Location settings

Where to find location settings

All settings for a location live in the panel that opens when you click the settings button at the bottom of that location's card on the Locations page (the first page of the dashboard). Changes take effect immediately: the staff screen, TV, door tablet and customer pages update live without a reload.

What you can change there includes: the location name, type of business, the link for customers, address and time zone, weather on the TV, customer photos, move-up texts, calling customers who don't respond, maximum waiting (line cap), maximum wait time, intake form link and intake questions, appointments, review settings and Google review link, the staff PIN, hours with automatic open and close, average visit time and staff on duty, whether customers choose a team member, a wait message, and a booking link.

Change your opening hours

Set your location's hours so customers see "Open today 9 AM to 7 PM" on the status page and TV, and so the line closes automatically outside your hours.

1. Open Location settings (the settings button at the bottom of your location card).
2. Scroll to the Hours section.
3. For each day of the week, set your open and close times, or mark it Closed. A close time earlier than the open time runs past midnight (for example 6 PM to 2 AM).
4. Click Save hours.

Outside your hours, the queue still shows but new walk-ins can't join; they see "Closed for walk-ins" and when you open next. Your team can still add parties manually from the staff screen. To override the schedule for an early closing or a rush, use the Open or Closed toggle at the top of the location card.

The Hours page in the sidebar is the staff time clock, not your opening hours.

Change your location name, link or type of business

In Location settings you can change:

• Location name: what customers see on their queue page, the TV and in messages (up to 80 characters).
• Link for customers: the web address in your QR code (3 to 40 characters, for example nextupwalkin.com/s/fresh-fades). Old links and old QR codes keep working: they forward to the new link permanently.
• Type of business: changes the wording on every screen (for example "stylist" versus "barber" versus "server") and the suggested defaults. The type of business is set on your first location and applies to every location on your account.

Set the average visit time and staff on duty

Two settings in Location settings drive the simple (average) wait estimate:

• Average visit time (1 to 240 minutes): how long a typical visit takes. This is where wait estimates start. Set it to your real typical visit; Insights shows your real average serve time so you can adjust it.
• Staff on duty (1 to 50): how many people are serving at once. If you use the staff roster, NextUp counts the people marked on duty on the staff screen instead.

Example: 4 people waiting, a 20 minute average visit and 2 staff on duty means someone joining now is quoted about 40 minutes.

If you've set durations on your services, you can switch the location to the services method on the Catalog page's Locations tab, which uses each customer's chosen services instead of one average.

Add your address and time zone

Your location's address and time zone are used for the weather on the TV, for local times on every screen and in opening hours, and for map links. Enter a US address in Location settings; NextUp looks it up and sets the time zone from it, and you can choose a different zone in the same state if needed.

Make sure the time zone is right: automatic opening and closing, appointment times, summary emails and Insights' busiest-hours chart all use the location's local time.

Post a wait message for customers

A wait message is a short note (up to 100 characters) shown on every customer's status page while they wait, for example "Running 15 minutes behind, thanks for your patience" or "Closing early at 5 today." You can set it for all locations at once, or for one location from its settings.

For a single team member who is running behind, use the Provider Queue page instead: tap "Running behind?" under their card and pick a preset (5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes) or type your own message. Only customers waiting for that person see it, instantly. Clear it when they've caught up.

Intake questions (ask customers questions when they join)

You can ask customers up to 5 questions when they join the line, for service details, preferences or notes for your team.

1. Open Location settings and scroll to Intake questions.
2. Click Add question and type your question.
3. Check Required if the customer must answer it to join.
4. Add up to 5 questions, then click Save.

Answers appear on the staff screen next to each party's name. Examples: "What service are you here for?", "Do you have a preferred stylist?", "Any allergies or sensitivities we should know about?"

You can also set an intake form link to send customers to an external form after they join. For signed waivers and consent forms built inside NextUp, use the Consent Forms page.

Consent forms, waivers and health intake

The Consent Forms page lets you build consent forms, waivers, health intake and age verification forms from questions, starting from a template for your trade. Choose when each form is asked: once, every year, or every visit. A required (blocking) form has to be completed before the customer can join the line or book online; an optional one can be skipped.

Signed submissions, with the signature and the time signed, are filed on the client's profile. Editing a form saves a new version, and its rules follow it.

Pet vaccination and expiry records (Health Records)

Health Records tracks expiry dates on a client or their pet: vaccinations (for example rabies or bordetella), service intervals, and inspections, with a photo of the paperwork. Find a client by name or phone on the Health Records page, or open the client and choose Manage under Pets and due dates.

Records show as current, expiring soon, or expired. Staff see a heads-up on the staff screen for anything due within 14 days. If you turn on the check-in gate (off by default), an expired blocking record stops online check-in, and the customer sees which record expired and when. Health Records shows for pet grooming locations, or for clients who already have records.