Menus, PDF import and pre-orders

Menus live under Bookings → Menus & pre-orders at /app/[orgSlug]/bookings/menus. Menus manages menu drafts and immutable published versions; Item catalogue holds reusable dishes. Publication is the boundary between editable authoring and guest commitments.

The item catalogue loads its complete dish metadata first. Optional images load separately in bounded batches under current menu authority. Unavailable, denied or stale images disappear without removing the dish or discarding form edits. The catalogue stays open when images refresh, including before the first image results arrive. Known-private files cannot become public menu artwork; this does not establish ownership of every legacy image.

Build, import and publish#

1. Add reusable dishes with name, description, course, optional image, standard price, availability, dietary markers and explicit allergen declarations.
2. Choose À la carte, Two courses, Three courses or Buffet selection. Arrange sections and choices, their limits, prices and any nested fixed-price menu such as a kids menu. Arrow controls reorder sections/items on touch screens.
3. Save and inspect the menu preview, dietary key, allergens and total rules.
4. Publish a version. Menu cards distinguish Draft, a live version and New edits. Existing bookings retain the version they bought.

Import PDF menu uploads a PDF into a review flow: extraction proposes categories, dishes, prices, dietary markers and explicit printed declarations; operators correct, select and apply a draft. It does not replace existing menus or publish automatically. Exact (V) and (VG) markers can seed structured choices; ambiguous prices, conditional vegan options and conflicting evidence remain review decisions. Applying the reviewed import respects an operator's removed or corrected markers.

Import limits are 8 MB/20 pages, 12 proposed categories/120 dishes and ten AI attempts per business per day. Missing credentials, invalid files or extraction failure leave manual creation available. Imported source text cannot infer allergen-free claims from ingredients or a dietary label.

The allergen editor uses the 14 standard allergens plus retained other details. Optional canonical product links contribute approved source declarations while keeping manual and derived statements distinguishable. Publication freezes source revisions. Later product/allergen updates refresh drafts and require review; they do not alter a published menu or prior guest response.

Tevalis imports create inactive, source-bound catalogue items for review. Source-controlled prices/modifier rules remain separate from editorial copy. Changed or unavailable till evidence can pause new selections without rewriting previous choices. Unsupported nested/fixed/buffet package charging remains blocked from till handoff until its price allocation is supported.

Collect guest choices#

Open a confirmed Booking's Pre-order panel beneath invoices/payments, select one published menu, set the deadline and reminder policy, and open invitations. The booking lead is the host. Plated service supports one response per guest within the party-size cap; buffet service uses one shared party response.

Guests open /preorder through their secure invitation, choose allowed dishes and modifiers, record their own dietary requirements, and submit. The server enforces course counts, quantities and deadline. Each participant sees only their permitted response; the host manages invitees without receiving another guest's private dietary text. Staff see the service-relevant progress and requirements.

The operator can inspect completion, close collection and resend invitations. An eligible guest can reopen their own response through the secure guest portal; this is not an operator reopening control. Reminders stop for completion, closure, cancellation, deadline or exhausted attempts. Resend issues a new auditable invitation. Test-mode purchases retain pre-orders but skip invitation dispatch. Ticket-included plated packages require responses for every purchased meal; buffet packages require the shared host response.

Print a menu#

From a published menu, open Print studio. Choose a standard or specials edition, template, type family, accent, paper size, density, cover copy and visible content. Inspect overflow warnings and download the PDF. A print design binds to its published version; saving it does not edit the source menu. Prices, dietary keys and allergen information remain in the generated document.