How do I configure how the waitlist behaves?

Every waitlist control — Smart services, durations, cutoffs, priority, smart fitting, the self-service form and floor-plan inclusion.

Everything the waitlist does is controlled from Settings → Waitlist. The whole page is plan-gated — lower plans see "Waitlist is available on Complete". Owners, Admins and Managers can open the page (Hosts can't see Settings by default).

Waitlist basics

• Enable Smart services — the master switch (default off). It activates the waitlist and automatic promotion from it. Nothing below works until it's on. (Smart Walk-In placement and status auto-progression have their own switches — Smart Walk-In on the Walk-ins page, auto-progression under Booking rules.) Available on Complete plan.
• Default waitlist duration — how long a promoted party's table slot lasts. Default 90 mins, range 1–600.
• Last waitlist cutoff before close — no new joins once fewer minutes remain. Default 60, range 0–600.
• Maximum wait time — new joins are blocked when the estimated wait exceeds this. Default 120 mins, range 1–600.
• Promoted-Customer Arrival Window — how long a promoted customer has to arrive; drives the public countdown and the "Table Ready" alert. Default 15 mins, range 5–60.
• Apply turnaround time after cancellations & no-shows — default off. When off, a table freed by a cancellation, no-show or deleted booking goes to the next customer straight away (it was never used, so there's nothing to clean); switch on to make those tables wait your turnaround time too. Tables cleared after a party leaves always wait it. Does nothing while your turnaround time is 0.
• Apply party-size duration rules to waitlists — default off; uses the rules from Booking rules.

Priority & assignment

• Waitlist priority logic — First Come, First Seated (the default) or Largest party first.
• Auto-Lock Parties Larger Than — parties above this size are locked to their assigned table so rebalancing can't shuffle them. Default 0 (off), minimum 0.

Smart fitting

Fine-tunes which table the engine offers (*Available on Complete plan*):

• Maximum Unused Seats (Waste Threshold) — flags "Poor Fit" tables that would waste more seats than this. Default 2, minimum 0.
• Best fit skip window — default 30 mins, minimum 1.
• Maximum preference penalty — the most extra waiting the engine will trade for a seating-preference match. Default 15 mins, minimum 0.

Self-service waitlist (customer form)

Lets customers join from their phone (*Available on Complete plan*):

• Enable Self-Service Waitlist — default off. Consider connecting SMS so customers get "table ready" texts.
• Show estimated wait time — default on.
• Require phone number — default on.
• Show 'Make A Booking' Link — default on.
• Allow customers to join waitlist when tables are available — default off.
• Show queue position on public waitlist page — default off; only meaningful under first-come priority.
• Waitlist Message (Optional) — up to 200 characters shown on the public form.

Floor plan inclusion

Per-floor-plan tick boxes decide which rooms the waitlist engine may seat guests in — the same switches you'll find in Tables & layout.

Related: How do I manage the waitlist during service? · How do I control booking times and durations? · How do I create and print QR codes for my venue?