The Complete Menu Link User Guide

What It Does

The Menu Link Dashboard is your venue's central command station. It gives you a clean, unified view of all your digital menus, active QR codes, live view analytics, and customer interaction metrics.

From your dashboard, you can publish or unpublish menus with one click, launch the interactive live editor, jump straight into Quick 86 service mode, and monitor diner feedback.

How to Use It

1. Access Your Menus: Log in to your account and click My Menus in the sidebar.
2. Status Badges: Check whether each menu is Published (live to the public) or in Draft mode.
3. Fast Action Buttons: Use the ✏️ Edit button for full design edits or ⚡ Quick 86 for shift adjustments.
4. Tools Dropdown: Click ••• More on any menu card to access Bulk Pricing, CSV tools, Table Tents, Embed snippets, and Duplicate menu.

What It Does

The Menu Editor features a unified, sticky workspace header with a 6-tab navigation system: Content, Design, Settings, Bulk & CSV, Dish Feedback, and Quick 86.

On desktop, an interactive live mobile phone simulator renders on the left side of the editor, giving you real-time visual feedback of how your menu appears on a guest's smartphone as you type.

How to Use It

1. Add Categories: Click + Add Section to create courses like Starters, Mains, Desserts, or Drinks.
2. Organize & Reorder: Drag and drop sections or use the up/down arrows to reorder courses instantly.
3. Show / Hide Hidden Items: Use the "Hide Hidden (N)" toggle button in the Content toolbar to declutter off-season dishes. Your state is remembered automatically.
4. Share & Print Popover: Click the Share, Print & QR menu in the workspace header to download QR codes, print physical menus, or open table tents.

What It Does

Gone are the days of opening 50 individual modal windows just to adjust prices for inflation or seasonal ingredients.

The Bulk Price & Item Editor loads your entire menu in an Excel-style spreadsheet interface. You can edit dish titles, descriptions, prices, availability, and featured badges all on one screen.

Even better: the Instant Bulk Price Calculator lets you apply price increases (or happy hour discounts) across an entire section or the entire menu at once!

How to Use the Smart Price Calculator

1. Navigate to your menu and select the 📊 Bulk & CSV tab.
2. In the Instant Bulk Price Calculator, pick your Target Section (or "All Sections").
3. Select Adjustment Type: Percentage (%) or Flat Amount (+/-).
4. Enter the amount (e.g. 5 for +5% or 0.50 for +50p).
5. Choose a Rounding Rule: Exact (2 decimals), Nearest .95, Nearest .99, or Nearest 0.10.
6. Click Apply to Table. Review the newly calculated prices in the table, then hit Save All Changes.

What It Does

In restaurant jargon, "86" means an item is out of stock. During dinner rush, front-of-house staff or head chefs do not want to navigate through complex settings just to mark the sea bass as sold out.

Quick 86 is a dedicated mobile-first interface designed to be kept open on kitchen tablets or staff smartphones. It provides instant 1-tap toggling of item availability without reloading the page.

How to Use It During Service

1. From your dashboard or menu bar, tap the ⚡ Quick 86 button.
2. Search for any dish or drink using the instant keyword filter at the top.
3. Tap Mark Sold Out. The item turns red and is immediately crossed out on the public menu for diners in real time.
4. Optionally add a note (e.g. "Sold out tonight" or "Catch of the day sold").
5. When your prep is restocked next morning, tap Mark In Stock with one touch.

What It Does

Save hundreds of pounds on graphic design agencies. The Print Studio automatically pulls your menu's chosen fonts, colors, venue logo, and high-resolution QR code into print-ready table collateral.

Features built-in cut lines and fold indicators formatted for standard A4 paper and cardstock.

Available Formats & Customization

• ✓ A6 Foldable Table Tents: 2 per A4 sheet with fold lines for standing triangular cards.
• ✓ Square Table Talkers / Coasters: 4 per A4 sheet with crop marks.
• ✓ A4 Window / Wall Poster: 1 full-page poster for your venue entrance or bar counter.
• ✓ Ink Saver Mode: Switch from full theme background to a crisp white paper background for standard office printing.
• ✓ Guest Wi-Fi Box: Automatically print your venue Wi-Fi network and password right below the QR code.

