Manually add someone to a class waitlist

If a class is full and someone asks you to add them to its existing waitlist, open the class’s Waitlist and click Add. You can select an existing client or enter their details yourself. Adding a person to the waitlist does not register them in the class.

Before you start

Sign in with an administrator account that can access the class and its registration form. This workflow applies to class/event registration waitlists associated with an individual class or a Multiple classes block on a form. Booking-package waitlists use a separate workflow.

Have the account owner’s email address ready. A valid email is required even if you do not send a confirmation email. The mobile number is optional; if supplied, it must be valid.

Add a person to an existing waitlist

Open Classes → All classes and events and find the class.
In its Waitlist column, click the waiting or total count to open the class’s waitlist.
If Select a form appears, choose the relevant registration form. If an event selector appears, check that you are viewing the intended occurrence.
Click Add. The Add to waitlist window opens.
Click Choose a client to fill in an existing client’s details, or enter the account owner’s first name, last name, email and optional mobile number. Check the email before continuing.
If the person attending is someone else, select Different participant and enter the participant’s first and last name. When the selected client has account members, Choose a participant lets you select one of them.
Optionally enter a Comment.
Select Send confirmation email if you want to send the configured waitlist confirmation to the account owner. This option is unchecked by default.
Click Add and confirm that the person appears in the waitlist.

For example, if a parent calls to add their child to a full class, choose the parent’s client account, select Different participant, and enter or choose the child. The parent’s email is the contact address.

Message the waitlist without creating another mailing list

You do not need to manually create a separate recipient list just to send a survey or message to a class waitlist. Activity Messenger prepares the recipients automatically when you use Message all.

Open Classes → All classes and events, find the class, and click its Waitlist count.
Check the selected registration form and event, when those selectors appear. Turn on Only show participants still waiting if the message should go only to people still waiting; otherwise the loaded list can include other waitlist statuses.
Click Message all. Activity Messenger builds the recipients from the loaded waitlist entries that have an email address or mobile number and opens the message window. You do not need to copy these contacts into another list.
Compose the message, include your survey/form link, and review the recipients and delivery method before sending. Opening the message window does not send the message.

For one person, use Message in that waitlist row's action menu. Message all is disabled while the list is loading or when there are no messageable recipients. A selected contact still needs suitable contact information for the delivery method you choose; selection does not guarantee delivery. Use an administrator account with access to the class, form and messaging actions.

This prepares recipients for this send. It does not create an ongoing audience that automatically includes future waitlist additions, register anyone in the class, or replace available-place invitation automations.

Sending a survey and restricting its access are separate

Sending the survey to the waitlist does not restrict who can submit it. If you also need Who can fill this form → List, choose an appropriate persistent recipient list in that setting. The one-time list generated by Message all is excluded from this selector. Reuse a suitable selectable list or create and maintain one for the access restriction only; it is not required just to send the message. See Restrict a form to a specific list.

Confirmation and available-place notifications

Send confirmation email controls the confirmation of this addition and uses the configured waitlist email template. It is separate from the waitlist automation that handles invitations when a place becomes available. Leaving confirmation unchecked does not disable the form’s waitlist automation.

Manual additions still follow the form’s eligibility restrictions and its duplicate-participant rule when enabled. If an error appears, check the selected form, account owner’s email and whether the participant is already on that waitlist.

If Add is unavailable

The waitlist needs a selected class/event question from a registration form. Wait for the form choices to load and select the appropriate form. In the Add to waitlist window, a missing or invalid email also keeps Add disabled.

The classes table shows a clickable waitlist count only when the class already has waitlist entries. If the column is empty, these count-based steps cannot open an empty waitlist. Check the class’s registration-form waitlist setup; do not assume that every class has an existing list you can open from that column.

Enabling a public waitlist is a different task

To let clients join the waitlist themselves, configure Waitlist on the registration form’s class block. For a Multiple classes block, use its class rules. See Waitlist setup and automations.

If you simply want to add someone to an existing class waitlist as an administrator, use Waitlist → Add above.