Creating an online menu

Start

Before you start

• Access to PowerEPOS System Manager, with permission to publish.
• Your PLUs created and grouped — see [Creating PLUs](/article/creating-a-plu).
• Any product images already loaded into the image library.
• Your sales modifiers set up, if items come in sizes — see [Setting up a sales modifier](/article/setting-up-a-sales-modifier).

Flagging the PLUs that go online

Step 1

Open the PLU list in quick edit

Go to Menu → PLUs from the main screen. Select Flags in the selection tabs along the top of the list, then Quick Edit in the bottom context bar.

Step 2

Tick Is Available Online

Tick Is Available Online? against every PLU you want on the menu. This can be turned on and off whenever you like — once the menu is configured it follows this flag by itself.

Step 3

Save and close

Select Save, then close back to the main menu.

Creating the menu

Step 4

Insert a new online menu

Go to Menu → Online Menus from the main screen for the list of menus, select Insert in the bottom context bar, and give the new menu a title you will recognise later.

Step 5

Add the menu groupings

In the Menu Groupings section, select Click here to add a new entry at the top, or Insert at the bottom.

The main category is usually Food or Beverage, though it can be split further — lunch and dinner, say — because these can be sub-categorised. Then name the group the items will go into, which is usually the reporting or display group they already belong to. Select Save.

Availability times

Step 6

Turn the restriction on

Select the Availability tab on the left and switch No to Yes.

Step 7

Create the timeframe

Select Predefined Periods at the bottom right, then Insert in the pop-up, and choose For use with Online Menus so the period can be used here.

Name it and set the times and days. Insert adds further timeframes, for where weekdays and weekends differ.

Step 8

Apply it

Select Save & Close to get back to the menu screen, tick the timeframe you want, and select Save.

Step 9

Do the same for a group, if you need to

A group can carry its own times. Double-click the group that needs restricting and set it the same way.

Adding items

Step 10

Add a whole display group

Select Insert at the bottom of the Menu Items section, or Click here to add a new entry at the top. Set Type to Display Groups and pick the group from the drop-down — typing part of its name filters the list.

Select Save and the group appears on the screen, coloured to show it is a display group rather than a single item.

Step 11

Add an individual PLU

Select Insert at the bottom of the item section, set Type to PLU, and search the drop-down for the item. It appears on the menu screen uncoloured, which is how you tell an individual product from a group. Delete on it removes just that item.

Names, descriptions and images

Step 12

Give it a customer-facing name

Select the PLU in the list and type the name customers will see into Name, in the Online Settings area on the right.

Step 13

Add a description

Desc: in the same settings area takes a description — what the dish is, an upsell, anything the customer needs to know.

Step 14

Add an image

Select the Select Image icon in the settings, choose the image you want from the library, and select Select.

Sizes

Step 15

Add the default size

Select Insert under Modifier Options on the right. Choose the default size and select Select, then set Default to Yes so it is pre-selected when a customer opens the product, and Save.

Step 16

Add the other sizes

Add the rest the same way, leaving Default off.

To do several products at once, hold Shift while selecting them and add the modifiers to the whole selection. Select Save when you are done.

Prompts

Step 17

Create the prompt

Select the PLU, then Insert in the PLU Prompt Sequence section, and Insert again to create a new prompt.

Give it a name you will recognise — that part is only for the POS side — and a display name the customer sees, usually the question itself. Min and Max are how many choices they may make: for how a steak is cooked, both are 1, so they must choose exactly one. Leaving either blank removes that limit.

Select Insert to add the items, choosing a display group or a PLU exactly as you did for the menu. The up and down arrows reorder them.

Step 18

Attach it to the item

Select Save, then select the prompt and Select to add it to the item it belongs on. Repeat for any other prompts that item needs.

A prompt only has to be built once: the same one can be added to every other item that shares it. Select Save when you are done.

Finishing up

Step 19

Close and publish

Select Close at the bottom right of the menu, then Close on the Online Menu page, and publish the changes.

Step 20

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