Not quite, ABout.
You can join the waiting list and/or appeal for any school, even if you didn't name it on the application form.
The point about following procedures is that for an infant class size appeal - ie for admission to reception up to year 2 in schools where the admission number is a multiple of 30 - you are only likely to win the appeal if you can show that there has been a serious error (such as not following proper procedures) which has deprived your child of a place, or the decision to refuse a place was so unreasonable that it should be overturned.
The appeal won't usually move you up the waiting list except in those rare cases where some evidence unearthed at appeal places you in a higher admissions category, which also means a higher category on the waiting list. Generally, the outcome of an appeal is either (in the majority of cases) the decision to refuse a place is upheld and so nothing changes or (in the minority of cases) you win and get a place at the school.
For many people, the value of appealing is that they feel they have done everything they can on behalf of their child. As I said, it's difficult to win an appeal for admission to Reception - the bar is deliberately set very side, because of the force of the infant class size regulations which limit infant class sizes to 30 pupils. Most successful appeals are based on errors in the admissions process; in fact, if there is clear evidence of a mistake, LEAs should just give the place without an appeal but, even so, many insist that parents take the case before an appeals panel.
Many people go into appeals knowing they have little chance of winning, and that is their right, but I think it's important that they should go into the appeal with their eyes open. If you don't like the allocated school, you need a back-up plan for if the appeal fails.