Scout SuiteHow-to guide
Running a waiting list
Families join the list without logging in. Offering a place creates the member record straight away — getting the parent into the portal is a separate, deliberate step.
Share the signup link
On Waiting list, Signup link gives you a public URL for the whole group, plus one per section that pre-selects that section on the form. Anyone with the link can add a child — no Scout Suite account needed. The same dialog has a WordPress website? note if you want the form on the group's existing site.
Families join the queue
The public form is Join the Waiting List — child's name, date of birth, preferred section, and parent name and email. They see You're on the list! when it lands. There's no confirmation email at this point. You can also Add entry yourself (that form has sibling and postcode fields the public one doesn't).
Offer a place
The list defaults to Waiting, in position order. Offer place creates a young person immediately, links them to a matching section if you have one, and emails the parent that a place has been offered — asking them to contact the group for next steps. You can set an optional first meeting date (they stay off the section roster until then, under Starting soon) and a response-by date.
Offering a place does not wait for the parent to accept. The waiting-list row is marked accepted as soon as you confirm. Response by is stored for your records — there's no parent accept/decline button, and no expiry that puts them back on the list.
This is the group waiting list, not the camp waitlist — that's Running an event.
Then invite the parent to the portal
The offer email is not a parent-portal invite, and no primary contact is created automatically. Add one and send the invite from Young People → Parent Invites so they can pay, give consent and keep details up to date.
That leader-side job is Getting parents online. What the parent then sees is Using the parent portal.
People
More in this topic
Waiting lists, parents, moving on, and Explorer Units.