How Signed decides who gets which signature
The one decision Signed makes on every email: which signature to use. Here is the logic, in order.
- Last updated
- 6 minute read
- Rules
There is exactly one signature per person per email. Rules decide which, and the logic is deliberately simple so you can always explain the result.
The logic
- Collect every rule that matches this person. A rule matches on one thing: a named person, a department, or an email domain.
- Sort the matches by priority, highest first.
- The highest priority match wins. Everything else is ignored, even if it also matched.
- If nothing matches, the person gets your default signature.
Rules
Decide who gets which signature. Anyone without a matching rule gets your default signature.
- 30Leadership
Person
Amelia Hart
- 20Sales with offer
Department
Sales
- 10Ireland office
Email domain
haldenrowe.ie
- 0Company standard
Everyone else
Fallback for everyone
The highest priority that matches wins. Ties are settled by the rule created first.
Note: The fallback is not a rule you have to create. It is simply the default signature, and it always applies to anyone not caught above it.
The three match types
| Match on | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Person | One individual, usually an exception | Amelia Hart |
| Department | A whole team sharing a design | Sales |
| Email domain | A location or a brand, however people are grouped | haldenrowe.ie |
Domain is often the tidiest way to split by office, because it does not depend on anyone maintaining a department correctly. Use whichever of the two your directory already gets right.
A worked example
Say you have these rules, in this priority order:
- Priority 30: person is Amelia Hart, use Leadership
- Priority 20: department is Sales, use Sales with offer
- Priority 10: domain is haldenrowe.ie, use Ireland office
- Default: Company standard
Now walk through four people:
| Person | Signature | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Amelia Hart, Operations, .co.uk | Leadership | The named-person rule matched at priority 30 |
| Tom Reid, Sales, .co.uk | Sales with offer | Department matched at 20, nothing higher matched |
| Niamh Byrne, Design, .ie | Ireland office | Domain matched at 10, nothing higher matched |
| Raj Patel, Design, .co.uk | Company standard | Nothing matched, so the default applies |
Tip: Number your priorities in tens. It leaves room to slot a rule in later without renumbering everything.
Signatures
Design once and everyone gets their own details filled in.
Company standardDefault
118 people · updated Today
Leadership
6 people · updated 12 Sep
Sales with offer
14 people · updated 9 Sep
Ireland office
4 people · updated 2 Sep
What happens when two rules tie
Two rules with the same priority and the same match can both be true. Signed settles it the same way every time, so a result never flickers between emails. If you find yourself relying on that, give the rules different priorities instead: it makes the intent obvious to whoever reads them next.
Common questions
Can a rule match two things at once, like Sales plus Ireland?
No. A rule matches one thing. To cover Sales in Ireland, add a rule for the Ireland domain at a higher priority and a rule for Sales below it, or use the domain rule alone if that is enough.
Do rules apply to campaign banners?
Not directly. A campaign has its own audience setting, which can be everyone or one department. See Run a campaign banner.
Related articles
- Create a ruleAdding a rule takes about a minute. Here is the order that keeps it predictable.
- Test your rules before you rely on themFour checks that catch a rule pointing at the wrong signature before anyone notices in Outlook.
- Run a campaign bannerPut a banner under signatures for a set period, shown to everyone or to one team.
Something here out of date, or a step that did not work? Tell us and we will fix the article. Every page is checked against the running product, so corrections are welcome.