Events with a waiting list
When you have limited spots configured for your event and registrations have reached the maximum available spots resulting in your event being full, you can use the waiting list feature to continue accepting potential registrations.
Using the waiting list feature gives you the opportunity to know how many more attendees would like to attend the event, and decide how you want to accommodate those on the waiting list. You may be able to add more spots, regain some spots from cancellations, or just squeeze in that extra person or two. You may have such high interest that you decide to create another event for the attendees on the waiting list or be able to add them to a future date of the same event. Either way, using a waiting list will also help you with future event planning to better gauge the interest of your audience.
How to Use the Waiting List Feature
To enable this feature, follow these steps:
- Go to Step 5 – Filters & Settings when you are creating or editing the event that you want to have the waiting list.
- Assuming that you have set a limit on the number of spots in your event as part of this step, check the box for the "Enable waiting list registrations when event is full" feature.
- Decide if you want the system to automatically and immediately convert any waiting registrations to full registrations when spots become available for any reason. Leave this option disabled when you want to manually and deliberately convert any waiting registrations to full registrations.
- Decide if you wish to allow attendees to remove themselves from the waiting list. If you enable this option, it will add a special link to the confirmation email they get after registering, which will allow them to remove themselves from the waiting list if they no longer wish to be on it.
- Decide whether you want to include an optional message with any information about the waiting list.
- When you are finished be sure to Save & Exit.
Waiting List Feature on Registrations
When you have the waiting list feature enabled on an event and that event becomes full, meaning it reached the maximum number of spots that you set for it, then a clear message will be displayed on the registration form to indicate that current registrations are for the
waiting list only. No payment options are presented to attendees at this point, but they get to fill out all the details needed in case a spot opens up to the event.
Automatic Waiting List Conversions
When you enable automatic waiting list conversions, then any time a spot becomes available due to the reasons below, the earliest attendee registration in the waiting list will become a full registration and an email confirmation is sent out to them immediately:
- If you cancel, delete, or transfer a registration from the event
- If someone self-cancels their registration from the event
- If you update the event and change the number of spots available or change the waiting list settings
Manual Waiting List Conversions
When you have a waiting list but do not enable automatic conversions and a spot becomes available in a previously full event,
you can convert an attendee from a waiting list status to a full registration status manually.
To do so, open the attendee's registration card (information panel) and use the
Actions dropdown menu to select
Convert to attendee. You will have the option to send them a new confirmation receipt, which will also ask them to pay for any pending amounts, if applicable.
- You can move any full attendee to the waiting list of the same event, as long as they have no payment transactions already associated with that specific registration.
- You can move an attendee from the waiting list of one event to another event, either still as a waiting list status or as a full attendee. (Use the Transfer to another event feature in the above menu.)
- You can manually register attendees straight to a waiting list of an event.