Getting started

How to get started with NextUp (quick-start steps)

Getting your walk-in line running takes a few minutes:

1. Open the staff screen on a tablet or laptop at your front desk and log in with your staff PIN. You'll find "Open staff screen" on your location's tile on the Locations page.
2. Download and print your QR code from the Locations page and put it at eye level on your window or counter.
3. Optionally put a door tablet (kiosk) by your entrance so walk-ins who don't scan can still join.
4. Put the TV display on your waiting room TV: the NextUp app on an Apple TV, or a web browser on a streaming stick or computer plugged into it.
5. Send a test visit from the Locations page to see the full flow end to end.

Every screen updates live. You don't need to configure anything else after this first setup.

The setup wizard: what each step does

The setup wizard opens full screen right after you create your business, and you can reopen it any time from Settings, then Setup Wizard in the dashboard sidebar. Each step saves to your real settings and starts from sensible defaults for your type of business. The steps are:

1. Address and opening hours.
2. Team: add the people who serve customers, with photos.
3. How customers join: walk-ins only, or walk-ins plus appointments, and whether customers can choose a team member.
4. Services: start from suggested services for your trade.
5. How the line runs: a typical visit length, the most people in line, when to stop taking walk-ins before closing, how long someone who steps away keeps their place, and whether the line opens automatically at opening time.
6. Branding: your logo and accent color.
7. Payments: connect Stripe to take tips, deposits and memberships (optional, when available).
8. Screens: staff PIN, QR code and TV pairing.
9. A test visit.

Steps tick themselves off from what really happened, and the wizard resumes where you left it. A "Finish setting up" card on the dashboard lists what's left.

Send a test visit to try the whole flow

A test visit lets you see NextUp the way your customers do before real customers arrive. Send one from the Locations page (or the last step of the setup wizard). It joins your line like a real customer, so you can open the staff screen, tap Call next, and watch the test visit's page show that it's their turn, along with the TV.

Test visits are clearly labelled, are never texted, and are not counted in Insights. Sending a new test visit replaces the previous one.

Your staff PIN and first location

When you create your business you also create your first location. Each location has its own link (for example nextupwalkin.com/s/your-shop), its own line, its own screens and its own QR code.

Each location also has one staff PIN, a 6 to 12 digit code your team uses to open the staff screen. If you let NextUp make the PIN, it is shown once, so write it down. You can change it any time in Location settings. Changing the PIN signs out every device that used the old one.

The launch checklist on the dashboard

The Locations page shows a launch checklist for each location that ticks itself off from real events rather than self-reporting: the TV loaded, staff signed in, the QR code printed, your first real customer, branding changed, and the embed code copied. Use it to see what's left before your line is fully running. There is also a setup guide covering the TV, the door tablet, printing the QR code, the staff screen, the website embed and recommended equipment, and you can email the setup guide to yourself or someone else who will set up the hardware.