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Documentation

Everything you need to set up and get the most out of MenuCavas.

Getting Started

What is MenuCavas?

MenuCavas is a digital menu board platform built for restaurants. It lets you design menu screens on a full-HD canvas, push them to any smart TV using a 6-digit PIN, sync your menu in real time, and optionally build a full restaurant website — all from one dashboard.

Everything works through a browser — no apps to install on the TV, no HDMI cables, no IT support needed.

  • Design menu screens with a drag-and-drop builder
  • Stream to any smart TV browser using a PIN code
  • Update prices or items and see them live in under 2 seconds
  • Schedule different screens for breakfast, lunch, and dinner automatically
  • Build your restaurant website with AI assistance
  • Generate food photos and menu designs with AI

Quick setup (5 minutes)

Follow these four steps to go from sign-up to a live TV display.

1
Create a location
Go to Locations & TVs and click New Location. Give it a name (e.g. "Downtown Branch") and an optional address.
2
Add a TV
Inside your location, click New TV. Give it a name like "Main Display" or "Drive-Thru". A 6-digit PIN is generated automatically.
3
Design a screen
Go to the Menu Builder, select your TV, and click New Screen. Use the canvas to add menu items, text, images, and shapes. Click Save when done.
4
Go live
On your smart TV, open the browser and go to your display URL (shown on the TV card), or navigate to menucavas.com/menu/[your-slug]?tv=[pin]. Your menu appears instantly.
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You can also run the guided Setup Wizard from the dashboard — it walks through all four steps in one flow and takes about 2 minutes.

Going live on a TV

MenuCavas works on any device with a modern browser — smart TVs, Amazon Fire Sticks, Chromecast, Roku, tablets, or a spare laptop connected to a screen.

  • Samsung Smart TV — open the built-in browser app
  • LG Smart TV — open the web browser from the app store
  • Amazon Fire Stick — install Silk Browser or Firefox
  • Android TV / Google TV — use Chrome
  • Roku — install the browser channel
  • Any tablet or laptop — open Chrome, Firefox, or Edge

Navigate to your TV's display URL or type your PIN at menucavas.com/tv/[pin]. The screen will stay connected and refresh automatically when you publish changes.

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Keep the TV on a static or reserved IP if possible. The display runs entirely in the browser — no app installation on the TV is required.

Locations & TVs

Creating a location

Locations group your TVs by physical place — a branch, a food court stall, a catering venue, etc. You must create at least one location before you can add TVs.

Go to Locations & TVs → New Location. Enter a name and optional address. You can edit or delete a location at any time from the location header row.

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Deleting a location also deletes all TVs and screens inside it. This cannot be undone.

Adding a TV

Each TV represents one physical display. Inside a location, click New TV, choose the location, and give the TV a name. The system assigns a unique PIN automatically.

You can have multiple TVs per location and multiple screens per TV. Screens rotate on the TV based on the order or schedule you set.

TV PIN & display URL

Every TV has two ways to connect a browser to it:

  • PIN — a 6-digit code shown on the TV card. Click it to copy. Enter it on the TV at menucavas.com/tv/[pin]
  • Display URL — a full URL with your restaurant slug and TV ID. Click the URL button on the TV card to copy it.

Both point to the same live display. The PIN is easier to type on a TV remote; the full URL is easier to bookmark or set as the browser homepage.

Offline mode

MenuCavas caches your menu on the TV browser using a service worker. If your internet connection drops, the TV keeps showing the last published version — no blank screens.

When connectivity returns, the TV reconnects silently and pulls any changes you made during the outage. A small "offline" badge appears on screen during the outage so staff are aware.

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For maximum reliability, publish your menu before a busy service period. The cached version is always the last published state — drafts are not cached.

Menu Builder

Builder overview

The Menu Builder is a full-HD canvas (1920×1080 by default) where you design each screen visually. The interface has three main areas:

  • Left sidebar — element library (shapes, text, images, menu items, icons, etc.)
  • Canvas — the design area. Drag, resize, rotate, and style elements directly
  • Right panel — properties for the selected element (fill, stroke, font, animation, schedule, etc.)

The top toolbar lets you switch between screens, undo/redo, zoom, preview, and save/publish.

Adding elements

Click any element in the left sidebar to add it to the canvas, or drag it to a specific position. Elements are stacked in the order they are added — use the Layers panel to reorder them.

You can also double-click the canvas to add a text element at that position.

