Guide
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Set up

03 — The menu (Catalog)

Watch the video (about 2 minutes). Yellow captions say each step; a yellow ring marks each button before it is pressed.

For the admin or a manager.

1. How the catalog works

Menu  (Main meals, Drinks)
 └── Category  (Swahili dishes, Grills, Sodas…; a category can sit inside another)
      └── Item  (Chicken pilau, KES 650)
           ├── Variants: sizes with their own price  (Regular 650 · Large 900)
           └── Extras: paid add-ons                  (Extra kachumbari +100)
  • A menu groups what you sell. The demo has Main meals and Drinks.
  • A category is a group of dishes inside a menu. Waiters tap categories to find dishes.
  • An item is one dish or drink with a price. Its Classification (Food, Drink, Other) decides whether it counts as food or drink in reports.
  • A variant is a size or version with its own price. When an item has variants, the waiter must pick one.
  • An extra (add-on) is optional and adds to the price.

The Catalog: menus across the top, category tiles, and the items below
The Catalog: menus across the top, category tiles, and the items below

2. Add a category

  1. Catalog. Pick the menu across the top (here Main meals).
  2. Add category (the last tile).
  3. Type the Name, pick the Classification, and leave Parent category at None (top level). To put it inside another category, pick that category as the parent.
  4. Create. The new tile appears with the others.

The new category form: Swahili dishes, Food, top level
The new category form: Swahili dishes, Food, top level

3. Add an item

  1. Tap the category, then Add item.

  2. On the Details tab fill in:

    Field Example Notes
    Name Chicken pilau What waiters and guests see
    SKU (blank) Leave blank: Amber numbers it, e.g. FOOD-0011
    Category Swahili dishes
    Unit Plate Portion, Plate, Glass, Bottle…
    Base price 650 Including VAT if your prices include VAT (chapter 02)
    Description Spiced rice cooked with chicken… Shown on the digital menu
    Available ticked Untick to hide it from waiters
    Show on website ticked Only matters if you take online orders

    The New item form, Details tab
    The New item form, Details tab

  3. Optional: Variants & extras.

    • Add variant for each size: name and price (Regular 650, Large 900).
    • Add extra for each paid add-on: name and price (Extra kachumbari 100).

    Two variants and one extra filled in
    Two variants and one extra filled in

  4. Save item. You see Saved "Chicken pilau" and the item card shows Plate · 2 Variants, the price and Available.

Chicken pilau saved in Swahili dishes
Chicken pilau saved in Swahili dishes

The other tabs on an item: Inclusions (things that come free with it), Photo, and Recipe & stock, which links the dish to its ingredients (chapter 04).

4. Change or hide an item

  • To change a price or name: tap the item card, change it, Save item.
  • To stop selling it for today only (out of fish, machine broken): use Availability, not the catalog. The kitchen or cashier can do that (chapter 07).
  • To stop selling it for good: untick Available in the item.

Common problems

What you see Why What to do
Create a category before adding items. The menu has no categories yet Add a category first
The waiter can't find a new dish It is in a menu or category the waiter didn't open, or Available is unticked Search for it by name on the order screen; check Available
A dish shows Not available today Someone marked it "86", or it ran out of stock See chapter 07

Checklist

  • Every dish and drink you sell is in the catalog with the right price
  • Items with sizes have a variant for each size
  • Paid extras are set up as extras, not as separate dishes
  • A test order in chapter 06 shows the dish with the right price