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Building your Custom Menu

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No0ne558 edited this page Oct 24, 2025 · 5 revisions

🎨 Building Custom Pages and Buttons

🏠 Getting Started

When you have the binary running, the first page you see is 'Page One', a logon page. Page One is one of many non-editable 'System Pages' common to all users.

The essential task unique to each hospitality location is building unique, customized restaurant/hospitality pages.

🔐 Logging In

  • Log on with the numerical ID of the user Developer/Editor
  • Default IDs: 42 or 123456789
  • IDs can be changed to any numerical value

📋 Navigation After Login

Upon login, you reach the 'Table Page' which branches to either:

  • 'Gateway' - The back end of ViewTouch
  • Custom menu pages - Your unique interface

✏️ Edit Mode

  • Enter Edit Mode: Press F1 as Developer/Editor user
  • Exit & Save: Press F1 again
  • Exit & Revert: Press F11 to erase mistakes and revert to last save point

💡 Pro Tip: Frequently save your work with two presses of F1 to avoid losing progress!

📄 Required Pages

Every menu must have these four page types:

  1. 🏷️ Table Page - Entry point to your menu system
  2. 📑 Index Page - Navigation hub
  3. 🍽️ Menu Page - Main menu items (typically multiple pages)
  4. 🔧 Modifier/Scripted Page - Modifiers and scripted options (typically multiple pages)

Note: Scripted Pages can properly be thought of as Modifier Pages.

🔘 Button Types

Every page must have buttons. Here are the main types:

🍔 Menu Item Buttons

  • Placed on Menu Item Pages and Scripted Pages
  • Represent the core offerings

⚡ Qualifier Buttons

  • Detailed explanation below
  • Enhance menu items and modifiers

📊 Menu Types (6 Categories)

1. 🍽️ Menu Item Type

Standard items like: Hamburger, Macaroni & Cheese, Spaghetti, Pepsi, Cheesecake

2. 🔄 Substitute Item Type

Items that can be served as Normal or Modifier:

  • English Muffin, Polish Sausage
  • Premium/Top Shelf liquor (enables surcharges for cocktails)

3. 🧄 Modifier Item Type

Enhancements like: Italian Dressing, Mustard, Cheddar, Well Done

4. 🚫 Non-Tracking Modifier

Basic items like: Salt, Pepper, Water, Napkin

5. ⚖️ By the Pound Item Type

Weight-priced items: Deli Meat, Deli Salad

6. 🎫 Admission Item Type

Fixed-price limited items: Theater seats, Pool table time

🎯 Button Types (3 Categories)

1. 🍕 Menu Item

Standard offerings: Hamburger, Macaroni & Cheese, Spaghetti, Pepsi, Cheesecake

2. 🎛️ Qualifier

Modifiers that refine items:

  • No, Sub, On Side, Lite, Only, Extra, Double, Dry, Plain
  • Toast, UnToast, Crisp, Soft, Hard, Grill
  • < Left, Right >, Whole, Cut/2, Cut/3, Cut

3. 🪑 Table

Table identifiers: 1, 2, 3, A, B, C, P1 (Patio)

📝 Terminology & Concepts

  • Menu Items = Nouns (Normal Item Type Buttons)
  • Modifiers = Adjectives (Modifier Item Type Buttons)
  • Qualifiers = Adverbs (Qualifier Buttons)

⚙️ Qualifier Details

Qualifiers can be placed on both Menu Item Pages and Scripted Pages.

📋 All 21 Qualifiers:

  • No, On Side, Lite, Only, Extra, Double
  • Dry, Plain, Toast, Untoast, Crisp
  • Soft, Hard, Grill, < Left, Right >
  • Whole, Cut/2, Cut/3, Cut/4

🎨 Usage Examples

Qualifiers with Menu Items:

  • Double Scotch, Soft Poached Egg, Crisp Bacon
  • Plain Hamburger, Cut/2 Breakfast Special

Qualifiers with Modifiers:

  • Extra Onion, No Onion, Lite Pickles
  • Pickles On Side, Double Cheese
  • Sub Grey Goose (vodka), < Pepperoni, > Mushrooms

🔑 Special Qualifier Features

  1. Double - Can affect the price of menu items when attached
  2. Sub - Allows premium liquor substitution with surcharge, can jump to other pages, can combine with other qualifiers

Examples of combined qualifiers:

  • Extra Pickles On The Side
  • Soft Poached Egg On The Side

🔀 Flow Control & Page Navigation

🎮 Built-in Control

ViewTouch has procedural (flow) control built into both pages and buttons:

  • Page flow control is hardcoded (with one exception)
  • Button flow control can enhance or bypass hardcoded page control

⚠️ Critical Design Rule

Menu Items belong on Menu Pages and Modifier Buttons belong on Scripted Pages.

Exception: Modifiers can be placed on Menu Pages only if they have 'Jump Option' set to 'No Jump'.

🎯 Menu Quality Factors

The key to a great custom menu is:

  1. Button layout on pages
  2. Effective use of flow control (Jump Options) assigned to Modifiers

🚨 Stability Warning

If ViewTouch is unstable, it's almost certainly because the custom menu has buttons that violate building rules. This is the inevitable effect of ViewTouch's vast freedom in menu design.

Other POS systems avoid this because they allow far less customization freedom.

📞 Support

Anyone building a menu should know that help is always available!

I will greatly expand on this in the coming weeks.

August 18, 2020

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