Wait List Manager Add-on
The Wait List Manager add-on automates the process of capturing wait list signups and promoting attendees when space becomes available.
Wait lists can operate in two modes:
- Whole Event mode, which is the default, makes the wait list available after all ticket options for the event are sold out or fully booked.
- Per Ticket mode allows attendees to join the wait list for an individual sold-out ticket while other tickets for the event remain available.
If a space becomes available, an attendee can be automatically promoted from the wait list. In Per Ticket mode, promotion is based on availability for the attendee’s selected ticket.
Need to Buy a Support License for the Wait List Add-on?
https://eventespresso.com/product/eea-wait-lists/
Wait List Installation
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This add-on requires Event Espresso 4.9.49 or newer.
- The Per-ticket waitlist option is supported in Event Espresso 5.0.60 and Wait Lists 1.0.7.
This add-on is a plugin for WordPress and can be installed through your WP dashboard (WP-admin).
- Download the latest version of the Wait List add-on from your Event Espresso account.
- Then login to your WordPress dashboard (WP-admin) and go to Plugins. Next, click on Add New –> Upload and browse to the plugin on your computer. Then select the zip file and begin the upload process. Wait for the plugin to upload and then click on Activate.
Setup and Configuration
- Login to your WP dashboard and go to Event Espresso –> Events –> Choose an event.
- You’ll now be viewing the overview screen for the selected event. Scroll down until you see the Event Wait List settings.
- Set Wait List Spaces to the maximum number of registrations that the event’s wait list can hold. Then select a Wait List Scope:
- Whole Event: The wait list becomes available after all ticket options for the event are sold out or fully booked. This is the default behavior.
- Per Ticket: A “Join the wait list” link appears for an eligible sold-out ticket while other tickets remain available.
- Per Ticket mode uses one shared event-level wait list. The Wait List Spaces setting is not a separate limit for each ticket.
Usage
Once you’ve enabled a wait list by setting Wait List Spaces, the front-end behavior depends on the selected Wait List Scope.
In Whole Event mode, the ticket selector is replaced by a Sign Up For The Wait List button after the entire event sells out.
In Per Ticket mode, the ticket selector remains available while the event has tickets on sale. An eligible sold-out ticket displays a Join the wait list link in its ticket row, while tickets that still have capacity retain their normal quantity selectors.
Wait List Front-end
Whole Event Mode
In Whole Event mode, a sold-out event displays the event-level Sign Up For The Wait List button.
When an attendee selects a wait-list button or link, a modal opens to collect their information. In Whole Event mode, the attendee can select an available wait-list ticket option.
Per-Ticket Mode
In Per Ticket mode, the modal is associated with the sold-out ticket whose Join the wait list link was selected.
Once all spaces in the event’s shared wait list are taken, the event-level wait-list button and any per-ticket wait-list links are no longer displayed. Increasing Wait List Spaces or otherwise freeing space in the wait list allows signup options to appear again when the other eligibility requirements are met.
Manually Processing Standby Registrations
Once registrants are added to the wait list, you can easily follow-up with them or promote their registration to approved, pending payment, and more, if any spaces open up for the event.
To manually promote registrants, head on over to the Registration List table filtered for the wait list:
Here you can get an overview of wait list registrations, promote registrations, view registrant information, and resend notifications.
To promote someone on the wait list, click the person’s name or select one or more registrations and use the bulk actions to change their registration status. Before manually promoting a registration in Per Ticket mode, confirm that capacity is available for the ticket selected by that attendee. For this example, click a single wait-list registration to view its details.
From there you can change the registration status and send related messages. If you are running a paid event, you can use the “Pending Payment” option to make sure the attendees pay before taking a spot in the registration list. However, if you’ve promoted multiple attendees to “Pending Payment” and only have a limited number of spaces, then the first attendees to pay will receive their spot on the “Approved” registration list.
Warning!
Reducing available spaces after promoting registrants should be avoided at all costs.
