How Do Order-Taking Settings Work?

Every menu enabled for order-taking has its own set of rules on the 4. Review screen: when guests can order, when they can cancel, whether orders repeat automatically, and more. This article walks through each toggle, its default, and how it behaves when settings exist at organisation, location, and menu level at the same time.

A note on Priority: most of these settings can be set at more than one level (organisation → location → menu). Where a setting is configured lower down (e.g. at the menu), it overrides whatever was set above it. We call this out explicitly for each setting below.


How do I turn on order-taking for a menu?

Default: off. A menu must be explicitly enabled for order-taking, or it won't appear on the ordering interface at all, even if it has diet/type submenus generated.

Priority: menu-level only. This is a per-menu switch, not inherited from location or organisation.

  • Scenario 1: You duplicate a main menu into diet-specific submenus using automation rules. Order-taking settings carry over automatically, no extra step needed.
  • Scenario 2: You manually create a submenu for a specific diet or consumer type without automation rules. Order-taking settings do not carry over, and the menu will show 0 order-taking settings until you enable it yourself.


How do I set the deadline for placing an order?

This is the Orderable Until setting: the cut-off time after which guests can no longer place a new order for a given service.

Default: varies by client template; commonly same-day at a fixed hour (e.g., 10:00 AM for same-day lunch orders).

Priority: organisation (default), then location, then menu, typically configured independently per service (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, etc.) at the menu level.

  • Scenario 1 (organisation default): The organisation sets a broad default (e.g., "orders close 2 hours before service"). Any new menu created under it starts with that value.
  • Scenario 2 (menu override): A specific hospital service, say Dinner, needs a later cut-off than the organisation default because trays are prepared later. That menu's own Orderable Until is set independently and takes priority over the default above it.



How do I set the deadline for cancelling an order?

This is the Cancellable Until setting, separate from the ordering deadline. A guest may be able to cancel earlier (or later) than they can place a new order.

Default: commonly mirrors the ordering deadline unless configured otherwise.

Priority: menu-level, per service. Don't assume Lunch and Dinner share a cancellation deadline just because they're similar services; the whole point of separate dateless menus per service is to allow distinct cut-off and cancellation times.

  • Scenario 1: A nursing home wants guests to cancel breakfast up until 11:59 PM the night before, even though new orders close earlier same-day.
  • Scenario 2: A hospital wants zero flexibility once an order is fired to the kitchen. Cancellation deadline is set to match the order deadline exactly.


How do I set check-in and check-out cut-off times?

Controls whether a guest checking in or checking out on a given day can still place an order for that day's service, based on the time of check-in/out.

Default: varies; one live example uses check-in allowed until 23:59 and check-out allowed until 6:30 AM (Breakfast), 11:00 AM (Lunch), 4:00 PM (Dinner).

Priority: menu-level, per service.

  • Scenario 1: A patient checks in at 8 PM. Since check-in cut-off is 23:59, they can still place a Breakfast order for the next morning.
  • Scenario 2: A patient checks out at 7 AM. Since the Breakfast check-out cut-off is 6:30 AM, they've missed it. Lunch and Dinner, with later cut-offs, are unaffected.


ℹ️ Not the same as Admission/Discharge Day settings below. This setting is about timing: it lets someone in mid-transition still order if they're within the window. The next setting is a flat on/off, independent of what time they checked in or out.

How do I control ordering on admission and discharge days?

Orders on Admission Day and Orders on Discharge Day are separate toggles controlling whether a patient can order at all on their check-in or check-out day, regardless of what time they checked in/out.

Default: varies by patient type, configured per patient type in the client's template.

Priority: menu-level, per patient type.

  • Scenario 1: A short-stay patient type disables ordering entirely on admission day (they arrive too late to realistically eat that meal), while long-stay patients keep it enabled.
  • Scenario 2: Discharge day ordering is enabled but still governed by the check-out cut-off time above, so a patient discharged before the Breakfast cut-off can still get Breakfast, even though Discharge Day ordering is generally "on."

In short: check-in/check-out cut-off times decide whether the timing works; Admission/Discharge Day toggles decide whether ordering is allowed on that day at all. Both can apply together: the toggle has to be on and the guest has to be within the time window.

