Course waitlist softwareKeep the people a full date turns away.
A waitlist for training courses catches the people who turn up after the last place has gone. On a sold-out date, Cademy swaps the Book button for Join Waitlist and takes a name, an email and a phone number. With automatic emails switched on, Cademy writes to them one at a time, earliest joiner first, when a place comes free.
Whoever books first gets the place, and the length of each list shows you which courses need another date. Waitlists are on every plan, Free included.
Highlights
Dates All Locations & Online
What happens after the twelfth place sells.
Emergency First Aid at Work runs in Leeds on Nov 3 with twelve places. Its course has automatic waitlist emails switched on.
A place opens when a learner cancels or when you add places to the date. Until someone books it, it is open to anyone, on the list or not.
Each hourly check emails one person per date. If nobody books, the next person waiting hears at the next check, and nobody is emailed about the same date twice within 24 hours. Emails go only for dates that are published and Public, have a place free and start more than 12 hours from now, on courses with “Email Waitlisted Contacts When Spaces Become Available” switched on.
Joining takes four fields and no card.
The form asks for nothing a learner would need to look up, and the page tells them straight away that they are on the list.
Join
They press Join Waitlist and fill in the “Join the waitlist” form: first name, last name, email and telephone. No payment is taken. The page says “You’re on the waitlist!” and a confirmation email follows.
Hear about a place
The email’s subject starts “A spot’s opened for”, then names the course and the date, and the Book Now button goes straight to it. Booking runs through your usual checkout, with the same prices, payment and approval steps as any other booking.
Book, or step away
Every waitlist email carries a one-click “Remove me from this waitlist” link. Once they book the date, Cademy removes their entry for it, so the next email goes to someone who still needs a place.
A list for the whole course
- When no date can be booked, or every date shown is full, people join a waitlist for the course itself
- New dates go out by email under the subject “New dates available for” the course, with a link to each date
- Cademy works through that list one person per hourly check, and leaves three days between emails to the same person
- How the course page sells
The list lives on the course, next to its dates.
System Admins and Course Owners get a Waitlist tab on each course, with a count beside it. Every row shows who is waiting, when they joined, which date they asked for and when Cademy last emailed them.
Reading the list
- Added and For: badges for the join date and the date wanted
- Last Notified for the most recent email
- Newest at the top, while the emails start from the earliest
- Add To Waitlist for someone who rang instead of using the form
Writing to everyone
- Select All, then Email
- A saved template, or a message written on the spot
- Attachments and a preview before it sends
- Templates and the emails that send themselves
Booking one person in
- Convert to Booking opens a New Order form for them
- Mark it Paid, or To be paid with a payment request
- Go over the limit on a full date, after a warning
- Remove takes someone off the list without emailing them
Adding places or a second date.
The count tells you how many people want the course, and the For: badges tell you which date they wanted. If the room has space, add places to the date and the hourly check starts emailing. If it is full, schedule a second date and email the list about it.
More places
- Raise the number of places on one date, or on every date of the course
- The next hourly check starts emailing the people waiting
Another date
- Add another date on the calendar
- Select the list, email them the new date, and let them book
- Adding dates on the calendar
The courses that fill first.
First aid at work
- Employers book when a first aider leaves or a certificate is about to run out, and they want the nearest date. If that date is full, the waitlist keeps them on it.
Workshops with a known tutor
- People who booked for the tutor would rather wait for a cancellation than take a different day.
Practical courses on limited benches
- When rigs, test boards or workshop bays set the limit, places open only when someone cancels, and the waitlist emails the next engineer.
- Technical and trades training
A course before its dates
- Publish a new course with nothing to book yet, and people join its course waitlist. Schedule dates when the list looks worth it.
- How to fill your training courses
Waitlist questions.
Is joining the waitlist the same as booking?
No. A waitlist entry takes no payment and is left out of the date’s booked places. When a place opens, it goes to the first person who completes a booking, whether they came from the waitlist email or straight from your course page.
How soon are people emailed when a place opens?
Cademy checks once an hour. Each check emails the earliest person waiting for that date, and if the place is still free at the next check, the next person hears about it. The date must be published and Public, with a place free and more than 12 hours to go before it starts.
Where do I turn the waitlist on?
Open the course, go to Edit Course, then Settings, then Booking Options, and choose Allow Waitlist. It covers every date of that course. Automatic emails are a second setting on the same page, Email Waitlisted Contacts When Spaces Become Available, which you switch on as well. Waitlists are on every plan.
Can I give a place to a particular person on the list?
Yes. Open their entry and use Convert to Booking. It starts a New Order for that person, which you mark Paid or send with a payment request. The automatic emails keep to the order people joined.
What does the automatic email say?
For a date, the subject reads “A spot’s opened for” the course and the date, and the email has a Book Now button. For a course, it reads “New dates available for” the course and lists the dates. Each also carries a one-click link for leaving the list. For any other message, select the list and write your own.
Who manages the waitlist?
System Admins and Course Owners, who also set the waitlist up.
Add a waitlist to the next date that sells out.
Allow Waitlist sits in each course’s Booking Options. Or book a call and we’ll look at which of your dates sell out.
Waitlists come with the Free plan. No card needed to start.