Running your waiting list

The waiting list is an ordered queue. Everybody on it has a position — 1, 2, 3 — and a reference number like WL-8F3K2 that they can use to check where they are without ringing you.

Adding somebody

Two ways in:

• You add them. Waiting list → Add. If they are already a member, search for them; if not, you can create them as you go.
• They add themselves, through your public sign-up link. See letting people join online.

Changing the order

Each row has arrows to move somebody up or down. Positions renumber themselves, so there are never two people at number 4 and never a gap where somebody used to be.

When a plot comes free

Go to Plots, find the vacant one, and use Assign a member. The waiting list appears first in the list of candidates, in position order, so the person who has waited longest is at the top.

Assigning a plot this way takes them off the waiting list and closes the gap behind them automatically — everyone below moves up one.

Keeping it honest

Two things worth doing once a year:

• Email the whole list and ask people to confirm they still want a plot. You can do this in one go from the Messaging Centre — there is an Add waiting list button that pulls everybody in, in position order.
• Remove anybody who has moved away or stopped replying. Their position closes up behind them.

A waiting list nobody has pruned is the main reason associations end up offering plots to people who moved house three years ago.