Turn on the waitlist and show it in the booking widget

Add-on: Waitlist (part of the Optimize plan)BackofficeFor managers

Needs: Admin role to enable the add-on and change these settings

The waitlist lets guests leave their details when you are full, so you can offer them a table if one frees up. You decide when the widget offers it: on fully booked days, per service, or per time.

Where to find it

  • Add-on: Backoffice › Settings › Add-ons › Waitlist
  • Settings: Backoffice › Settings › Waitlist Settings (shown once the add-on is on), or Configure Settings on the add-on page
  • Entries: Waitlist in the sidebar

What it does

Under Widget Display Settings:

  • Show Waitlist in Widget – the main switch. When off, guests never see the waitlist, even on fully booked days.
  • Show When Day is Fully Booked – offers the waitlist when all shifts on a day are full. This also applies to days marked "closed for reservations" in your calendar.
  • Show Per-Shift Waitlist – a waitlist for one full service (for example "Dinner waitlist") even if other services have room.
  • Show per-time-slot waitlist – a waitlist on a single full time (for example 19:00). It does not apply when the time is only unavailable for the party size (no suitable table).

All of these are off by default.

How to set it up

  1. Go to Settings › Add-ons, open Waitlist and click Enable Waitlist.
  2. Click Configure Settings (or open Settings › Waitlist Settings).
  3. Switch on Show Waitlist in Widget, then the situations in which to offer it.
  4. Set the guest notifications (see the related article).
  5. Click Save.

Good to know

  • The waitlist is never offered on private event invite links.
  • When an experience is full, its card can offer Join Waitlist too (the experience must be set to show as fully booked).
  • Guests can also be added to the waitlist by staff.
  • Changes to these settings need the Admin role ("Only admins can modify these settings").

Troubleshooting

Guests never see the waitlist Show Waitlist in Widget is off, or none of the situations (day, shift, time) is switched on. Also check the add-on is enabled for this location.

The waitlist shows on a day I closed Show When Day is Fully Booked also covers days marked closed for reservations in your calendar. Switch it off if you don't want a waitlist on those days.

No waitlist at 19:00 although it is full for my party of 8 The per-time waitlist does not apply when a time is unavailable only because no table fits that party size.

"Waitlist Not Enabled" Enable the add-on first with Enable Waitlist.