User data overrides

The Data tab lets you store your own value for a single user and use it in signatures instead of what the Google directory returns. The feature is off until an Admin turns it on, it covers the same nine person variables your templates already use, and it never writes anything back to Google. The page is app.signature.cat/data, Admins only.

When to use overrides

Use overrides for gaps you cannot fix at the source quickly. Fixing the data in Google stays the recommended path, and the consent screen says so: Directory first - overrides second. The best place for employee data is the Google directory itself (in the Google Admin Console: Directory, Users, select a user, User information). Data kept there flows into signatures automatically, no overrides needed, and every other Workspace tool benefits from it too.

Good reasons to override anyway:

• a job title or department is wrong today and the process that owns it will not be fixed this week;
• a contractor has no phone number in the directory but needs one in the signature;
• one person should appear under a preferred first name in email, but not in the directory record.

Fixing the directory record later is always safe: switch the field back to the directory value and the override disappears.

Turning it on

Nothing is stored until an Admin enables the feature. Open Data and read the consent screen Store signature data for selected users?, which states under What we store, and when:

• nothing is stored until you enable the feature - and then only the values you explicitly enter, only for the users you override;
• every change is recorded in the audit log (who, when and which fields - never the values);
• turning the feature off permanently deletes every stored value, and users removed from your Workspace are cleaned up automatically.

Click Enable and store data to switch it on. Until you do, the data screens hold nothing and the feature makes no directory calls at all.

The Data page needs a verified Workspace connection; if the setup wizard is unfinished you are sent to Domain-Wide Delegation first.

Fields you can override

Nine fields, one per person variable. A stored value wins over the directory value on every render path - editor preview, test apply, manual apply and the daily sync - so what the editor shows is what ships. A field you leave alone keeps its directory value.

Two more rules worth knowing:

• Photo URL takes a public https:// link to an image you host - SignatureCat hosts no employee photos.
• When a signature is written to a send-as alias, {{email}} and {{domain}} follow the alias address even if you stored an override for that user; every other field keeps its override. See Alias modes.

Override one user

1. On Data, type into Find a user - at least one character. Results come live from your Workspace directory; an empty search returns nothing on purpose, so the page never lists your whole Workspace.
2. Pick the user from the results. The editor opens with every field showing its live directory value, read-only, marked with a cloud icon.
3. Click the icon next to a field to switch it from Use the directory value to Override this field, then type your value. Directory mode is the default for every field, and switching a field back to it removes the stored value when you save.
4. If the data is wrong at the source, follow Edit this user in Google Admin Console - it opens that user's profile in Google.
5. Click Save data.

After saving, the app says what happened to the mailbox:

Every user you overrode is listed under Users with overridden data, with the fields that carry a value, the date and Last change by (Admin, Self-service or CSV import). That list comes from SignatureCat's own database and makes no calls to Google.

For dozens or hundreds of users at once, use Import from CSV instead - see Import user data from a CSV.

Remove an override

Clearing every field for a user deletes their stored entry:

• in the editor, Back to directory data removes all their stored values at once;
• in the list, Remove override on the row does the same;
• saving a user whose fields are all back in directory mode removes the entry too.

There is no way to force an empty value: an empty override always means "use the directory". If a signature should hide a missing field entirely, wrap that line in a conditional block instead.

A user who is already gone from your Workspace can still be cleaned up by hand - the editor says "This user no longer exists in your Workspace." and offers Remove the override now. The automatic cleanup would remove the entry anyway.

Letting people fill in their own data

Open the Self-service editing padlock on the Data page to let users enter their own values on the My signature page. A My signature data button then appears at app.signature.cat/self-service and opens Fill in your data, the same per-field editor with Save my data and Use directory data.

• Any access level from Self-service upward can use it, and only ever on their own record.
• Their entries show up in your list with Self-service in the Last change by column, next to the address of whoever saved them.
• You can overwrite or delete any of them; an admin save moves the entry's source to Admin.
• Every self-service change lands in the audit log like your own.

More about the My signature page: Self-service.

Who can do what

The Data tab is Admin only, like User management. Everyone else can at most edit their own record.

Turning it off

The Turn off and delete section at the bottom of the Data page removes everything. Click Turn off data overrides, then in Delete all stored data? follow Type your Workspace domain to confirm and click Delete everything and turn off.

Every stored value for your workspace is deleted immediately, and self-service editing is switched off with the feature. Signatures fall back to directory data with the next apply.

The Data page stays reachable even when a subscription has lapsed, so the off switch is always available to you.

Lifecycle and privacy

• Entries exist only for the users someone actually overrode - SignatureCat never mirrors your directory.
• Suspended users keep their stored values.
• Users deleted from your Workspace have their entries removed automatically, once a day.
• Deleting your SignatureCat account deletes every stored value with it.
• Every change is written to the audit log with who, when and which field names - never the values themselves.
• Turning the feature off deletes everything, immediately.

The binding documents and the privacy summary are on the Legal and privacy page.