> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.now-os.app/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Taking orders > Browse the menu, add items, pick modifiers, switch between dine-in and takeaway, then send to the kitchen. This is the core of the job: adding items to an order and moving it forward. This page covers both restaurant mode and retail mode — the flow differs in a few places, called out as you go. For the difference between the two modes, see [modes](/en/modes). ## The selling screen The selling screen is split in two: * **On the left**: the menu grid (the **Menu** tab in restaurant mode, **Catalog** in retail mode). The buttons and their layout are configured in the backoffice — see [POS layout](/en/backoffice/pos-layout). * **On the right**: the check for the current order — every item you add appears as an order line, with the total at the bottom. ## Browsing the menu * If several menus are set up (for example **Lunch** and **Dinner**), the title at the top left shows a chevron: tap it to pick which menu to show. The register switches fully to the chosen menu. * Tap a category button to open its sub-screen. The back arrow at the top left goes up one level; tapping the **Menu** tab at the bottom again jumps straight back to the root screen. * The search bar at the top finds any item by name, wherever it lives in the menu. * In retail mode, a scan button next to the search opens the camera: scan a product's barcode to add it straight to the cart. If the device can't reach the main register, item buttons are temporarily disabled — you can still browse the menu, but not change an order. See [connectivity](/en/pos/connectivity). ## Adding items Tap an item in the grid: it is added to the current order. If there is no order in progress, a new one starts automatically. You can also tap **New order** in the right panel. A badge on the item tile shows how many are already in the order. If the item has modifiers (size, cooking, extras…), a choice screen opens before the item is added — see below. On every unsent line, the **− / +** stepper adjusts the quantity (minimum 1\). To remove the line, swipe it to the left and tap **Delete**. ## Modifiers When an item has modifiers, the choice screen opens full screen: * The choice groups are listed on the right. A group marked **Required** must be completed before the item can be added; an **Optional** group can stay empty. * Tap an option to select it. Options with a surcharge show their price (for example **+0.50**). * The quantity stepper at the bottom adds several at once, all configured the same way. * Tap **Add to check** to confirm. The button shows the total of the chosen surcharges. Modifiers are configured in the backoffice — see [modifiers and combos](/en/backoffice/modifiers-combos). ## Dine-in or takeaway Restaurant mode only. In retail mode, orders have no type. Two ways, depending on when you find out the order is leaving. **You know up front.** In the **Orders** tab, tap the chevron beside **New order** and pick **Takeaway order**: the order starts already typed. Prefer this at the counter — nothing to correct afterwards, and the tax is right from the first item. **You find out along the way.** Tap the **Dine-in** / **Takeaway** chip at the top of the right panel: each tap switches between the two. You can change while the order is open — the register recomputes taxes if they differ by type. Switching is refused in two cases. **A payment has already been taken**: the type drives the tax rate, so it cannot move under money already taken. Reverse the payment first. **The order is seated at a table**: a takeaway order holds no table, and switching would hand the table back to the floor plan with the guests still on it. Release the table first — **Actions** tab → **Release the table** — then change the type. If items have **already gone to the kitchen** when you change the type, the register automatically sends a **change** ticket to the stations involved: it states the new type and is marked **Do not remake**. The kitchen knows to bag instead of plate, without cooking anything twice. ## Finding takeaway orders Below the tabs, a filter bar: * the **search** field finds an order by its number (`42` or `#42`) or by the pickup name; * the **Takeaway** chip keeps counter orders only. Tap it again to go back to the full list. In the table, a **Type** column separates dine-in from takeaway at a glance. ## Pickup name A takeaway order has no table to identify it. Give it a name: in the order's **Actions** tab, **Pickup name** — a first name, a party name, a pager number. The name then shows at the top of the order panel, in the **Guest** column of the orders list, and **prints large on the preparation ticket** — it is what the station writes on the bag and what you call out at the counter. The pickup name is service information: it appears neither on the receipt nor on the invoice. ## Sending to the kitchen Restaurant mode only. If **coursing** is on, sending happens course by course (starters, mains, desserts) instead of all at once, and the panel is grouped by course. See [coursing](/en/pos/coursing). In the right panel, lines are grouped in two sections: * **PENDING**: items not sent yet. They stay editable (quantity, removal). * **SENT**: items already gone to the kitchen, with the time they were sent. The **Send** button at the bottom of the panel sends every pending item to the kitchen, then brings you back to [the orders list](/en/pos/orders-list) — or to [the floor plan](/en/pos/tables) if the order is at a table. When there is nothing to send, the button reads **Done**. Reopen the order from the list — or from its table on the floor plan — to add more items, then tap **Send** again. Only the new items go to the kitchen. Once the order is sent, the **Menu** tab starts over: coming back to it shows an empty register, ready for the next order. Reopening an order that was already sent is always explicit — from its table or from the orders list. **Pending** items, on the other hand — the ones not sent yet — are kept: you can glance at the floor plan and come back to the check you were ringing up. On a line that was already sent: * Swipe right and tap **Repeat** to add the same line again (same modifiers). * Swipe left and tap **Void** to cancel it — the kitchen already received it, so the void is tracked. See [order actions](/en/pos/order-actions). The **Pay** and **Split** buttons unlock as soon as at least one line has been sent: in a restaurant, items go to the kitchen before they are billed. See [payments](/en/pos/payments). ## The Guest tab Restaurant mode only. At the top of the right panel, the **Guest** tab gathers what the reservations provider (for example EatNow) knows about the order's guest. What you see depends on the order: * **Linked to a booking with a guest card** — the read-only **profile**: contact, the guest's allergies and note, visit history, tags and stats (visits, average spend, no-shows). Guest details are **managed in the provider**; the register only shows them. It is the same profile you open from [the floor plan](/en/pos/tables). * **Linked to a booking with no guest card** — the booking context: name, covers, time, table and the staff **internal note**. * **Walk-in with no booking** — the tab is empty. If the service still has reservations left to seat, a **Link to a booking** button attaches the order to one of them — handy when you realise after the fact that a party had booked. ## In retail mode The flow is shorter: no sending to the kitchen. * The right panel is the **Cart**: a single flat list of items, with the same gestures (**− / +** stepper, swipe for **Delete**). * Add items by tapping the **Catalog** grid or by scanning their barcodes. * Tap **Pay** (the button shows the total) to charge right away. See [payments](/en/pos/payments). The first payment of the day triggers [start of day](/en/pos/start-of-day) if it hasn't been done yet.