This provides information relating to Menus and Products used to support OrderAway and TouchMini.
For the best results endeavour to create a Menu/Product structure that balances, the least number of key presses to find a Product with having the least number of options on a single screen.
Subjects ▼
Menus ▲ ▼
A menu is a collection of Products which are available for ordering within a Venue’s Location. swiftpos Back Office is used to create and manage these menus. The attributes of a menu which need to be considered and managed include:
There is a choice of 2 modes in which OrderAway Menus can be setup. These modes are selected here when initially setting up OrderAway and are either:
- Keyboard Layout – RECOMMENDED. Select to ensure Keyboard Layouts are used. This is the recommended for the following reasons:
- Layouts can be easily linked to or unlinked from the Menus.
- Products can be easily added to and removed from Menus.
- Menus and Products can easily be presented in their desired order.
- Product Family – This mode makes use of swiftpos Families to generate the Menus. For more information click here.Select to ensure Families that have the Web option selected and which are also active for the Location Group (Venue), are used.
Keyboard Layout ▲ ▼
It is recommended to create a new Keyboard that is specifically designed to provide patrons with a fluid and easy experience when navigating the Menu and placing Orders. Remember, patrons will be navigating the Menu, not trained POS/Wait staff.
- Using the swiftpos Keyboard Design feature:
- Give it a Name. For example OrderAway Menu
- Select a Screen Size. For example 1280x720. The size selected must have sufficient POS Keys to accommodate all the Products for each of the Menu Layouts. For example, Specials, Entrees, Mains, Desserts, Drinks, etc.
- Unselect the Number Pad and Fixed Keyboard options. These can be ignored.
- Select the Disable Orders Grid option. It can be ignored.
- Enter a New Layout Name. For example Home.
- Select the Filter Locations button to select the Locations the Keyboard will be available in.
- Save the Keyboard.
From here onwards, the configuring of the Keyboard will very much depend on the Venue’s preferences as to how they want to structure the OrderAway Menu. It is crucial to design the Keyboard in close co-operation with the Venues to ensure the desired Menu flow is realised.
Notes...
Administrators should be mindful that the structure of the hierarchy is a trade-off between selecting items with as few key presses as possible versus not presenting too many options on a single screen.
When creating/designing TouchMini Layouts the following will need to be taken into consideration:
Layout POS Keys ▲ ▼
Layout POS Keys will appear in TouchMini as Menu buttons. Layout POS Keys (Menus) will always appear in the top portion of the UI and will always be appear before the Items (Products). Each linked Layout will be a Sub Menu and again, these can have more Products listed or more linked Layouts.
Product POS Keys ▲ ▼
Product POS Keys appear in TouchMini as Items. Product POS Keys (Menus) will always appear in the bottom portion of the UI and will always be listed after any Menus.
Notes...
OrderAway will display Menus & Products added to Layouts in order going from left to right and top to bottom.
Product Family ▲ ▼
This mode allows for quick setup and syncing of Product into both Product Menus and Sub Menus. However, the Keyboard Layout mode (above) is the recommended way of setting up the OrderAway Menu. The Family must be Web enabled and should obviously only contain those Products that would be available to Patrons to Order.
Products ▲ ▼
Configuring Products for OrderAway is relatively straight forward.
- Comprise a list of Products that will be available to Patrons to order via OrderAway.
- Once the list has been comprised, edit each of the Products listed ensuring the following:

- Product Description – The Description will be used as the name displayed in the Menu.
- PLU - The PLU is set in the Menu when building the Menu.
- Price Levels – Ensure pricing is set correctly. Specifically, the Price Level that will be configured against the:
- Active - The Active option MUST BE selected in each of the swiftpos Locations to ensure the Product is available in OrderAway.
- Image Set – Select/Set the Image that will be displayed for the Product in the OrderAway Menu. If an Image has already been set, then either change by selecting another Image or adding a new one, or override the Image set here by uploading a new Image (for OrderAway only) via the Appearance tab. Refer to Appearance & QR Codes for more information. Images must not exceed:
- Maximum 60 MB
- Max ratio 256 x 256px
- 400 Images in total can be uploaded to OrderAway. This includes Menu Images.
Notes...
To upload Images, select the Images > Upload button option in the swiftpos OrderAway screen
- Post Links – Products in OrderAway can have Post Links that enable, for example, the selection of cooking instructions, sides, sauces, add-ons, etc. Refer to the Create Post Links for more information.
- Web Settings – Select and configure any Web Settings that may be relevant to patrons.
- Information - Select to configure additional information relating to the Product, including Ingredients, Notes, Allergens and Nutrients.

Example of a Product displaying Allergens when selected.
In addition to the above, attention must also be given to the following:
- SOH - For Products that are tracked from an Inventory/Stock on Hand perspective, and the Enable Quantity Check option is selected, then ensure the SOH value for all such Products is correct and that the Stock on Hand option is selected and the settings for it are appropriately configured. Products will then show as either:
- Available (depending on the SOH in the swiftpos Location)
- Limited Stock
- Out of Stock
- Associate/Assign the selected Products to the Menu Mode selected. That is either Keyboard Layout or Product Family modes.
End of article. ▲