Important
All add-ons for Bookly require Bookly PRO installed and activated.
Bookly Waiting List (Add-on) helps you deal with cancellations efficiently, minimizing time and resource waste. When your schedule is fully booked, this feature allows you to add clients to a waiting list. If there's a cancellation, all clients on the list are notified. If they accept, the appointment is filled without any loss to your resources.
Don’t let cancellations ruin your day. Use Bookly Waiting List (Add-on) to maximize your efficiency.
Setup and configuration
1. Purchase, download, install and activate Bookly Waiting List (Add-on) in Plugins.
2. In Appearance > Step by step form > Time tab, make sure that the checkbox 'Show waiting list slots' is selected.
3. You can limit the number of clients who will be able to join the waiting list. Once the maximum capacity is reached, the corresponding time slot will become unavailable in the booking form.
The setting is service-specific, so you can adjust it for every service separately. Additionally, you can disable the waiting list option for some of the services if needed.
Click Edit to open the service card, switch to the Advanced tab. Set the Waiting list limit to Custom. From there, you can enter 0 to prevent the waiting list feature or set the desired limit value.
4. To add a customer to the waiting list or update the current status of their appointment in the backend admin panel, first, click on the appointment in Bookly Calendar, or click Edit in the Appointments section. Next, add a person and set their status to On waiting list.
Customers have the option to join the waiting list on the front-end when selecting a time slot for their appointment. Time slots that are already booked are shaded in gray and indicate the number of customers on the waiting list.
5. In the Email Notifications and/or SMS Notifications sections, customize four types of templates using the provided list of codes:
Notification to customer about placing on waiting list;
Notification to customer to set appointment from waiting list;
Notification to staff member about placing on waiting list;
Notification to staff member to set appointment from waiting list.
In the 'Notification to staff member to set appointment from waiting list', use the {appointment_waiting_list} code. This ensures that when a time slot becomes available for booking, staff will be able to see the list of customers on the waiting list and make a new appointment.
'Notification to customer to set appointment from waiting list' will be sent to all customers in the appointment waitlist when a desirable timeslot becomes available for booking. The {appointment_booking_url} code will render a link for appointment approval.
Do not forget to set up URLs of the pages that will be shown to customers for both scenarios:
Set appointment from waiting list (success) – in case of successful booking.
Set appointment from waiting list (denied) – in case the booking was not available anymore.
Add customers to the waiting list despite the capacity value
If you have both the Bookly Group Booking (Add-on) and Bookly Waiting List (Add-on) installed and activated, you can configure how customers are placed on the waiting list in Settings > Waiting List. When enabled and there is someone on the waiting list, all other customers attempting to book the selected time slot will also be waitlisted, irrespective of whether the service capacity allows more persons to book an appointment. If disabled, available slots will be open for booking on the front-end as long as the number of persons matches the remaining capacity of the appointment.
Explore this free live demo to get a better understanding of how the Waiting List (Add-on) works.
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