Manage the waitlist in the Host App

The waitlist holds guests who wanted a time that was full. When a table frees up you can email them a "table is free" offer, or book them straight into a reservation. Guests who join the waitlist from your website land here automatically.

Where to find it

Host App › Waitlist in the menu. The item shows two badges: parties waiting (today and later) and how many "can be seated now" because a fitting table is free. It only appears with the Waitlist add-on.

What it does

• Day strip with Today, Tomorrow and the next days (Month view opens a calendar showing parties waiting and days with a table free now).
• Day summary: "… parties · … covers · … can be seated now".
• A banner when parties at the front of the line fit a table that is free right now, with Notify them.
• Rows, grouped by shift and longest waiting first ("Grouped by shift · longest waiting first"). Drag rows to set a Custom order — set by hand; Reset to auto goes back.
• Each row shows rank, name, party size, preferred time, wait time, experience, seating availability ("Table free", "Full", "Next: …"), contact and note. Choose which details show with Fields (saved on this device only).
• Status: Waiting or Notified (with "Expires …").
• Actions: Notify, Create reservation (or Book), Remove. Tap a row for details, contact buttons and an Activity log (joined, offer emailed, seated, removed, offer expired).
• Notify all waiting for the selected day.
• An Auto offers pill per day and a link to the Offer engine (see "Automate waitlist offers").

How to add a guest to the waitlist

1. Tap Add to waitlist.
2. Optionally search an Existing customer; otherwise enter Guest name, Email and Phone (all three are required).
3. Set Party size, Date, Preferred time and optionally Shift and Notes.
4. Save. "Added to waitlist" confirms it.

How to offer a table

1. Tap Notify on the row and confirm "Send notification email to …?".
2. The guest gets an email that a table opened up with a link to claim it. No reservation is made yet; the offer expires after the notification expiry time.

How to book a waiting guest directly

1. Tap Create reservation. The Quick reservation pane opens, prefilled from the waitlist entry.
2. Enter or check the Time (HH:mm). The pane shows how many tables and combinations can seat the party at that time.
3. Under Table assignment keep Auto-assign or Choose table, and set the Duration (minutes) (default 90).
4. Leave Email the guest (waitlist granted + confirmation) on to send two emails: the waitlist request was granted, then the reservation confirmation.
5. If the service has a deposit, Send a payment request for … is offered so the guest pays by link.
6. Tap Seat. A confirmed reservation is created and the waitlist entry is closed as seated.

If no table is free you can still book by ticking Allow double booking (overlap).

Good to know

• Only entries with status Waiting can be notified. There is a limit to how many guests can hold an offer for the same time slot at once ("Slot limits still apply").
• Remove closes the request and emails the guest that it was closed.
• Notification expiry, the per-slot limit and Auto-notify on reservation cancellation are set in Backoffice › Settings › Waitlist Settings.
• If the service requires a deposit, a claimed table can require payment first ("Paying deposit, table held until …").
• The waitlist can also be printed with Print the day.

Troubleshooting

"Name, email and phone are required" All three fields are needed to add a guest manually.

"Maximum concurrent notifications for this time slot reached" Enough guests already hold an offer for that slot. Wait until offers are claimed or expire, or raise the limit in Waitlist Settings.

"Marked as notified, but this entry has no email address." The status changed but no email could be sent. Call the guest instead.

"Email was not delivered." The offer email bounced or failed. Check the guest's address and spam folder, or call them.

"No waiting parties to notify" Nobody with status Waiting is on the list for that day.

The Waitlist menu item is missing The Waitlist add-on is not enabled for this location. An admin can turn it on in Backoffice › Settings › Add-ons.