How do I turn on automated orders?

Automated Ordering places a default/standard order for a guest automatically if they haven't ordered manually by a set time.

Default: off. When enabled, a "Days in advance" field is required; if left blank, the system throws a validation warning and won't save.

Priority: menu-level, per service. Each service has its own automated order time (e.g., Breakfast at 5:00 AM, Lunch at 11:00 AM, Dinner at 3:00 PM in one client's setup).

  • Scenario 1: Days in advance = 1, meaning the system places the default order one day ahead of the service if the guest hasn't ordered manually.
  • Scenario 2: A client wants automation fully disabled system-wide during a testing period. Automated orders check-in/check-out times are set to span the full day (23:59 / 00:01) so automation effectively never fires, without touching each menu's individual configuration.



ℹ️ It is possible to allow repeated orders for personalised repetitions only, not for default orders (detailed below). Learn more about the different kinds of order automations here: https://help.menutech.com/article/1266-how-automated-orders-work

How do I set a default ("standard") order for automated ordering?

Set Standard Order defines which specific dish/combination gets placed automatically when Automated Ordering fires and the guest hasn't chosen.

Default: none. Must be explicitly configured per menu once automated ordering is turned on.

Priority: menu-level.

If Automated Ordering is enabled but no Standard Order has been set, the system will warn or block saving until one is defined; automated ordering needs a fallback to place.

  • Scenario: For a restricted-diet menu, the standard order should be set to the least-restrictive safe option within that diet, so automation never accidentally serves something off-diet.

How do I warn guests about last-minute orders?

Last-Minute Warning Time flags orders placed after the normal deadline as "last-minute," showing a warning to the person placing the order rather than blocking it outright.

Default: one live example uses 10:00 AM same-day; anything after that triggers the warning.

Priority: menu-level.

  • Scenario 1: A guest orders lunch at 9:45 AM, before the 10:00 AM cut-off. No warning shown.
  • Scenario 2: A guest (or staff ordering on their behalf) places the same order at 10:15 AM. The system still accepts it but displays a last-minute warning so staff know to expect a rushed turnaround.



How far in advance can guests place an order?

Max Days in Advance controls how far into the future a menu is orderable, e.g., "menus are available for order-taking up to 4 months in advance."

Default: varies significantly by client; hospitals tend to be short (days), while some institutional clients allow months.

Priority: organisation or location level in most cases. This tends to reflect how far ahead menus are planned across a client's operation, rather than a per-menu rule. (Note: to be confirmed with Lukas/Laure; this is not as explicitly documented at the code level as the other priority rules in this article.)

  • Scenario 1: A school sets this to match their published termly menu cycle (e.g., 12 weeks), so parents can't order further ahead than menus actually exist.
  • Scenario 2: A hospital sets this very short (a few days), since patient stays are short and menus for months ahead would be meaningless to show.



How do I limit how many items a guest can order per section?

Max Orders per Section caps how many dishes a guest can select within a single menu section (e.g., only 1 main course, but up to 2 sides).

Default: unlimited unless set.

Priority: menu-level, per section.

  • Scenario 1: A hospital limits "Mains" to 1 selection per tray, but leaves "Sides" uncapped.
  • Scenario 2: A hotel restaurant allows unlimited selections across all sections for an à la carte experience. The setting is simply left off.



How do I change the order meals appear in during the day?

Order of meal during the day is a position number that determines the sequence menus/services appear in on the ordering interface and reports (e.g., Breakfast = 4, Lunch = 5, Dinner = 6 in one client's configuration).

Default: sequential by service, following the natural meal order of the day.

Priority: menu-level, set independently for each menu/service, though special menus (allergens, supplements, extras) typically need to be positioned just before their corresponding standard diet menu.

  • Scenario 1: A standard day has Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner at positions 4, 5, 6 respectively, so they display in that order to guests and staff.
  • Scenario 2: A special "Gluten-Free Morning Tea" menu is inserted between Breakfast and Lunch, and its position number is set so it appears just before the standard Morning Tea diet menu rather than at the end of the list.