabling sharing with internal accounts permits two additional options:
    • Sending – Allows the “shared to” party to send new agreements on behalf of the sharing party.
      • The history and audit trail clearly indicate that the agreement was sent by the “shared to” party on behalf of the sharing party.
      • The agreement is owned and managed by the sharing party as if they had sent it themselves.
    • Modify existing transactions – Allows the “shared to” party to modify agreements in process.