Auto-promotion Settings
The Auto Promote Registrants setting automatically promotes eligible wait-list registrations when capacity becomes available. In Whole Event mode, promotion is based on available event capacity. In Per Ticket mode, a registrant is eligible for promotion when capacity becomes available for the ticket they selected when joining the wait list.
Wait-list order is considered across the event’s shared wait list, but a registrant cannot consume capacity belonging to a different ticket.
Note: Per Ticket mode controls which sold-out tickets accept wait-list signups and which ticket capacity can be used for promotion. It does not create independent wait-list signup limits for each ticket. All signups count toward the event’s shared Wait List Spaces limit.
You can also leave some spaces on manual control if desired.
Wait List Messages
The Wait List Manager creates three additional messages that send when your customers sign-up for a wait list. To edit and manage the Wait List messages, login to your WP dashboard and go to Event Espresso –> Messages –> Default Message Templates.
Once on the Default Message Templates dashboard, you may need to navigate to the second page of messages. Once you are on the second page of the messages overview, you should see the newly added Wait List Messages:
From there you can edit the content of each message to meet your needs.
Wait Lists for Free Events
When someone is automatically promoted for a free event, an email is sent to the person to confirm their registration. You should see in your Event Espresso > Messages > Message Activity tab, an email to that person called "Registration Promoted From Wait List Notification". At this point, the attendee’s registration status is set to “Pending Payment.” While the payment function may not apply in your situation, the “Pending Payment” status is being used here as a pending status to indicate that we are awaiting action from the attendee. In this case, attendees need to confirm their registration to indicate that they still plan to attend. If they do not confirm within a specified time frame, their registration should be canceled, allowing the system to offer the spot to someone else. This ensures that only attendees who actively confirm their interest are marked as Approved. Once someone confirms their registration, their status is changed from Pending Payment to Approved.
Troubleshooting
The plugin will not activate. Can you help?
Are you running a current version of Event Espresso 4? This add-on needs at least version 4.9.49.p to activate.
Where is the menu screen for this add-on?
This plugin does not create any new menus in the WordPress admin screen. It uses the messages setting screen along with the event editor for Event Espresso.
Customizations
How to change text strings from the Wait List add-on
Below is some example code that shows how to change the wording of some of the text strings from the Wait List add-on. Note: Some form text differs by Wait List Scope. The Preferred Option field is used when the attendee can choose an option in the Whole Event flow. In Per Ticket mode, the selected ticket is determined by the Join the wait list link and is displayed as a fixed ticket selection.
<?php
//* Please do NOT include the opening php tag, except of course if you're starting with a blank file
function my_waitlist_filter_gettext( $translated, $original, $domain ) {
if( $domain == 'event_espresso' ) {
// This is an array of original strings
// and what they should be replaced with
$strings = array(
'Sign Up For The Wait List' => 'Join the Wait list', // button text
'Join Now' => 'Wait List Form', // main heading
'If you would like to be added to the wait list for this event, then please enter your name and email address, and we will contact you when spaces become available.'
=> 'Please enter your information and we\'ll be in touch.',
'Preferred Option' => 'Preference', // field label
'Join The Wait List' => 'Sign me up', // submit button text
// Add some more strings here
);
// See if the current string is in the $strings array
// If so, replace its translation
if ( isset( $strings[$original] ) ) {
// This accomplishes the same thing as __()
// but without running it through the filter again
$translations = get_translations_for_domain( $domain );
$translated = $translations->translate( $strings[$original] );
}
}
return $translated;
}
add_filter( 'gettext', 'my_waitlist_filter_gettext', 10, 3 );
Visit the row on Git: https://gist.github.com/joshfeck/a2aa913c7fa894ff9723c7084d8d1530#file-waitlist_string_examples-php
You can add the above to a functions plugin or into your WordPress child theme’s functions.php file.
How to add a phone number field to the wait list form
Example code that shows how to add the phone number field to the Wait List form:
You can add the above to a functions plugin or into your WordPress child theme’s functions.php file.