Scout SuiteHow-to guide
Setting up the waiting list form
Every question on the public waiting list form is off, optional or required. A group that wants the simple form keeps it. Turn on the extra questions only if you need them.
Open the form settings
On Waiting list, choose Form settings. Only Leaders see it: a Team Leader runs their own section's list, but the form belongs to the whole group.
Decide which questions to ask
Each question has three settings. Off means the question is not asked and nothing is stored for it. Optional shows it and lets the family skip it. Required means the form will not send without an answer.
The questions are the child's date of birth, the preferred section, the parent or carer phone, a second contact phone, whether the child has a brother or sister in the group, whether they have friends in the group, a postcode, the child's gender (Male, Female, Other or Prefer not to say), the parent or carer's relationship to the child, how the family found out about you, and additional notes.
The gender, relationship and how-they-found-out questions are off until you turn them on. Only ask for the gender if you need it, for example for your census. Prefer not to say is always one of the answers. How they found out is a short answer in the family's own words.
Many groups turn Preferred section off. Children are placed by age when a place opens, and that is often a different section from the one a family chose years earlier.
Change the wording
Each question has a box for its wording. Leave it blank for the standard wording. Your wording is shown to families exactly as you write it. The form itself is in English for now, so keep any wording you add in the language your families use.
Share the link or embed the form
Direct link opens the form on its own page. The plain iframe code puts the form inside any page of your website, on any website builder, not only WordPress. The script version creates the same frame and sizes it to fit the content, so the page does not scroll inside the form.
Anyone can see and submit the form, so each sign-up is rate limited and a hidden field catches automated sign-ups.
Websites that may show the form is the list of sites allowed to show the embed. Type each address starting https://, one per line, for example https://www.example.org. Up to ten. Leave it empty and nobody can show the form on another site. The direct link works either way.
Add only the website's address: https:// and the site name, with no page after it. A change you save applies within a minute. Test the embed on your real website. A testing site that puts your page inside other frames can still be blocked, because every frame around the form has to be on the list.
Siblings and friends
A family that says their child has a brother or sister in the group can type the name. The same goes for friends. Names are typed by the parent. They are never matched to members, so check them against your records before you rely on them.
Families with more than one child
After a family joins the list, the thank-you page has an Add another young person button. It takes them back to the form with the parent's details still filled in, so only the child's details need typing.
Offering a place and the trial
When you offer a place, the child joins the register as a young person on a trial. Under Offering a place on the form settings, set how many weeks your group's trial lasts. Two weeks is the usual, and 0 means no trial.
The setting also applies when you add a young person by hand and mark them as on trial. A trial that has already started doesn't change.
People
More in this topic
Waiting lists, parents, moving on, and Explorer Units.