What To Consider
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      3. What To Consider

      Modifiers / Instructions

      This provides information relating to the swiftpos Product features known as Instructions and Modifiers.

      Subjects      ▼

      Instructions      ▲ ▼

      What Is It?      ▲ ▼

      An Instruction is the additional information that maybe required to complete an Order for a particular Item/Product. Once correctly configured the person placing an Order can either be prompted:

      • To respond to a number of instructional prompts. For example:
        • In the case of ordering a coffee, instructional prompts may be presented to the patron in the form of: What Size? What Type Of Milk? With Sugar? and How Do You Like Your Coffee? OR
        • In the case of ordering a steak, instructional prompts may be presented to the patron in the form of: How Do You Like Your Steak? Your Preferred Sauce? Any Sides With That?
      • To enter specific custom instructions. For example:
        • In the case of ordering a meal, patrons may be presented with the opportunity to enter specific instructions regarding the preparation of their meal. Such as, No onions please.

      Available In?      ▲ ▼

      Instructions are currently available for use in the following swiftpos Products:

      • OrderAway
      • Self Service
      • Touch
      • TouchMini

      Why Is It Needed?      ▲ ▼

      Some Products may require patrons to provide additional information when ordering them. For example, in the form of:

      • Additions
        • When ordering a coffee, patrons may be given the option to specify whether they want an extra shot or they want it extra hot.
        • When ordering a steak, patrons may need to specify if they also want a side with their steak. For example, baked potato, fries, salads, etc.
      • Preparation Instructions
        • When ordering a coffee, patrons may be given the option to specify whether they want milk, and what type of milk,
        • When ordering a steak, patrons may need to specify how they want their steak prepared. For example, rare, medium, well done, etc.
      • Size
        • When ordering a coffee, patrons may need to specify the size they want. For example, small, regular or large.
      • Special Instructions
        • Patrons may also be given the opportunity to provide special dietary preferences in the form of free text that can be entered at the time of ordering. For example, an instruction such as 'No onions please' can be entered as free text.

      Who Can Create Them?      ▲ ▼

      Instructions are created using the Products and/or Product Quick Edit menus, and as such any Clerk/Staff Member that has the appropriate permissions to access to these menus, will be able to create them. See the What is Required? section below for more information.

      What Is Required?      ▲ ▼

      How Are They Created?      ▲ ▼

      Essentially Instructions are also swiftpos Products and are created using the Product Records or Product Quick Edit menus. They differ from Products that can be ordered, in that they are generally linked to a base Product, rather than being available to be ordered as a Product in their own right. They are generally linked to their base Product either:

      For example, to generate preparation instructions in the form of prompts when ordering a steak, Instructional Products will need to be created for all possible options. That is, rare, medium/rare, medium, medium/well done, well done, all the sauces and all the sides.


      Example of Instructional Products created for prompting patrons as to how they want their steak prepared when ordering.

      To achieve this, consider the following:

      Grouping Instructional Products      ▲ ▼

      A Venue may have many instructional Products of different types, that are available when orders are placed. These need to be grouped based on the Products ordered. Grouping of Instructional Products can be achieved in the following ways:

      • Families - RECOMMENDED. Create a Family and assign the Instructional Products that need to be grouped together.
      • Categories - Create a Category and assign the instructional Products that need to be grouped together.


      Example of a Family to group Instructional Products together

      Notes...



      It is very likely that the Venue is already making use of one of the above grouping methods. Families or Categories that are available when selling Products via swiftpos Touch Terminals can also be made available via OrderAway, TouchMini and/or 3rd Party Ordering systems.

      Assigning Instructions To Products      ▲ ▼

      Once instructional Products are grouped together into Families or Categories, they can then be linked to the base Products that can be ordered using Post Linking. Refer to How To Create Post Links for more information.

      Modifiers      ▲ ▼

      What Is It?      ▲ ▼

      Modifiers are generally Products created to allow for the quick selection of a modification to the selected base Product. The most commonly used example is in regard to ordering beer.

      For example, when ordering a beer, there may be a number of tap beers on offer, and for each of those a number of sizes available as well. For example, Pot, Schooner, Pint, Jug, etc. When using modifiers, the size (being the modifier) of the beer will be selected first, and then the type of beer is selected.

      Available In?      ▲ ▼

      Modifiers are currently available for use in the following swiftpos Products:

      • Touch

      Why Is It Needed?      ▲ ▼

      Some Products may require patrons to provide additional information when ordering them. For example:

      • Size
        • For example in the case of ordering a beer, patrons may be given the option to specify what size they want. For example, from a choice of pot, schooner, pint or jug.

      Who Can Create Them?      ▲ ▼

      Modifiers are created using the Products and/or Product Quick Edit menus, and as such any Clerk/Staff Member that has the appropriate permissions to access to these menus, will be able to create them. See the What is Required? section below for more information.

      What Is Required?      ▲ ▼

      How Are They Created?      ▲ ▼

      Essentially Modifiers are also swiftpos Products and are created using the Product Records or Product Quick Edit menus. They differ from other Products that can be ordered, in that they are not placed on a Keyboard Layout as a Product type POS Key, but rather are determined by the PLU Offset specified in the settings of the Modifier Key (#108) POS Key. Refer to Product PLU - Modifier POS Keys for more information.

      End of article.      ▲