Queue It is a service that manages heavy web traffic by placing visitors in a virtual waiting room. People are queued in a first-come, first-served order and are let through to the site at a controlled rate to prevent site overload and ensure fair access. Key ideas and how it works

• Traffic detection and redirection: When a site experiences a surge, Queue It redirects excess visitors to a waiting room rather than letting all traffic hit the site at once. This uses standard HTTP redirects to guide users to the queue experience.

• Waiting room and token system: In the waiting room, each visitor receives a unique token and a position in line. As capacity becomes available, visitors are redirected back to the site in FIFO order. A signed token is passed to the site to verify entry.

• Access control and load management: Queue It integrates at the edge, checking whether a request targets a protected path and whether a valid queue token is present. If not, the user is redirected to the queue; if yes, access proceeds. This helps prevent overload, blocks bots or uninvited guests, and can prioritize VIPs or loyal customers.

• Pre-queue and multiple integration options: For timed releases or high-demand events, a pre-queue page with a countdown can gather early visitors before the actual queue starts. Different integration methods exist, including embedding scripts that route users to the waiting room or handling token-based redirects on the server side.

• Fairness and performance goals: The system aims to deliver a fair user experience, maintain site stability during spikes, and optimize conversion by controlling when users can access the site, sometimes including features like randomized order or prioritization.

Common use cases

• E-commerce launches with limited stock, ticket sales for events, registrations with high demand, and any scenario where traffic spikes could overwhelm the site.

• Bots and resellers are typically filtered out through token checks and access rules, supporting more predictable sale outcomes for legitimate customers.

Common questions

• Does everyone see the same wait time or position? Yes, positions are typically shown in the waiting room and updated as the flow proceeds, though exact implementations can vary by setup.

• Can users skip the queue? Some implementations allow bypassing the queue for certain users or scenarios, but generally the queue redirects unverified or non-priority traffic to maintain stability.

If you’d like, I can tailor this explanation to a specific platform or scenario (e.g., an e-commerce site, a concert ticket sale, or a software beta signup) and outline step-by-step how Queue It would be integrated in that case.