Menu Item Option Management

roydeanjr

What would it take to change the way options are managed in the database?

I have options that have menu item records as well. They are options that can go on a plate of food. The current display of menu items in the cart does not lend itself to a clear understanding of what menu items are supposed to go on one plate. As such, I have worked around this limitation by making a menu item that is essentially one person’s choices of what they want on their plate. That menu item includes options for meat choice, sides choice, bread choice, condiment choices and sauce choice.

This method of presenting to the user the various “optional” items that can be placed on their plate of food makes the display in the cart more clear. TI works as long as I don’t actually run out of something.

The current menu options management system breaks down when I do run out of an item, i.e. I run out of Mac & Cheese. I can make the menu item, Mac & Cheese, not show on the menu page if I change the quantity to -1. However the menu item options where I have added the Side option of Mac & Cheese still shows Mac & Cheese as an option that the user can select. Even if I change the quantity of the option to -1.

Additionally, I would have to change the quantity of the option to -1 on all my menu items where that option is in the list of options. That is too time consuming.

If the options management system used menu items from a category called Options then I could have only one place to add the options and I could manage the availability much easier. I could change the quantity to -1 and thereby make that “option” not available for display to the user.

ryanmitchell

Yeah I think you’re trying to solve the problem in the wrong way - changing the current options approach isn’t realistic.

i think an extension that lets you associate items together as a ‘plate’ is the way to go. I’ll think it out a little over the next couple of weeks and come back with my ideas.

roydeanjr

Maybe so, Maybe I am the only one that includes options that are made from raw material that I have to manage and need to know that I am out of inventory and thus need to remove from the options list? I need a better way to manage the list of options because one option is used on multiple “plates” and should be grouped in the cart according to the plate it belongs on.

My menu development has evolved due to the confusion presented to customers when each menu item is listed as it’s own item available to order. I typically get customers that come in and ask for 2 plates of meat, side and condiment options that are not the same, but they say it all in one long sentence. I am always asking them to allow me to finish one plate before continuing with the next plate.

I look forward to any idea you might engineer. Thank you, Ryan!

ryanmitchell

I had a look at your menu, and you’ve mostly got it set up how I would do it. The question you raised relates to the sides, which you’ve included in the popup window for ‘plate’, ‘sandwich’ etc… personally I wouldnt include them there, but I get that you decided that was important for speed of upsell.

I guess the ‘right’ thing to do would be create an ‘upsell’ extension which allows other items to be added to the popup window as extras (eg mac + cheese, chips etc), but which are actually separate menu items. The trick would be using comments or a new field to associate them together so you know they are ‘plate’ in the background. With this approach you would only need to amend the stock levels in one place for the side).

So the extension would need to:

Allow selection of associated items
Create a component that lists them / faciliates adding them in the modal popup
Groups them by plate

All quite do-able, but probably not something I would work on I’m afraid! I’m happy to help guide anyone that wants to take it on.