Here are a few of the improvements you will notice:
Improved process of moving participants from waitlists to rosters
Ability to send a registration link to waitlisted participants
Added functionality around removing participants from the waitlist when they've been added to that activity session's roster
Provider notifications when spots become available in activities with waitlists
Additional waitlist configurations in Settings
Ability to configure whether open spots are available to the public when an active waitlist exists
Waitlist Settings
There is a new section in Settings called Waitlists Settings.
Here, you will find the existing setting to toggle the waitlists feature on and off, as well as two new settings:
Close registrations when a waitlist is available
It's important to know that when spots become available in waitlisted activities, anyone is able to register for those spots, not necessarily just waitlisted participants. Now you can prioritize your waitlists when filling activity availability!When toggled ON, only waitlisted customers who have been sent a registration link will be able to register for a spot that has become available in a previously full activity, if that activity has an active waitlist. Providers must use the Invite to Register option from the waitlist in order to enroll waitlisted students.
If a spot becomes available in a previously full activity that does not have a waitlist, anyone will be able to register for the spot.
When toggled OFF, any customer is able to register for open spots in activities, even if an active waitlist exists.
Waitlist Management Notifications
You may not wish to receive emails every time a spot becomes available in an activity with waitlists, so you now have the ability to toggle these notifications on and off. Currently Owners and Admin receive these emails.
More on this feature can be found in the Waitlist 2.0 Management Notifications article.
Waitlist Confirmation Emails
When a student is waitlisted for an activity, two confirmation emails are sent. Customers receive an email detailing the activity the student was waitlisted for and Providers receive an email that a student was successfully waitlisted for a fully booked activity.
Management Notifications
We know it's important as a business to have visibility into scenarios when spots have opened up in a class that was previously full and had an active waitlist. In order to highlight opportunities to fill open spots from the waitlist, you are now able to enable Waitlist Management Notifications in Waitlist Settings.
Here are some scenarios in which a spot might open up in an activity session that was previously full and has an active waitlist:
Student removed from roster
Booking cancellation
Order cancellation
Increased activity capacity via Edit Instance
Increased activity capacity via Edit Activity
You will receive an email notification letting you know spots have opened up.
Here’s what the email looks like:
Subject line: “New spots available for [Activity Name]”
When you click Manage Waitlists, you will land on the activity summary page for the activity that has an open spot.
Please note: A marker on this page for which session(s) have open spots and waitlists is not yet available.
Important to note:
Only one email is sent, even if spots have opened in multiple sessions of the same activity.
These notifications can be toggled on and off in Settings > Waitlist Settings.
How to Invite a Customer to Register from the Waitlist
You now have the ability to send a registration link to customers on the waitlist if you'd like to invite them to register for an available spot in the activity!
Navigate to your Upcoming calendar and click into a roster. Click on the Waitlisted tab.
Find the student and click on the three dots to the right. A new option you will see in the menu dropdown is Invite to Register.
Clicking this option will send an email to your customer notifying them that availability has opened up in the activity they are waitlisted for. The email will also include a link that will navigate them to the registration page for the activity.
Important to note - a spot will need to be available for you to use 'Invite to Register' functionality. You can either increase the capacity or a spot has become available after someone has canceled. If there are no spots available, your waitlisted customer will not be able to register.After clicking in Invite to Register, you will see a confirmation pop-up letting you know the invitation email has been sent:
Here’s what the email that your customer receives looks like:
Email subject line: [Activity Name] is now available — book your spot before it’s gone!
When the customer clicks Register Now they will be navigated to the registration page for this activity, and if a spot is still available, they will be able to register.
Important to note:
Registration links will allow the customer to register for whatever activity sessions have availability, not just the activity session that they were invited to register for.
This does not allow an activity session to be filled over capacity.
If you choose to send registration invitations to multiple customers on the waitlist, spot availability will be first come first served. If another invited customer books an available spot first, the invite link will not allow another customer to book the spot.
Registration links are not unique to the customer’s account. If the customer shares the link with someone else, anyone with the link will be able to register for the available activity spot.
If "Close registrations when a waitlist is available" setting (found in Waitlists Settings) is toggled OFF, the public will be able to register for open spots as well, not just waitlisted customers that have been sent invitations to register.
Currently, you are unable to view which customers have been sent an invite link
If a customer navigates away from the linked registration page, and uses the back button to return, they will continue to have registration access. However, if they navigate away, then return to the registration page via the widget or Marketplace, they will not have access. But don't worry! If the customer clicks the link from the invitation email again, they will regain access.
Removal from waitlist when registered
In all registration scenarios, customers are automatically removed from waitlists when they have been added to that activity session’s roster.
There is one exception to this functionality:
If a customer is waitlisted for a full semester and they are added to the roster for one instance, they will remain on the waitlist for the full semester.
Adding a Customer to the Waitlist
You now have the ability to add a customer to the waitlist right from the roster!
Navigate to your Upcoming calendar and click into a roster. Open the Waitlisted tab.
You will now see an Enroll Student option when you click on the three dots next to each waitlisted participant’s name, as shown here:
When clicked, this will expand and you will see two options:
New Order:
Clicking this option will open the same New Order screen that will display when the New Order button at the top of the page is clicked. However, the difference here is that your customer's name will be auto-populated into this form, saving you a step.
This option should be used when you would like to place an order on behalf of your customer which includes adding them to the roster and charging them.
Add Student
Similarly to New Order, clicking the Add Student (No Charge) button in the dropdown will open the same Add Student screen that opens when the button at the top of the page is clicked. The student’s name will be auto-populated in this form as well. In addition, the Existing button will be auto-selected.
This option should be used if you want to simply add a student to a roster without charging them or creating an order.