Signature Rules
Signature rules define which Outlook signature template is automatically applied for users belonging to an organizational unit, depending on the type of email being composed and the recipient's domain.
When a user creates a new email, reply, or forward in Outlook (New), primedocs evaluates the applicable signature rules for their OU and automatically inserts the matching signature.
Signature rules are configured in primedocs Desktop under Organisation → Organizational Units. Select an OU and click Signature Rules in the ribbon.
How Rules Are Evaluated
Rules are evaluated in the order they are listed (top to bottom). The first rule whose conditions match the current email is applied. If no rule matches, no signature is inserted automatically.
Rules can be inherited from parent OUs. When inheritance is enabled for a child OU, the parent's rules are used as-is and no additional rules can be defined at the child level.
Rule Configuration
Each signature rule has the following settings:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive label for the rule (for identification in the editor only). |
| Signature Template | The Outlook signature template to apply when this rule matches. |
| Active | When disabled, the rule is skipped entirely. |
| Use for new message | Apply this rule when composing a new email. |
| Use for reply | Apply this rule when replying to an email. |
| Use for forward | Apply this rule when forwarding an email. |
| Domain filter | Restrict the rule to emails where all recipients belong to the specified domain(s). Leave empty to match all recipients. Multiple domains separated by semicolons (;). |
| Match if no recipients | When enabled, the rule also applies if there are no recipients in the To field yet. |
Typical Setup: Internal and External Signatures
A common configuration defines two rules per OU:
- External signature — applies when at least one recipient has an external email address (domain filter: empty or
*). - Internal signature — applies when all recipients belong to the company domain (domain filter:
example.com).
Place the internal rule above the external rule so it is evaluated first.
Each user should have exactly one applicable signature rule per email type (new/reply/forward) and language. If two rules match the same conditions, the behaviour is undefined.
Inheritance
If Inherit rules is enabled on a child OU, the rules of the nearest parent OU that has rules defined are used. To define rules specific to a child OU, disable inheritance.
Relationship to the MailSignature Document Function
The signature rules in the OU determine which template is used. The template itself controls further behavior — such as when it appears (new message vs. reply) and whether campaigns and disclaimers are appended — via the MailSignature document function configured on the signature template itself.