  • Text — headlines, body copy, labels
  • Menu Item — a linked item from your menu database (name, description, price)
  • Image — upload from your computer or paste a URL
  • Shape — rectangle, circle, triangle, star, arrow, polygon
  • Icon — searchable icon library (thousands of icons)
  • Divider — horizontal rule
  • QR Code — links to a URL
  • Video — YouTube or direct MP4 link
  • Timer — live clock or countdown
  • Badge — pill-shaped label (great for specials)

Text & images

Text: Double-click a text element to enter edit mode. The right panel gives you font family, size, weight, color (solid or gradient), letter spacing, line height, alignment, and text shadow.

Images: Click an image element and use the right panel to swap the image, adjust fit (Cover / Contain / Fill), set opacity, add a border radius, or apply a drop shadow.

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For best quality on a 1080p TV, upload images at least 1920px wide. JPEGs load faster than PNGs for photos.

Shapes & icons

Shapes support fill (solid color or gradient), stroke (border), corner radius (rectangles), and drop shadow. You can also animate any shape independently.

Icons are vector — they scale to any size without blurring. Adjust color and size from the right panel. Icons also support fill gradients.

Fill & stroke

The Fill & Stroke widget in the right panel uses a Photoshop-style interface — two overlapping squares:

  • Front square (top-left) = Fill. Click to toggle fill on/off. The square shows the current fill color. A hatched pattern means fill is off.
  • Back square (bottom-right) = Stroke. Click to toggle the border on/off. The square's border color shows the current stroke color.
  • Swap arrow — swaps the fill and stroke colors with each other
  • Reset icon — resets fill to indigo and removes the stroke

When fill is on, the Fill Type (Solid / Gradient) and Fill Color pickers appear below. When stroke is on, the Stroke Color and Stroke Width controls appear.

Animations

Every element can have an entrance animation. Select an element, go to the Anim tab in the right panel, and choose a preset:

  • Fade In, Slide In (from any direction), Zoom In, Bounce
  • Pulse, Float, Shake — looping animations for attention
  • Typewriter — reveals text character by character

Set Duration (how long the animation plays), Delay (how long to wait before it starts), and whether it loops or plays once.

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Keep entrance animations short (0.4–0.8s) for a professional look. Looping animations work well on a single hero element — using too many can look distracting on a restaurant display.

Groups & layers

Grouping: Select multiple elements (Shift+click or drag-select), then click Group in the toolbar. Grouped elements move and resize together. Click Ungroup to release them.

Layers: The Layers panel (bottom of the left sidebar) shows all elements in stacking order. Drag layers to reorder. Click the eye icon to hide an element without deleting it. Click the lock icon to prevent accidental edits.

Saving & publishing

MenuCavas has two separate actions:

  • Save — stores your current draft to the database. The TV does not update yet.
  • Publish — sends the layout to all connected TVs for this screen. Connected displays update within 2 seconds.

The builder auto-saves a local crash-recovery backup every 5 seconds when you have unsaved changes. If the browser closes unexpectedly, the next time you open that screen you'll be offered to restore from the backup.

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Always click Publish after saving to make changes visible on your TVs. Saving alone only updates the draft.

Menu Items is your central database of dishes, drinks, and other items. Changes here sync automatically to every screen that uses a Menu Item element and to your restaurant website.

You can browse items grouped by screen, by category, or as a flat list — use the view toggle at the top of the page.

Adding items

Go to Menu Items → Open Menu Builder and add a Menu Item element to the canvas. Each Menu Item element is linked to a database record with name, description, price, category, and image.

You can also bulk-edit items from the Menu Items page — click any cell in the table to edit it inline. Changes save automatically on blur.

  • Name — the dish name as it appears on screen
  • Description — optional short description
  • Price — formatted automatically (e.g. $12.00)
  • Category — used for grouping on screen and on your website
  • Image — upload a photo or use AI to generate one
  • Visible — toggle to show or hide an item across all screens

Categories

Categories group your items (e.g. Starters, Mains, Desserts, Drinks). Create a category from the Menu Items page using the + Category button. Drag categories to reorder them.

Categories appear on your restaurant website automatically when you have a website plan.

Hiding items

Use the eye icon on any item row to hide it across all screens instantly — useful for sold-out items or seasonal dishes. Hidden items are greyed out in the builder but remain in the database.

For time-based visibility (e.g. show this item only during lunch hours), use Scheduled Specials in the builder instead.

Scheduling

How scheduling works

The Schedule page lets you configure time slots per TV. A time slot says: "Between 11am and 3pm on weekdays, show the Lunch Menu screen." The TV switches screens automatically — no manual intervention.

Scheduling is available on Starter plans and above.

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Each TV must have at least one screen added in the builder before you can create a time slot for it. The "Add Time Slot" button is disabled until screens exist.

