A simple, step-by-step guide to getting your digital menu and ordering ready
This guide is written in plain language. Follow the sections in order — by the end, your customers will be able to scan, browse your menu, and place orders that land straight on your kitchen screen. You don't need to be technical. If a step doesn't apply to you, skip it.
Your customers get a digital menu they open on their phone. Depending on what you switch on, they can order in three ways:
You can turn on any combination of these. Now let's set them up.
This is the foundation — your food and drinks, with prices. Everything else sits on top of it.
Step 1. Open "Menu Editor" from your dashboard menu.
Step 2. Create your categories — for example Starters, Rice Dishes, Drinks.
Step 3. Add your items under each category. For each item, enter its name, a short description (optional), and the price.
Step 4. Set the order of your sections if you want Starters to show before Mains, etc. On a phone you can use the up/down arrows to reorder.
Photos make your menu look like a proper food app and sell more.
Step 1. Go to Ordering and scroll down to the "Menu photos" section.
Step 2. Tap a photo for any item — pick from your phone. It uploads on its own; there's no separate save button.
Until you switch ordering on, your link shows a menu people can look at but not order from.
Step 1. Open the "Ordering" page from your dashboard.
Step 2. Switch ordering ON. Your menu link now becomes a live ordering menu with an "add" button on each item and a cart.
This controls when customers can place orders. Outside your hours they can still look at the menu, but they can't order — so nothing lands in your kitchen when you're closed.
Step 1. Open the "Ordering" page and find the "Opening hours" section.
Step 2. Set an open and close time for each day. Every day is separate, so you can have different hours on weekends.
Step 3. Mark any day you don't open as "Closed" — for example if you're shut on Mondays.
Step 4. Tap "Save hours".
When you're closed, customers see a friendly note telling them the next day and time you reopen.
Separate from your weekly hours, "Pause orders" lets you stop taking orders right now, e.g. for a public holiday, when you're fully booked, or if you've run out. Use this instead of changing your hours for a one-off.
Step 1. Tick "Pause orders now".
Step 2. Set the date and time you'll reopen (required). Customers see exactly when to come back.
Step 3. Save. Orders resume automatically when that time arrives, or untick and save to resume early.
Dine In lets guests order from their table. For security, a guest can only order Dine In by scanning the QR code you place on their specific table, they can't order Dine In from home. Each table gets its own code.
Step 1. Make sure "Dine In" is ON on the Ordering page.
Step 2. Open "Table QR Codes" from your dashboard.
Step 3. Add your tables. Type your table names one per line — for example 1, 2, 3. If you're a hotel, you can use room numbers like Room 101, Room 102. There's a quick "fill a number range" helper if you have many.
Step 4. Tap "Add QR codes". One QR code is created for each table or room as the case may be.
Step 5. Download and print each code and place it on the matching table (a small table stand or sticker works well).
How it works for the guest: they scan the code on their table, your menu opens already locked to that table, they add items and send to the kitchen. No typing a table number, no mistakes.
Pickup lets customers order ahead, pay by transfer, and collect in person. It's off until you switch it on.
Step 1. On the Ordering page, find the "Pickup" section and turn it ON.
Step 2. Make sure your bank transfer details are set (see section 7) — customers pay before you prepare the order.
How it works: the customer orders, enters their name and phone number, transfers the money, and uploads their receipt. They get a 4-digit collection code on screen. On your kitchen screen you confirm the payment, prepare the order, and when they arrive and show the code, you tap "Mark collected".
Delivery lets customers order to their address and pay by transfer. You set the areas you deliver to and the fee for each.
Step 1. Open the "Ordering" page and find "Home Delivery zones".
Step 2. Add a zone: give it a name (for example "Anywhere in Tanke") and a delivery fee.
Step 3. Add as many zones as you need, each with its own fee. Tap "Save zones".
How it works: the customer picks their zone (the fee is added automatically), enters their address, transfers the money, and uploads their receipt. On your kitchen screen you confirm the payment, prepare it, then mark it dispatched when it goes out.
Pickup and Delivery are pay-before, so customers need your account to transfer to. Add one or more accounts and each shows at checkout with a "copy" button.
Step 1. Find the "payment accounts" section in your profile settings, or simply add it on the "Menu" page.
Step 2. Enter your bank name, account name, and account number. You can add more than one so customers have options.
The board is where live orders appear. Open it on a phone or tablet in your kitchen and keep it on, it plays a sound on every new order.
Step 1. Open the "Ordering" page and find "Kitchen board link".
Step 2. Open that link on the device your staff will watch (a tablet or spare phone at the kitchen). It needs no login.
Step 3. Tap once to turn on the sound so you hear the alarm when orders arrive.
Step 4. Install it as an app (highly recommended) — tap "Install app" / "Add to Home Screen" so it opens full-screen like a real app.
Open "Styling & Template" page to set how your menu looks. Your choices here apply everywhere across your menu.
Use "Preview Menu" to see exactly what your customers will see before you finish.
Your menu lives at your own link (chow58.com/yourrestaurantsname). Share it with customers however suits you:
Before you tell customers, make sure you've done the parts that apply to you:
Need help? Reach out to The NFC HQ support on WhatsApp — 08107207225 and we'll walk you through anything.