QC Digital Signature Glossary and Current Terminology

Use these terms when reading QCDS documentation or discussing a support case. The definitions reflect QCDS 2.0.7 and intentionally distinguish reusable setup objects, immutable sent transactions, delivery records, signer access, entitlement, and completion evidence.

Entitlement and Account Terms

Authorized Domain: The current keyless QuantaCade entitlement model for the installed site/domain.
Base Tier: The underlying subscribed/authorized plan before any temporary preview is applied.
Effective Tier: The feature tier QCDS is allowed to use now after entitlement state, preview, expiry, and automation health are resolved.
30-Day Max Preview: A one-time preview that begins only when an administrator explicitly starts it. While active, Effective Tier becomes Max; Base Tier remains unchanged.
Workspace: The QCDS account/data boundary containing Contacts, Templates, Requests, settings, users/roles, storage objects, and history.
Private / Organization Mode: One primary shared organization workspace for eligible Joomla users.
White-Label SaaS Mode: A provisioning model where customer workspaces/plans are driven by configured Joomla user-group mappings.

Contacts, Templates, and Request Preparation

Contact: A reusable saved person/profile. Contact edits do not rewrite the participant snapshot of an already-sent Request.
Template: A reusable signing setup containing document placement, participant roles/assignments, fields, and related preparation state.
Template Version: A numbered immutable published revision of a Template. Editing a published Template creates/reopens draft work rather than mutating the published version in place.
Request preparation: The current browser-local unsent work created from a published Template. QCDS 2.0.7 does not expose ordinary persistent unsent Request drafts; Send Now creates the immutable Request.
Request Text: A creator-controlled field intentionally filled for the specific Request rather than permanently stored as reusable Template transaction text.

Sent Request and Routing Terms

Request: The immutable signing transaction created by Send Now after validation and authorization.
Request Snapshot: The frozen documents, fields, participants, routing, timing/policy, branding, and message source used by that sent Request.
Participant: A frozen person/role in the sent Request. Signers are actionable participants; CC/completion-recipient roles are non-signing delivery participants.
Sender: The authenticated Joomla/QCDS user who prepares and sends the Request.
Everyone at once: Routing where all currently actionable signers are active in the same stage and may complete independently.
Sign in order: Sequential routing where QCDS activates one signer stage after the prior required stage completes.

Signer Access and Field Terms

Signer Invitation: A personal bearer link delivered to a signer. QCDS stores the secret server-side as a SHA-256 hash.
Signer Session: A fresh hash-stored browser/device session created when a valid invitation is opened and scoped to the exact Request/participant context.
Signature / Initials: Required/optional signer-controlled fields that support typed or drawn values and record server-side signing timestamps/evidence.
Signed Date: A read-only date derived from the exact linked Signature/Initials signing timestamp using the frozen Request time-zone context.
Document Attachment: A signer-supplied PNG/JPEG evidence file stored as a protected original, with a normal or privacy-obscured presentation in the Completed PDF.

Identity Verification Terms

Level 2 Identity Verification: Optional provider-backed identity verification available on eligible effective plans and enforced before a required signer may sign.
Global Identity Verification: A Super User-managed site-wide provider profile that strictly overrides account-level profiles for new Level 2 Requests while enabled.
Account-Level Identity Verification: A sender/workspace-owned provider profile used only when no enabled Global profile overrides it.
Verification Unavailable: A pending required signer cannot currently use the exact provider profile bound to the Request; this is different from a provider decision of Failed.

Completion, Delivery, and Evidence Terms

Completed PDF: The verified protected final PDF built from frozen source-page renders, final field overlays, attachment presentation pages when used, and the Completion Audit Trail.
Completion Artifact: The immutable protected storage object/record for a completed PDF revision.
Completed Package: An on-demand ZIP used when signer attachments exist; it contains the current verified Completed PDF artifact(s) plus protected original attachment files.
Completion Audit Trail: The appended qcds-completion-audit-v2 pages summarizing Request/document hashes, signer/session/delivery evidence, signing actions, Identity Verification, attachments, and custody context.
Delivery row: An append-only per-address record for an invitation, reminder, completion email, replacement, or resend. Correcting/retrying/stopping delivery preserves historical evidence.
completion_failed: A fully signed Request whose signer evidence is stored but whose final verified PDF could not yet be published. Repair finalization; do not re-sign.

Storage and Automation Terms

Managed Private Storage: Application-controlled QCDS storage that must resolve outside Joomla webroot and is accessed through authorized QCDS delivery paths.
Quarantine: The protected intake state where uploads are validated and pass the configured safety inspection before immutable promotion.
Canonical Scheduled Tasks: The four normal QCDS automation tasks: Automatic Reminders, Request Timing and Deadlines, Final PDF and Completion Delivery, and Entitlement Revalidation.

Community Discussion

Want to compare workflows, share practical tips, or discuss how you use this QCDS feature? Visit the QC Digital Signature Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific issues, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.