Adding a time slot

1
Go to Schedule
Navigate to the Schedule page from the sidebar.
2
Find your TV
Locations and their TVs are listed. Expand a TV and click Add Time Slot.
3
Configure the slot
Set the From and To times, choose which screen to show, and select the days of the week it applies.
4
Enable it
Toggle the switch on the left of the slot to activate it. A LIVE NOW badge appears when the slot is currently active.
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You can have multiple overlapping time slots. The most recently created active slot takes priority if times overlap.

Scheduled specials

In addition to switching whole screens, you can show or hide individual elements on a schedule. In the builder, select any element, go to the Schedule tab in the right panel, and set the days and hours it should be visible.

This is useful for "Today's Special" banners, happy hour pricing, or breakfast items that should disappear at 11am — all on the same screen without creating separate screens.

Slideshows

Overview

Slideshows are reusable image presentations that you can assign to intermission screens. They play between your menu screens on a timer you control. Use them to show promos, specials, events, or brand photography.

Slideshows are available as an add-on ($10/mo) on any plan.

Creating a slideshow

1
Go to Slideshows
Click Slideshows in the sidebar and click New Slideshow.
2
Choose a theme
Pick from themes like Classic Fade, Bold Cut, Soft Zoom, and more. Each theme controls transition style and text overlay look.
3
Add slides
Inside the slideshow editor, upload images or choose from your media library. Set each slide's duration and optional overlay text.
4
Assign to a screen
In the builder, add an Intermission Screen type and select your slideshow from the dropdown.

Intermission screens

An intermission screen is a special screen type that plays between your regular menu screens. Add one from the builder by clicking + New Screen → Intermission.

Assign a slideshow or a YouTube video to the intermission screen, then set how many seconds it plays before switching back to the menu. The TV cycles through all active screens automatically.

Website Builder

Overview

The Website Builder creates a full restaurant website that's automatically populated with your menu items, categories, and restaurant details. It includes sections for your menu, photo gallery, about, testimonials, and reservations.

The website is included on Starter Bundle, Growth Bundle, and Pro Bundle plans.

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Your menu items sync automatically to the website — update a price in the builder and it updates on your website too, with no extra steps.

AI website generator

Click Generate with AI in the Website Builder to have AI produce a complete website design based on your restaurant name, cuisine type, and a short description. The AI picks colors, fonts, hero copy, and layout.

After generating, you can edit any section manually. Regenerate as many times as you like — previous versions are not saved automatically, so save your favorite before generating again.

AI Tools

AI Menu Designer

The AI Menu Designer generates complete menu board layouts from a text description. Describe your restaurant (cuisine, vibe, colors) and AI produces two full-screen designs with layouts, fonts, colors, and placeholder food photos.

Available on Growth and Pro plans (and their bundles). Access it from Builder → AI Design in the left sidebar.

  • Choose one of two generated designs as your starting point
  • All elements are fully editable after generation
  • Your existing menu items are populated automatically into the design
  • Re-generate as many times as you like

AI Food Photo Generator

No food photography? No problem. Describe a dish and AI generates a high-resolution, photorealistic image you can use directly on your menu board or website.

Available as an add-on ($12/mo) on any plan. Access it from the image panel inside the builder or from a Menu Item's image field.

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Be specific in your prompt — include the dish name, key ingredients, plating style, and background (e.g. "A gourmet smash burger with caramelized onions and melted cheddar, on a wooden board, dark moody restaurant background").

Account & Billing

Plans & limits

MenuCavas has four plan tiers, each with TV, screen, and location limits:

PlanTVsScreens / TVSchedulingAI DesignerWebsite
Starter21✓✕✕
Growth33✓✓✕
Pro8Unlimited✓✓✕
Starter Bundle21✓✕✓
Growth Bundle33✓✓✓
Pro Bundle8Unlimited✓✓✓

All plans include a 14-day free trial with full Pro access. No credit card required to start.

Add-ons

Add-ons can be added to any plan from the Billing page:

  • Extra TV — $10/mo per additional TV beyond your plan limit
  • AI Food Photo Generator — $12/mo, unlimited generations
  • Slideshow — $10/mo, unlimited slideshows
  • Extra Location — $25/mo per additional location

Restaurant profile

Go to Profile to update your restaurant name, logo, and contact details. Your logo appears on your website and in certain builder templates.

To upload a logo: paste an image URL in the Logo field, or click Upload image to choose a file from your computer. Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP. Recommended size: at least 400×400px.

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Your display URL slug (shown in Profile) is auto-generated from your restaurant name and cannot be changed manually. Contact support if you need it updated.