Registration Waitlist - Create and Manage

Many swim teams have limits on the number of swimmers that can join the team for any given season due to league rules or logistical restrictions on the number of lane hours available for practice during the week.

SwimTopia supports registration limits both on the overall team size and on the number of athletes per age group.

A waitlist can be configured using a combination of a Private Registration Form (described in this article), and Registration Limits (Step 2, but set on your regular registration forms)

Covered in this Article:

• Step 1: Create a private waitlist form
• Step 2: Configure your registration limits on your main form
• Step 3: Link to the waitlist from your main form
• Step 4: Manage your waitlist while it's building
• Step 5: Invite wait-listed parents to register for the team
• Step 6: Close out your waitlist

➧ Step 1: Create a private waitlist form

➞ Create & Add Title - Create a separate registration form to use as your waitlist. Title it "20XX Waitlist" or something relevant.

➞ Data Collection - Generally, this form will only collect contact information, since wait-listed parents usually are not expected to sign-up for volunteer shifts or pay a fee (although if you wanted to collect a waitlist fee, you could). In most cases, you should disable all other form sections except the Main Registration contact information section (which cannot be disabled anyway).

• Optional: If you need to collect additional information from waitlist registrants you can add Custom Questions and/or Acknowledgement Sections to this form.
• See ➞ the Create and Manage Registration Forms article for specifics on creating a form as needed.

➞ Private Form Setting - Make sure the "This form is private" box is checked on the Main Registration page. This will hide this wait list form from the public while allowing you to share a secret link with those you want to use this form.

➞ Waitlist Registration Limits - Click on the Edit Registration Limits button in your waitlist form.

• Select only registrants via this form (this setting keeps the athletes on your waitlist from counting against any other form with limits set).  
• If you have unlimited spots on your waitlist, leave the "Overall registration limit" blank.  
• If you'd like to limit the number of athletes on your waitlist, you can enter registration limits here.

➧ Step 2: Configure your registration limits on your main form

Once you have a waiting list form in place (from Step 1), now it's time to configure the registration limits on your main form.

➞ Click the Edit Registration Limits button and then enter an overall registration limit (if desired). You can also add registration limits by age group. 

» Note: These limits work in concert with each other. For example, if your per age-group limits add up to more than your overall limit, then when your overall limit is reached, no additional registrations will be accepted.

See ➞ the Registration Limits article for details on setting your limits. 

➧ Step 3: Link to the waitlist from your main form

➞ Registration Limit Message

When setting up your registration limits, you also have the option of adding a "Registration limit message" (as seen below). This message will be shown when either the overall registration limit, or any of the age-group limits has been reached, depending on your setup.

In this box you should include a link to your private waitlist form, as shown in the example above (how to embed a link is described below):

If the overall limit has been reached, or any age groups are already full, a message will be shown indicating they are sold out. This way a parent does not need to go through the trouble of filling out the registration form only to find out the group is full after submitting their data.

As registrations come in they will be collected under the corresponding registration form. This makes it easy to know who is registered via the waitlist and who is registered via the 'main' form.

➞ Add the URL to your private waitlist form in the "Registration limit message" on your main registration form

Step 1: Click on the "Private" link under your waitlist title to copy the URL for that waitlist form, and slide the status bar to "Open" (forms must be in an open state to access even through a private link).

Step 2: Exit that form and access the main registration form where you have set your limits. Click on the Edit Registration Limits button.

Step 3: In the Registration limit message box, type what you want your waitlist link to say (i.e."Waitlist" "Click here to sign up on our waitlist" etc.), and highlight the word or statement and click on the chain "link" icon

Step 4: Select to insert link, paste your private waitlist link you copied in step 1, and click the Insert button

Voila!

➧ Step 4: Manage your waitlist while it's building

Every family in the "Pending" or "Approved" status of any registration form is considered active on your roster and thus can be entered for meets, assigned to jobs, and receive email from the site.

Click "Reject" on these individual wait-list registrations to make them inactive while you are gathering them, and then move them back to "Pending" when you are ready to email them to invite them to join the team (see Step 5).

» Note: The reason you need to move them back to "Pending," is because you won't be able to email them unless they are considered "active," and that is not the case with the "Rejected" status.

➧ Step 5: Invite wait-listed parents to register for the team

When you are ready to invite approved members to join the team, there are a few options we suggest, depending on the status of your registration:

Option 1: After Registration is Closed

Generally, you will invite wait-listed parents to register after the main registration period has closed. If this is the case, then the easiest way to do this is to leave your main registration form open, but mark it as private so the general public cannot use it to register.

Then you can adjust or remove the registration limits on the main form to make room for waitlisted families, as necessary.

See ➞ the Privacy - Private Forms section to learn how to make your form private.

Option 2: While Registration is Open

Alternatively, if you want to allow waitlisted parents to register while the main registration is open you can copy your main registration form, set the copied form to be private, and adjust or remove registration limits as necessary.

Once you have a main registration form ready for waitlisted registrants, you simply email them the secret link to the private registration form to complete their registration.

See ➞ how to copy your form here

➧ Step 6: Close out your waitlist 

Avoid extra SwimTopia Per-Athlete Fees and communication with those not on the team.

As mentioned in step 4, every family in the "Pending" or "Approved" status of any registration form is considered active on your roster, thus can be entered for meets, assigned to jobs, receive email from the site, AND will be counted in your athlete number towards the SwimTopia Per-Athlete Fee.

You should complete your waitlist process by:

1. Notifying remaining wait-listed registrants if they will not be able to join.
2. Clicking the "Reject" button to move them to the Rejected status to make them inactive.
3. Closing your form when you are done.

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