✨ Please note: the Waiting List feature is available on the Standard plan and above.
If you enable the Waiting List, a fully booked event will give interested customers the option to enter their name, email and phone number (optional) to that event so they can be notified if a space becomes available.
This article covers:
Setting up your waiting list
You can manage your waiting list settings within your Booking preferences. Here, you have the option to turn the setting off/on and choose the time intervals in which your customers on the waiting list receive an alert of available space (e.g. 10 minutes).
In the example settings above, if a space becomes available, we will notify the first person on the list. They have 30 minutes to go through and make a booking before we notify the next customer on the list.
💡 We recommend keeping the intervals short as it can take a long time to process a list of customers, and the event will remain unavailable to the public until the list finishes processing and/or becomes fully booked again.
Signing up
With your waiting list enabled and an event fully booked, a Join waiting list button becomes available:
Once selected, a form opens where customers must leave their name and email address to receive the email notification of a space becoming available. If they leave a phone number, this is just for your use. We do not send text notifications.
Below is an example confirmation email a customer receives when joining the list:
Below is an example notification email they receive when a space becomes available:
Locating and managing an event waiting list
You can find customers on your waiting list on your Scheduling page. The events with wait listers appear in your schedule in the attendee count summary after the '+' sign:
For example, "10+2 / 10" means 10 attendees have booked tickets to your event with a maximum of 10 spaces, plus 2 attendees who are on the waiting list.
To open the waiting list, select the event and scroll down. The waiting list shows at the bottom right of the scheduling page:
Removing wait listers
You can remove wait listers from the list by selecting the bin icon 🗑 next to their names.
You can also export these details by selecting the Export list to CSV link at the bottom right of the list:
The Waiting list process in detail
If a place becomes available for any reason, such as cancellations or you add more spaces, the list notification process will begin:
The system will send the first person on the waiting list an email containing a special link, enabling them to book the event.
If they don't book within the allotted time (as set on the settings page), the system sends the next person on the list an email with a link for them to book. At this point, both people can book using their link, but the event will still show as 'fully booked' to the public.
This continues until someone on the list takes the place, or if nobody on the list takes the place, the event opens back to the public.
Waiting lists on courses
Currently, when an attendee joins a waiting list, they only join for the date they've selected. This means that they won't be notified if other dates on the course become available.
This is because the waiting list attaches to singular/individual dates, meaning the list will always treat the dates individually. Customers will need to sign up for the next date when one date has finished, as the waiting list doesn't apply across multiple dates.
Once that date passes, a new waiting list starts for the next upcoming date.
How the system calculates a customer's place on the waiting list
Two people may have joined on the first date of the course, making them first and second on the list. Once that date has passed, that waiting list expires, and a new waiting list is generated once someone signs up for the next date. The person signing up on the new date would then be first on the list, as it is entirely separate from the other date.
💡 Please note: If multiple waiting lists are generated across the dates on a course (i.e. a waiting list per date), the waiting lists are grouped in the bottom right-hand corner and can't be deciphered between.
Writing an alert message
If you'd like to make this process clearer to your customers, you may wish to write an alert message on your page to inform them that they will need to sign up for the waiting list on each date on the course. So when they sign up, they only sign up for the next date.
✨ You can read more about setting an alert message here.
Waiting list-only entries
There may be occasions when you would like to gauge the popularity of an event/class or gather a list of email addresses of customers interested in your offerings. You can do this by creating a 'waiting list only' entry.
The first step is to ensure you switch on the waiting list setting and create your entry. Next, amend your capacity levels to zero. To do this, add a '0' in the Maximum event size box, under the Tickets & Costs tab:
This automatically makes your event appear as 'fully booked'.
Your customers can use the Join waiting list button on your public page to register:
✨ You can learn more about waiting list-only entries here.
Adding customers to events without triggering the list
There may be occasions where you'd like to add customers to an event via a new booking or transfer but don't want to trigger the list. To do this, you'll need to temporarily disable the waiting list from here by selecting Edit:
Then untick the Enable waiting list box before selecting Save:
You can proceed with your booking or transfer. Once completed, be sure to enable the list again by repeating the above process but selecting the tickbox instead.
✨ To note: Temporarily disabling the list won't delete your existing list. It will temporarily stop new people from joining.
Also, if you increase the maximum event capacity, you may consider temporarily password-protecting the entry before doing so to avoid any unintended bookings in the meantime. Remember to remove the password again once you have completed the booking!
💡 To note
Once an available spot on the event has been booked, the list will stop processing.
The waiting list doesn't trigger on events that have started. For example, if you have a fully booked, all-day event and a space becomes available the day, we do not send emails to the wait listers, and the space becomes immediately available to the public.
Increasing the event capacity while the waiting list processes won't make the additional tickets available on your public page. These will only become available to the public after 'completing' the waiting list.
The waiting list process 'completes' once everyone on the list is notified and their allocated time slot as set in your booking preferences has passed.
Disabling the waiting list feature prevents future sign-ups; existing waiting lists will still process once spaces become available. You can learn how to remove people from the list here if you'd prefer to stop the process account-wide.
As an administrator, you can override the waiting list functionality and book an attendee onto an event that's currently running through* a waiting list, irrespective of whether that person is already on the waiting list. To do this, book the attendee onto the event from your public page (whilst logged in) as described here.
The list will trigger if you unpublish an event, but customers won’t be able to book a space. In this instance, it's best to remove the waitlist to avoid confusion.
✨ You can also use the Waiting List to reach out to prospective new customers and gauge demand for future events. Learn more about this here.
💬 Any questions or feedback? There are two ways to get in touch:
For a quicker response, please contact us via live chat on our homepage or your account.
Or send us an email
Thank you! 🕺
Tags: waitlist, waiting list, waitinglist