How do I configure how the waitlist behaves?

Who gets seated first, how long people can wait, how tables are fitted and what the join page asks — plus where the waitlist's on/off switch, length and cut-off now live.

How the waitlist behaves is set on Settings → Bookings → Waitlist (/dashboard/settings/waitlist). The waitlist is Available on Complete — on other plans the page shows one card, "Waitlist is available on Complete", explaining what it does. Owners, Admins and Managers can open the page (Hosts can't see Settings by default).

Switching it on, and the rules set elsewhere

The waitlist's on/off switches, and its rules that every way of booking shares, live beside those rules for everything else — the page's Set on other pages row links to each:

• Turn on the waitlist (off by default) and Let customers join from their phone — Settings → Bookings → How people book, under Ways people can book. While the waitlist is off, this page says so ("The waitlist is switched off.") with a link to switch it on, and nothing on it does anything.
• How long a waitlist party keeps its table once seated — the Waitlist line of Standard booking length (default 90 minutes, 1–600), on Settings → Bookings → How long a booking lasts. The same page has the Waitlist switch under Who else gets these lengths (party-size lengths for the waitlist) and Apply turnaround time after cancellations and no-shows (off by default, and off is recommended: a table freed by a cancellation or no-show goes straight to the next waitlist party, because nobody sat there).
• When joining closes each day — the Waitlist line of Last booking before you close (default 60 minutes before closing, 0–600), on Settings → Bookings → When people can book.
• Which rooms the waitlist seats people in — the Waitlist switch per room, under Which rooms each one uses on Settings → Bookings → Tables and seating.
• Whether customers can join during a break — Let customers join the waitlist during a break, on Settings → Venue → Hours (it appears once a break is set).

The queue

• Who gets seated first — First come, first seated (the default) works down the queue in the order people joined; Largest party first fills your big tables sooner (parties of the same size still go by who has waited longest), at the cost of making a couple wait behind a group that arrived after them.
• Lock parties this size to their table — stops the queue shuffling a big group between tables to squeeze smaller ones in. Default 0 (off).
• Maximum wait time — nobody can be added once the estimated wait is longer than this. Default 120 minutes, 1–600.
• How long a customer has to arrive — once their table is ready; it drives the countdown on the public waitlist page and the wording of your team's table-ready alert. Default 15 minutes, 5–60. When it runs out the table is released: a customer who gave an email is recorded as a no-show while Mark no-shows automatically is on (Settings → Bookings → During service), otherwise as cancelled.

Smart fitting

Fine-tunes which table the queue offers:

• Maximum unused seats — a table that would leave more seats empty than this is a poor fit, and the queue looks for a bigger party to seat there instead. Default 2.
• How long to wait for a better table — when the only table free now is a poor fit, the queue looks ahead this far for one that fits properly and seats them on that instead, keeping the bigger table free for a bigger group. Default 30 minutes.
• Longest extra wait when someone is passed over — when the table that frees up suits a party further back better, the queue seats them first only if the party at the front has another table coming free within this long. Default 15 minutes.
• Longest extra wait for a preferred table — how much longer someone will wait to get the table type they asked for, before the request is dropped. Default 15 minutes.

The page customers join from

Customers join from their phone once Let customers join from their phone is on (How people book). The join page follows your online booking rules: a date or time you've blocked for online bookings closes it ("The waitlist is closed today", with the special date's name as the reason), a party bigger than your Maximum party size — or, on a special date with its own party sizes online, that date's biggest party — is asked to contact you directly, and it follows your seasonal hours when your plan has them. Your team can still add anyone from the dashboard. This section decides what the join page asks and shows:

• Show estimated wait time (on by default) — seeing the wait before they commit means fewer people give up halfway through it.
• Require phone number (on by default) — without one, the only way to tell them their table is ready is to find them.
• Show a link to your booking page (on by default) — somebody who doesn't fancy the wait can book another night instead of leaving.
• Allow customers to join when tables are available (off by default) — on, the queue seats them within about a minute; off, they're told to book directly instead.
• Show queue position on the public waitlist page (off by default) — only shown while you seat first come, first seated; under any other order a position would jump about mid-wait.
• Message shown before customers join (optional) — up to 200 characters: where to wait, or that you'll text them.

Consider connecting text messages (Settings → Communications → Customer notifications) so customers get a "table ready" text.

Click Save changes when you're done. Open the live waitlist → takes you to who's waiting right now, on the Bookings page.

Related: How do I manage the waitlist during service? · How do I choose how people can book? · How long does a booking last? · How do I create and print QR codes for my venue?