Managing a Third-party POS Menu

Overview

Once an integrated third-party menu has been imported to the Otter Dashboard, you can:

Enable Auto Menu Sync & Publish
Manually sync updates from an integrated third-party POS to Otter
Add new locations to an imported menu

Automated Menu Sync & Publish

The Automatic Menu Sync and Automatic Menu Publish feature can be enabled for stress-free menu maintenance. This will ensure all menu changes made from your third-party POS will be updated within Otter.

Auto Menu Sync Settings:

From the menu Settings > Menu Sync, you can enable/disable and configure:

Automatic Menu Updates to sync from your POS
Automatic Menu Publish to publish any menu changes to all or certain delivery platforms and/or locations

Menu information & Menu structure:

For automatic updates, you're able to select what information is automatically synced with Otter from your third-party POS. Keep in mind, if you make an update for a category listed above for Menu Information or Menu structure that is not selected— you will need to manually update that from the Otter Dashboard.

Auto Sync Updating Timeframe

When Auto Sync is turned on, chosen information will update or publish about every 6 hours for selected locations and channels.

Re-sync Existing Imported Menu

If changes are made to a menu on your third-party POS, if Auto Sync is turned on, those changes will be updated within 6 hours. However, if you need those changes immediately, do not have Auto Sync turned on for a category changed, or do not have Auto Sync turned on at all— you can manually push an update from the Otter Dashboard to sync those menu edits with Otter and delivery partner platforms.

Steps to re-sync an existing menu in the Otter Dashboard

Step	Process	Image
1	Click on Apps > Menu from the Otter Dashboard.
2	Select the menu needing updated.
3	Click [Manage POS links].
4	Click [Check for POS updates].
5	Optional You can click [View POS menu] to view the last synced menu structure with Otter.
6	Otter will flag when menu changes are detected but not synced between the third-party POS and Otter. Click [Review updates] from the banner notification, or [View POS updates] to check the differences.
7	Discrepancies detected and update type will be listed. Click on [Details] for a listed item to view more information.
8	Select which changes you'd like to apply with the menu in Otter. Click [Apply updates to Otter] to sync.
9	If there are POS updates that do not need to be applied to the Otter menu, but still show in the list of updates, you can “hide” those updates. Select all the updates that do not need to be applied to the Otter menu and click on [Skip Updates]. This will move those updates from the current view to the View skipped updates. To restore and apply skipped updates, select [View skipped updates] and select the updates you want to restore and then click [Apply updates to Otter].	Skip updates View and apply skipped updates
10	Click [Publish] from Menu page to apply menu to delivery channels.

Update Types

When reviewing the menu updates detected that are not synced between your POS and Otter menus— an update type will be listed for you to quickly identify what kind of change was made.

Update Types:

Update Type	Description	Example
New Entity	A new menu, category, item, modifier group, or modifier option was created in the POS.	The item “Cheeseburger” was added in the POS but it is not yet synced in Otter. When the update is applied, the item “Cheeseburger“ will be created in the Otter menu.
Deleted Entity	A menu, category, item, modifier group, or modifier option is deleted in the POS.	The item “Cheeseburger” was removed from the POS but is not yet synced in Otter. When the update is applied, the item “Cheeseburger“ will be deleted from the Otter menu.
Price	An item price in Otter is different than an item price in the POS.	The item “Cheeseburger” price is $6.50 in the POS. However, in the Otter menu, the item “Cheeseburger“ has a price value of 6$. When the update is applied, the Otter menu price of the item “Cheeseburger“ will be adjusted to $6.50.
Name	An entity name in Otter is different than the item price in the POS.	In the POS, a Category is named “Dessert & More.” In Otter, that Category is named “Dessert.” When the update is applied, the Otter category name will be “Dessert & More.”
Description	A description in Otter is different than the item price in the POS.	The item “Cheeseburger” has the Description, “Burger bun with beef meat and melted cheddar,” in the POS. In Otter, the same item has an empty description. When the update is applied, the Otter “Cheeseburger” item will get the description updated to be, “Burger bun with beef meat and melted cheddar.”
Availability	An item availability in Otter is different than the item price in the POS.	In the POS, the item “Cheeseburger” is not available for location A, but it is available for locations B and C. In Otter, that item is available for all locations A, B, and C. When the update is applied, the Otter item “Cheeseburger“ will be 86ed from location A.
Hours	The menu hours in Otter are different than the menu hours in the POS.	The POS hours are set to have the store Open Mon-Fri from 9am to 6pm. In Otter, the hours are set Tues-Sat from 9am to 6pm. When the update is applied, the Otter menu hours will be updated to be Mon-Fri from 9am to 6pm.
Assignment	An entity in Otter is assigned to a location different from the one it is assigned in the POS.	In the POS, the “Dessert & More” Category is assigned to locations A and B. In Otter, this category is assigned only to Location A. When the update is applied, the Category “Dessert & More” in Otter will be added to the Location B menu as well.
Arrangement	An entity is sorted/listed differently in Otter from the POS.	In the POS, the “Dessert & More” category is listed after* the “Drinks” category. In Otter, this category appears listed before the “Drinks” category.* When the update is applied, the category “Dessert & More” in Otter will come after the “Drinks” category.
Organization	An entity in Otter has a different parent/child than the POS.	In the POS, the modifier group “Sides” contains items: Salad, Chips, Fries, and Fried Veggies. In Otter the modifier group “Sides” contains items: Salad, Chips, and Fries. When the update is applied, the modifier group “Sides” in Otter will contain the items: Salad, Chips, Fries, and Fried Veggies.
Modifier Group Rules	The modifier group settings in Otter (for example, modifier group is optional vs mandatory) are different from the POS.	In the POS, the modifier group “Sides” is set to be mandatory. In Otter, it is marked as optional. When the update is applied, the modifier group “Sides” in Otter will become mandatory.

Unlinked Item Error Message

Otter will flag when there is a menu issue detected that can cause order injection failures with your POS.

If you see a red banner stating an issue with unlinked items— this means that one or more Otter menu items lost the connection with the related POS item ID.

Follow the steps below to fix this unlinked item issue:

Steps to fix Unlinked Item Error Message:

Step	Process	Image
1	Filter menu for Unlinked items.
2	Expand the dropdown box for unlinked items and select the correct item ID. Once you have selected the correct item ID, you can continue with syncing and publishing your menu. If the item ID is not listed in the drop-down, follow the steps to re-sync the menu. Once the menu re-sync is complete, try these steps to fix the unlinked item error again.

Adding New Locations to Imported Menu

Once a menu has been imported from a third-party POS, a new location's POS can be added to a menu assignment from the Otter Dashboard.

Steps to add a new location to an imported menu from Otter Dashboard

Step	Process	Image
1	From the selected Menu Overview page, click on the menu settings (gear icon).
2	Under Locations, click Edit.
3	Select location(s) and click [Update].
4	From Menu Overview page, click [Manage POS links].
5	Click [Check for POS updates]. Wait for process to run, indicated by the spinning icon.
6	Click [Review updates].
7	Select the updates to apply.
8	Click [Apply updates to Otter].

FAQs

Yes, you can view and retrieve skipped updates.

Before doing that, please make sure to import the latest version of the menu from the POS by clicking on [Check for POS updates].

By doing this, you will erase any Skipped Updates not present in the POS menu anymore.

To restore and apply skipped updates, go to [View Skipped Updates], select the updates you want to restore, and then click [Apply updates to the Otter].

Still need help? Reach out to our team:

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Updated February 20, 2025 22:13