The Forms tool allows our clients to create and edit their guest-facing Reservation and Waitlist forms. This tool also allows our clients to create single-use Reservation forms for events (paid or otherwise) that do not interfere with their normal Reservation flow.
Skip To:
- Overview
- Previewing Forms
- Creating New Forms
- Editing Forms
- Enabling Location Search
- Custom Message for Reservation Types
- Viewing and Exporting URLs
- Custom Special Occasions
- Hide Wait Quotes
Overview
The Forms tool can be found in the Web Dashboard under Settings & Configuration > Host > Forms. Every concept starts with default Reservation and Waitlist forms.
Upon accessing the tool, you will see a list of all of your active and inactive forms. Under Form Name, you will see the switch that indicates if the form is active (green) or inactive(gray), followed by the form name.
To activate/deactivate a form, simply flip the switch and the changes will be automatically applied.
The Locations column will indicate how many locations are using that specific form. The Type column displays the form type (Waitlist or Reservations). These Forms are each customizable.
Previewing Forms
To preview an active form, hover over the list to see the menu and click Preview. The form will open on another tab - This is the form your guests have access to.
Creating New Forms
To create a new form, click the + Create Form button on the top right of the screen. If you have existing forms, those same attributes will be applied to the new form by default.
Editing Forms
To edit a form, hover over the list to see the menu and click Edit. Once in the Form Editor, you will find your editing tools on the left, and a real-time preview on the right. The customizable fields include:
Form Name: Form Name
Slug: Adjusts what gets appended to the URL (this is unchangeable after the form is created)
Locations: Lists which locations are actively using this form
Enable Marketing Opt-In: Adds/Removes the opt-in checkbox from the form confirmation page
Pre-check Opt-in to Yes: Checks the marketing opt-in checkbox by default
Background Overlay: Adjust the opacity and color of the background image overlay
Brand Primary Color: Adjusts the colors of the buttons
Background Image: Uploads an image to the background of the form (recommended size is 1800 x 1200, recommended format is .jpg)
Primary Logo: The recommended size is 300 x 300, the recommended format is .jpg, with a transparent background)
Font: Adjusts the font for all texts in the form
Font Source: Enter the font source URL if using a custom font
To save and apply the changes, click the Save Form button on the top right of the editor.
| Important Note |
Any Forms created before 08/10/2020 cannot have new locations added to it - this is due to a change in how new Form URLs are created. If your concept has a new location, a new form needs to be created. |
Enabling Location Search
Brands with multiple locations now have the ability to have a single Waitlist or Reservation form for their website that can be searched by city, state, or zip code, rather than dedicated forms for each of their locations. When enabled, a search field replaces the traditional form:
The searches will return a list of locations within a 50-mile radius of the zip/city and state. Clicking 'Join Waitlist' will take the guest to that specific location's form:
- To enable, open the editor of a previously created form, and slide the toggle for 'Show All Advanced Attributes', if not already enabled:
- Scroll down to the Advanced Attributes section and activate the toggle for 'Show Restaurant Location Search':
If using this feature, you will need to install or replace your existing form URL with the correct Form search URL:
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- The base URL for the Waitlist form search page is https://waitlist.getwisely.com/location-search/waitlist?g=
- The base URL for the Reservation form search page is https://reservations.getwisely.com/location-search/reservations?g=
- Add the Form slug after the '=' in the base URL above
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- The locations returned in a search will be limited to the locations assigned to a particular Form. This is by design but can be an issue if a brand has all locations included in the search and certain locations have unique settings.
- e.g. Brand X has a default Waitlist Form that includes 94 locations all with the same settings; however, a handful of locations have unique settings and therefore unique Form URLs (slugs)
- If using the Form Search URL that corresponds to the default waitlist slug, all of the locations that have unique settings will be excluded from the search.
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- The inverse of the above can also be an issue - the Form Search will include all locations assigned to a form, INCLUDING LABS:
| When setting up, be sure to uncheck all LAB locations and closed stores from the location picker in the Forms Tool. |
Custom Message for Reservation Types
If you want your Reservation Form to include specific information or instructions for guests you can edit the Reservation Type Description in the Reservation Availability tool (see instructions below).
To Edit the Reservation Type Description, access your 'Reservation Availability' and click on the gear wheel on the top right side of the reservation type. Insert the description you'd like guests to see when making that reservation type and click 'save'. 
The update will be present in the reservation form as shown below:
Viewing and Exporting URLs
To view your forms URLs, hover over the list to see the menu and click View URLs.
Listed here are all the locations that have the selected form active. Under Form URL you are able to copy the link from a specific location by clicking Copy Link or access a preview of the form by clicking View Preview. You are also able to export a .csv file with the URLs by location by clicking Download CSV File.
Custom Special Occasions / Special Requests
Guests regularly use the free form “special requests”/guest notes field to make requests that aren’t possible to serve (but the expectation gets set that they will be).
E.g. "We'd like a patio table!"
To help minimize overall friction and maximize conversion of the web reservation funnel we've added the ability to customize a sub-selection of pre-set notes under two different header types:
Special Occasions (single select)
Special Requests (multi-select)
There is also an optional 'other' selection that can be configured within the Special Occasions dropdown (but NOT the Special Requests dropdown).
Full Reservation Form View:
Hide Wait Quote Times
Some locations are constantly on long waits and worry that advertising a long wait quote may drive potential guests away. Other clients simply have an operational policy not to provide a wait quote at the host stand; use cases include restaurants with busy, high demand patios; bar-focused concepts that work on a first-come, first-served basis; and restaurants with consistently long waits
- Our forms have a setting to optionally toggle off the advertised wait quote.
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- With wait quote displayed:
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- With wait quote hidden:
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- How?
- Our Support team will need to make the change for you.