Registration Waitlist - Create and Manage

Many swim teams have limits on the number of athletes 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 on the overall team size, and the number of athletes per age group or roster 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: Link to the waitlist from your primary form
• Step 3: Configure limits on your primary 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
• How-To Video: Managing a Waitlist (11min)

Step 1: Create a private waitlist form

➧ Create & Title

Create a separate registration form to use as your waitlist. Title it "20XX Waitlist" or something relevant. (You can also copy your form from last season and make edits)

➧ Data Collection

Generally, this form will only collect contact information, since wait-listed parents are usually 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 and Confirmation sections (which cannot be disabled).
• Team Custom Questions & Acknowledgments/Waivers: If you need to collect additional information from waitlist registrants add Custom Questions and/or Acknowledgement Sections to this form.
• League Shared Acknowledgements/Waivers: If your team is part of a league that shares league acknowledgment waivers to collect sign-offs or league fees, you need to click the "Remove Section" link on the form if any display on this waitlist form, or your parents will be charged when they should not be on this form.
• See ➞ the Create and Manage Registration Forms article for more details on creating a form as needed.

➧ Private Form Setting

Check the "This form is private" box on the Main Registration page. This will hide this waitlist form from the public while allowing you to share a secret link with those you want to use this form.

➧ Waitlist Form 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.  
• Although unlikely, you can limit the number of athletes per age group or roster group (if using) on your waitlist also. 

Step 2: Link to the waitlist from your primary form

➧ Copy the waitlist URL

Click on the "Private" link under your waitlist title to copy the URL for that waitlist form.

You can slide the status bar to "Open" if ready to open your registration forms. (forms must be in an open state to access even through a private link).

➧ Add the waitlist URL to your primary registration form

We will cover setting your registration limits in the next step. Since you've copied the URL to your private waitlist form, we want to add that to the waitlist link in your waitlist message that is presented to parents when a limit has been reached.

Access the main registration form where you have set your limits. Click on the Edit Registration Limits button.

In the Registration limit message box, type what you want your waitlist link to say (example below.), highlight the word or statement, and click on the chain "link" icon

Select to insert the link, paste the private waitlist link you copied in step 1, and click the Insert button. 

» Tip: It's a good idea to check "Open link in new tab" so the parent can continue registering their other athletes if necessary, and fill out the waitlist when done.

Voila!

➧ Website View

This message will be shown on the registration form when the registration limits you set have been reached, depending on your setup (next step)

Step 3: Configure limits on your primary form

Now it's time to configure the registration limits on your primary form, if you have not done this part already.

➧ Edit Registration Limits

If you have other registration forms open, you'll want to limit registrations for "all athletes this season" so athletes across all forms (except your waitlist form) will be counted.

Enter an overall registration limit (if desired). You can also add registration limits by age group or roster group. 

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

» 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.

As stated in step 3, if the overall limit has been reached, or any age groups or roster groups are already full, the waitlist 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.

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 will 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.

How-To Video: Managing a Waitlist (11min)

➞ direct link to our Collecting Volunteer Preferences During Registration video.

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