September 29th 2022, RME | Menu Cycles: Add Recipes and Menus to Published Menu Cycles, Copy Past Date Meal Periods, Report Refinements – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Summary

Select the release feature from the table below to be taken directly to that section of the release note.

Feature 1

Feature 2

Feature 3

Add Recipes and Menus to Published Menu Cycles

Central users with the required permission can add recipes and menus to published menu cycles.

Copy Meal Periods from Past Dates

Meal periods on past dates can now be copied to future dates.

Report Refinements

Three reports have had minor display adjustments.

Release date for all features: September 29th 2022

Add Recipes and Menus to Published Menu Cycles

Enabled by Default? - No
Set up by customer Admin? - Yes
Enable via Support ticket? - No
Affects configuration or data? - No
Roles Affected: - Central users who select updates for local menu cycles

What's Changing?

This functionality will allow the updating of published menu cycles without the need to unpublish, copy and republish the menu cycle for which an update is required.

Reason for the Change

Increases efficiency; saves time for Central users by simplifying the update process. Saves additional 'planning data' entry time for Local users as well.

Customers Affected

Optional. Available to all organisations using the Menu Cycles app.

Release Note Info/Steps

Configuration

Central users require 'Update MC' permission to be enabled within one of their RME user groups to have access to the new functionality. Once this permission is enabled, the Central user can access the Update MC tab.

Path

Log in as a Central user
Select a published menu cycle
Check the menu cycle dates to ensure it is still active for the locations requiring an update (i.e., that the 'end date' for the location(s) is not in the past).
Select Mass Update

Fig.1 - 'Mass Update' option

The 'Select Destinations' pop-up will then display. This relates to the Update Price functionality.

Select Cancel and the pop-up will disappear
Then select Update MC and use the Search bar to find the required recipes or menus to include in the update

Search results will include recipes and menus that are available to the RME Group that was used to create the selected menu cycle. The example shown below in Fig.2 is for the menu cycle 'Summer Nights 2022'.

Items in the search results that are already added to the menu cycle will have a green tick mark against them

Add recipes and/or menus to the menu cycle by selecting + Add next to them

When an item is added, the row will turn blue.

To deselect an item, use the X button next to it
To deselect all items, use the Discard button at the bottom right corner
When all items for the update are selected, select Review from the bottom right corner (or use the Review now button near the top)

Fig.2 - Searching and selecting on the 'Update MC' tab

On the Review screen (Fig.3), make sure that the selected updates are correct and then transmit them to the local menu cycle by selecting Publish

Fig.3 - Update MC, Review screen. Publish button will transmit updates to locations.

Updates will be transmitted to all menu cycles at all locations to which the selected menu cycle (e.g. Summer Nights 2022) has been previously published.

Local menu cycle 'Update' indicator and list of new items

When updates have been transmitted to a location, all of the local menu cycles will display an active 'Updated' indicator on the local menu cycle calendar screen.

Local menu cycles with end dates in the past will display an active 'Updated' button but the local menu cycle will not have its end date extended via this workflow.

To see the date and time of the most recent update, hover over this button
To see the list of updated items (newly added via the Update MC workflow), select Updated

Fig.4 - Hovering over and selecting the 'Updated' button

The list of updated items will display the most recent additions first.

If there are more items in the list than can be displayed on a single page, a scroll bar will enable users to load more items.

Fig. 5 - Local menu cycle list of items sent in the update from 26/09/2022

Newly available menu cycle items can then be searched for and added to calendar meal periods for the current or future dates.

Fig. 6 - New 'update' items can be added to future dates

Additional Notes

Update MC tab

The Update MC tab is only active when the menu cycle is in a 'Published' state. It will not be active when the menu cycle is 'new' (not yet published), 'unpublished', 'archived' or 'locked'. If a Central user does not have permission to 'Update MC', the Update MC page will not function for them.

Searching

Search matches on names for: stand-alone recipes, a la carte menus, buffet menus, and recipe categories. Search results will be ordered alphabetically by name with recipes listed first, then menus.

Update MC, History tab

The History tab is always visible and enabled for the Central user. If the menu cycle has never been updated, the search on the History tab will return no results.

The order of results on the History tab is by most recent update date then alphabetically by name. Recipes will be displayed first, then menus.

Additional Resources

April 19th 2022, Release Note: RME | Menu Cycles: Extend End Date of Published Menu Cycle