Working with Interactive Documents
The dotloop Document Editor in a loop is where interactive documents are prepared for sharing and signing for a particular transaction. There are many features offered in the loop document editor including autofill and signature/initial assignments that prompt your clients to sign.
This article covers working with interactive dotloop documents (documents that have already been set up) in a loop. These interactive documents are provided either by your company, association, or are set up by you. They may be automatically added to a loop if you choose to use a loop template, or you may import them into the loop from the Templates section. To learn how to make a flat PDF in a loop interactive, check out this article.
Step 1: Open an interactive dotloop document in a loop
Open a document by clicking the document title in the Documents section.
Step 2: Review and edit Roles in the Autofill window
Upon opening a document for the first time, you are prompted to Autofill. This is a feature that allows the document to fill any information available from your loop and profile details, as well as from the people in the loop. The information presented here is all the possible information that is available to autofill on the document.
Note: If the Autofill window does not appear, click on Autofill in the document toolbar.
Scroll through the Roles section and confirm that the correct people are assigned to the correct roles. Look for their names in the list of blue links on the right side of the window. You may edit assignments by using the dropdown list for each role.
Step 3 - FOR LISTINGS: Link to a MLS listing
While still on the Autofill window, scroll to the next section - Property Address.
Next to the magnifying glass type in the property address or MLS number to find the listing you would like to link to. Once you’ve typed in the property address or MLS number look for a listing that shows the name of the MLS below the address. If the listing shows the name of the MLS, that means that all of the MLS listing information will autofill into your document. Click on the listing to select it. Depending on what your MLS requires you may be asked to enter your MLS ID.
Note: if you do not see an MLS listing for the property, this could be for one of a few reasons: dotloop doesn't have an agreement with the MLS, the brokerage that owns the listing data doesn’t have their listings opted into our feed, the listing isn’t an active residential listing, or if it’s newly listed it can take a day or two for the MLS to push it to the dotloop system. You may still continue to manually type in the property information in the fields below.
Click the Import Data button to pull all of the information from the MLS into your Autofill window.
Note: Once you select a listing to link your loop with, you cannot undo this selection. Please make sure you are selecting the proper listing before continuing. Also, if you would like to repurpose a loop for another listing or address we suggest you archive the current loop and create a new loop.
Step 3 - FOR PURCHASE : Link to a dotloop Listing
While still on the Autofill window, scroll to the next section - Property Address.
Next to the magnifying glass type in the property address or MLS number to find the listing you would like to link to. If you are a Buying Agent, you will usually only be linking to listings that are marked "source: dotloop". This means that the listing agent on the other side of the transaction has created a listing loop on dotloop, and any relevant information from their loop will be autofilled.
Note: If you do not see a dotloop listing for the property, the listing agent may not have created a loop for, or does not use dotloop for transactions. No worries! You may simply use the Google Maps option or manually enter the address information.
Step 4: Complete any remaining sections and click the Autofill button
When you have filled out all the information on this window, click the Autofill button at the bottom right. Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom.
Step 5: Review document and Save
Any autofilled fields will appear highlighted in yellow. Review them for accuracy and consider saving so that you will not need to use the Autofill window again if you leave the document. Click Save to the left of the Save & Share button to continue working. You may edit any autofilled fields at any time.
Step 6: Complete the rest of the document manually
Fill out the rest of the document to your desired completion. Click on text fields to type manually. You may also make selections in any check boxes and radio buttons.
Use the new toolbar that appears upon clicking on a text or date field to edit font, size, and formatting. Hover over each icon to learn what it means:
Font Style
Font Size
Left Align, Center, or Right Align text
Bold, Italics, or Strikethrough Font
Font Color
Highlight text in a field
Add a clause
Field Transparency
Font still visible, outline of interactive field is not when a document is downloaded or printed.
Field History
Indicates what modifications were made to the document when and by whom.
Delete an interactive field
Select a field, then click this option to delete it. On most interactive documents, you will only be able to remove fields that you place on the document.
NOTE: Why can't I fill out a field? If you encounter a field that is greyed out it could be one of two reasons; the field is being used for calculations or the field is not assigned to you. In order to troubleshoot, click on the field and look to the top left to see the field assignment. You can use the assignment dropdown to assign the field to yourself, no one, or anyone and fill out the field from there.
Step 7: Add additional fields (optional)
Use the Add Dropdown Menu in the document toolbar to add additional fields. The availability of field types available will vary depending on your brokerage or association's settings.
Select a field and click anywhere on the document to place it. Hover over the triangle in the bottom right corner of the field, or the far left of the line if placing a strikethrough, until your cursor turns into a diagonal arrow. Once you see the arrow, you can click and drag to resize the field.
Step 8: Assign roles or people to interactive fields
To assign a role or person, hover over the Assigned to dropdown menu to open the list of assignment options. Signature and Initial fields are the most common fields to which you will assign, because this is what prompts that person to sign when the document is shared. By default, a signature or initial field will assign to the role of Anyone while a text, date, checkbox, or radio button will assign to the role of No One.
- Anyone: means that any person at any time can sign in this place regardless of role
- No One: means that no one can sign in this place at any time regardless of role
- If any field is assigned to a specific person, only that person will be prompted to sign.
Step 9: Save, share, print, and/or download depending on your needs
Once you are finished working with your interactive document, you're ready to share it for signing! Use the Save & Share button at the top right of the page. Learn more about sharing here.
Use the File Dropdown Menu to print or download your document at any time.
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