What Diners See

When guests scan your QR code with their camera, your digital menu loads in less than a second in their native browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.). No app download or account creation is ever required.

Diners enjoy crisp imagery, quick category jump dropdowns, live keyword search, and interactive dietary filter pills. Tapping any dish opens an expanded photo modal with ingredients and allergen declarations.

Time-Based Scheduled Menus

Set specific sections (like Lunch Menu (12–3pm), Happy Hour (5–7pm), or Sunday Roast) to appear automatically only on matching days and hours.

You can choose between two modes: Show Schedule Badge (shows the dishes with an informative schedule note) or Auto-Hide Outside Hours (keeps the menu uncluttered).

Why It Matters

Nothing hurts a restaurant more than a 1-star Google or TripAdvisor review over a minor issue (e.g. "Steak was overcooked" or "Soup needed salt") that your kitchen could have easily resolved on the spot.

Menu Link solves this with 100% Owner-Only Private Dish Feedback. Inside the dish detail popup on your digital menu, diners can tap a 1–5 star rating and type a private note directly to the chef.

✓ These notes are strictly private to you. They are never published on the public menu.

Owner Feedback Inbox Features

• ★ Average Dish Rating: Live overall score across all customer reviews.
• ⚠ Needs Attention Filter: Instantly isolate any feedback with 3 stars or lower to identify problem dishes.
• 🏷 Dish Grouping: Filter reviews by specific menu items to see customer reactions to new seasonal specials.
• 🛡 Honeypot Spam Protection & Rate Limiting: Automated protection prevents spam submissions.

What It Does

Keep your website menu always up-to-date without ever editing HTML or uploading cumbersome PDFs that are impossible to read on smartphones.

The Website Embed Generator provides copy-paste code snippets for any WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, or custom website. Whenever you update a price or 86 a dish in Menu Link, your website menu updates in real time automatically.

Two Embed Modes Available

The Power of Dynamic QR Codes

Traditional QR codes encode a fixed web link directly into the black and white pixel grid. If you ever change web addresses or launch a new menu, those printed codes become useless.

Menu Link QR codes are Dynamic. They point to a smart short redirection link (e.g. https://menu-li.ink/r/XXXXX). You can change the target URL, redirect to a seasonal menu, or link to a holiday promotion at any time without ever reprinting your acrylic stands or table talkers.

Customization Options

• ● Module Styles: Square, Circle, Squircle, Diamond, Bar-Vertical, Bar-Horizontal.
• ● Finder Eye Markers: Customize the outer and inner corner markers independently with matching brand colors.
• ● Linear & Radial Gradients: Blend your brand colors across the QR modules seamlessly.
• ● High-Resolution Vector Downloads: Download print-ready SVG or PNG files for commercial print shops.

Track What Matters

Know what your customers are looking at before they even order. Menu Link tracks:

• 📊 Total & Unique Scans: How many times your physical QR codes are scanned every day.
• 🍽️ Dish Modal Clicks: Which dishes get opened and viewed most frequently.
• 🌱 Dietary Filter Usage: Discover how many of your guests are actively filtering for Vegan, Gluten-Free, or Halal options.
• ⏰ Peak Traffic Hours: Spot your busiest dining windows by day and time.

Privacy-First Architecture

All Menu Link analytics are fully GDPR-compliant and privacy-first. We do not track personal identifying information (PII) or build creepy advertising profiles. You get clean, aggregated hospitality insights.

Automatic Local Search Discovery

When you publish a menu on Menu Link, your venue is automatically featured in the public Restaurant & Menu Directory at /directory.

Diners and tourists in your area can browse venues by location, town, cuisine, and dish names, helping you attract new footfall directly from organic search.

Canonical Business Profiles

Every venue receives a dedicated business hub URL (e.g. /business/ye-olde-badger-and-cockerel). This hub lists your address, phone, opening hours, social profiles, and all your current published menus in one beautiful place.