# Managing Your Menu

Your menu lives at **Admin → Menu**. One menu drives everything — your ordering page, the [register](/register-pos), the [kitchen display](/kitchen-display), and receipts. Change a price once and it's correct everywhere.

Changes are **live immediately**. There's no publish step and no approval queue.

## Categories

Categories are the sections of your menu — "Breakfast", "Sandwiches", "Drinks".

**To add one:**

1. Go to **Admin → Menu**.
2. Choose to add a category.
3. Name it, and add an optional description shown under the heading.

**Hiding a category** removes the whole section from everywhere a customer looks, without deleting it or losing its items. Use this for a section you're still building, or one that's seasonal.

> Time-based category cutoffs — a breakfast section that disappears at 11am automatically — aren't available yet. Categories are shown or hidden by hand.

**Section colors.** A category can carry a color, which shows *only on the [register](/register-pos)* as a stripe on the tile and a dot on the filter chip. It helps staff find sections fast on a busy till. Customers never see it, and it's most useful if your items don't have photos — without one, a register is a grid of identical grey squares. The palette deliberately excludes green, red, and amber, which already mean paid, unpaid, and needs-attention on the register.

## Items

**To add an item:**

1. Open the category it belongs in.
2. Choose to add an item.
3. Fill in:
   - **Name** — what customers and the kitchen see
   - **Description** — optional, shown on the ordering page
   - **Price**
   - **Photo** — optional but worth it; see below

**To edit one,** open it, change what you need, and save. The new value applies to future orders; orders already placed keep the price they were charged.

## Photos

Good photos measurably increase orders. A few rules:

- **Shoot the actual dish**, not a stock image. Customers notice.
- **Natural light, from above or at 45°.** A phone camera near a window beats studio lighting done badly.
- **Be consistent.** A menu where half the items have photos looks broken; either photograph a whole category or none of it.

If you have no photos, set section colors (above) so the register is still navigable.

## Modifiers

Modifiers are the choices attached to an item — size, temperature, sides, add-ons.

Attach them to an item so customers pick when ordering, and the choice flows through to the kitchen ticket and receipt. Modifiers can add to the price (extra shot, add bacon) or be free (rare/medium/well).

Set required modifiers as required. If every burger needs a temperature, make it a required choice rather than hoping for a note.

## Availability

**Mark an item unavailable** when you're out. It disappears from ordering but keeps all its setup — price, photo, modifiers — so switching it back on takes one tap. Don't delete an item you'll sell again next week.

**Availability windows** let an item only be orderable during set times, for items you genuinely only sell at certain hours.

## Item notes and allergies

Customers can add a note to an item at checkout. Notes appear on the kitchen ticket and the [kitchen display](/kitchen-display) under the item.

Notes are free text — customers write allergies here. Make sure kitchen staff know to read them.

## Reordering your menu

Drag categories and items into the order you want. It applies to your ordering page and the register, and saves as you drag.

Put your best sellers at the top of their category. Most customers don't scroll to the bottom.

## Prices

Prices are entered in dollars and stored exactly. Tax is calculated on top at checkout based on your settings — don't bake tax into item prices.

## Where to go next

- [Bundles & Combos](/bundles-and-combos) — meal deals with customer choices
- [Ordering Settings](/ordering-settings) — prep time, advance orders
- [Store Hours](/store-hours) — when customers can order
- [Brand & Appearance](/brand-and-appearance) — colors on your ordering page