User Guide
Complete guide to using VelvetRope for queue protection.
Understanding Queue Protection
When you announce a hyped product drop, thousands of fans hit your site simultaneously. VelvetRope sits between your announcement and your site, creating a fair, orderly queue.
Creating a Campaign
Step 1: Basic Setup
From your dashboard, click "New Campaign" and fill in:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Internal identifier | "Jordan 4 Retro Drop" |
| Destination URL | Where users go after queue | https://mystore.com/products/jordan-4 |
| Flow Rate | Users per minute your site handles | 100 |
| Max Queue Size | Cap total queue (optional) | 50,000 |
Step 2: Schedule (Optional)
Set start/end times for automatic activation, or manually control from the dashboard.
Step 3: Launch
- Click "Save Campaign"
- Copy your queue link
- Click "Start Queue" when ready
- Share your queue link instead of your direct URL
Flow Rate Guidelines
Your flow rate determines how many users per minute are released from the queue to your destination. Choose based on your platform and expected checkout complexity.
Live Adjustable
Flow rate can be adjusted in real-time from your dashboard using the slider control. No need to guess—start conservative and scale up as you monitor your site's performance.
E-commerce Platforms
| Platform | Suggested Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic/Standard | 50-100/min | Shared checkout, can bottleneck |
| Shopify Plus | 200-500/min | Dedicated checkout capacity |
| WooCommerce (shared) | 30-60/min | PHP limits, DB connections |
| WooCommerce (VPS/dedicated) | 100-200/min | Redis cache recommended |
| BigCommerce | 100-300/min | Enterprise tier higher |
| Squarespace Commerce | 40-80/min | Shared infrastructure |
| Wix eCommerce | 30-60/min | Conservative estimates |
| Custom (headless) | 200-1000/min | Depends on your infra |
Ticketing & Event Platforms
| Platform | Suggested Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eventbrite | 100-200/min | API rate limits apply |
| Ticketmaster Resale | 50-100/min | Heavy checkout flow |
| Dice.fm | 80-150/min | Mobile-first checkout |
| Self-hosted ticketing | 50-200/min | DB writes are bottleneck |
By Hosting Type
| Infrastructure | Suggested Rate | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting (GoDaddy, Bluehost) | 20-40/min | Shared CPU, memory limits |
| Entry VPS (DigitalOcean $5-20) | 50-100/min | Limited RAM for connections |
| Mid-tier VPS (2-4GB RAM) | 100-200/min | Good balance |
| Dedicated server | 300-600/min | Full resources available |
| Auto-scaling (Vercel, Netlify) | 200-500/min | Edge + serverless |
| AWS/GCP with CDN | 500-2000/min | Scale based on config |
| Enterprise CDN (Cloudflare Pro+) | 1000-5000/min | Origin offloaded |
🎯 Start at 50%: Begin with half your estimated capacity. Monitor for 2-3 minutes, then increase if your site responds quickly (<2s page loads).
📊 Watch your metrics: If response times climb above 3 seconds or you see 5xx errors, reduce the rate immediately using the live slider.
💰 Skip Pass tip: Higher rates mean faster queues, which can reduce Skip Pass conversions. Find the sweet spot where wait times are ~3-5 minutes—long enough to motivate upgrades.
Queue Math Calculator
If you have
10,000
users in queue
At rate of
100/min
flow rate
Last person waits
~100 min
(1 hr 40 min)
Formula: Queue Length ÷ Rate = Wait Time (minutes)