Registration capacity
Available space sets how many people can register before the waiting list takes over.
Where
Events settings → Attendants → Available space — Set the number of vacancies for this event. If it is left empty, the assistance will have no limits.
How it behaves
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Empty | No limit. Everyone who registers is confirmed |
| A number | Registrations up to that number are confirmed; further ones go to the waiting list |
When the capacity is reached, a visitor who registers is told the event has reached its available space and that they have been moved to the waiting list. Their registration is stored in the Waiting list section of the attendee panel.
Nothing is refused. The waiting list is a queue, not a rejection.
What counts towards the capacity
The comparison is against the registrations already stored on the event. Manage the three lists deliberately — moving someone to Cancelled does not by itself reopen a place in the way you might expect, so treat the counts in the attendee panel as the source of truth and re-check after any manual change.
The Assistants column on the events list shows the confirmed count, excluding waiting-list and cancelled rows. That is the number to compare with your real capacity.
Setting a realistic number
Two conventions, both defensible:
- Set the true capacity. The waiting list then fills automatically, and you promote people as places are released.
- Set slightly below capacity. Keeps a margin for guests, staff and no-show management, with the waiting list absorbing demand.
What does not work is leaving it empty for a room that has a limit. Nothing warns you at the door.
Changing the capacity later
You can change it at any time.
- Increasing it does not automatically move waiting-list registrations up. Promote them yourself from the attendee panel.
- Decreasing it below the current number of registrations does not remove anyone. Existing confirmed registrations stay confirmed.
That is deliberate: the plugin never withdraws a place someone already has.
The button label and capacity
Worth knowing before you publish: when an event has a capacity set, the registration button uses the waiting list button label rather than the available label.
The practical consequence is to word that label so it works for a capacity-limited event in general, not only for a full one — see The waiting list message and Custom button labels.
Showing the capacity to visitors
Display remaining space shows how many places are left, or that the event is full. It is a separate switch — see Remaining places.
Turning it on is persuasive for events that fill, and counterproductive for events that do not: 48 places on an event expecting twelve people tells visitors nobody is coming.
Unlimited events
Leave Available space empty. Then:
- every registration is confirmed;
- there is no waiting list;
- with Display remaining space on, the page states there is no capacity limit.
Verify
- Set a capacity and save.
- Register from a private window until the capacity is reached.
- Register once more and confirm the waiting-list message.
- In the attendee panel, confirm the extra registration is in the Waiting list section.
- Confirm the Assistants column shows the confirmed count only.