Menus & Categories CMS Overview

Getting your content created and structured correctly.

What is a menu?

Your menu in the CMS in your central storage place for all your products to be made, held and structured.

Menus contain all your products and categories and will often be a regular place of visit inside the CMS. Entering the menu is the easiest place to not only create new products and categories but also to adjust existing ones.

Menus display products and categories in a list style view, where you can clearly see which items are products and which categories they slot themselves into.

Menus can be accessed in the CMS by going to 'Products' and finding 'Menus' in the drop down list.

Menu structuring

A menu's structure is determined by its categories, in particular, their quantity and depth level.

The first made categories that do not sit inside of another category are known as 'top level' categories and will often link directly to the top UI tabs on a Crave device.

For example, a 'Dining' category or 'Guest Services' category are likely to be first made and contain all the nested categories and products for that section of the tablet.

Categories are then made within each of these top level categories in a logical sense. For example, under your top level 'Dining' you may create a 'Breakfast' category which could then contain your breakfast products.

How to add categories & products

To create your first category in your menu, you will need to locate and press the green plus button inside the horizontal light blue bar.

Once pressed you will need to name your category appropriately and press the save icon once happy. From here you can then add a nested category inside this category or add your first product.

This time you will need to press the green plus button that is in line with your new category, this will place your new category or product inside your first category. You will need to choose whether you are creating a product or a category by adjusting the drop down before saving.

Adjusting categories & category types

To open a category, find it in the menu and click the pencil and paper icon in the far right column.

This will take you into the category where you will be able to edit a few key areas:

- Category Image

- Category Type

- Category Level Alterations

- Category Level Schedules

Category types will apply to all sub-categories and products within it. Category types include normal, directory and service items.

If set to 'Normal', all products within the category will act as orderable items that can be placed into the cart and purchased.

If set to 'Directory', all products within the category will act as informational - read only products.

If set to 'Service Items', all products within the category will be requestable, even if a price is assigned, and will bypass the cart and be sent straight to a receiving console.

Uploading category imagery

Categories require images to be uploaded within them to prevent them from appearing grey and empty on tablets and mobiles when a guest is navigating through.

The correct pixel sizing for a category image is 928 x 644 pixels for tablet and 1050 x 350 pixels for mobile.

To add an image, you will need to open the category using the pencil and paper icon and navigate to the 'Images' tab. From here you can press the 'Add' button.

When uploading an image, the correct boxes will need to be ticked. For tablets, the 'Full Page Image' will need to be ticked. For mobile, the 'AppLess Category Banner' will need to be ticked. If you are unsure on which size to tick, select all 3.

Scheduling

Scheduling is a great tool that can be used to limit a product or group of products availability to view/order between certain operating hours.

Schedules are often used for items like breakfast products and dinner items to ensure no items are ordered outside of appropriate times.

Schedules can be added to individual products or more commonly to categories which will then apply the schedule to all products inside it.

Schedules can be created in the CMS and applied to individual products or categories by opening said product/category and applying it in the relevant field.

Speak to the team

Our team is always on hand to help with any content requirements you may have, so please do not hesitate to contact us.

Via phone:

UK: +44 (0)330 403 0144

US: +1 877.778.7621

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Start an Instant Video call with the Crave team now and speak to a member of the team available to handle any of your queries!