In October 2022 an update of the meals module went live. Much of the module will visually look very similar to how you remember it, with the addition of a couple of new features. However the fundamental way in which we process and store the meals data has been vastly improved; making the system incredibly robust in dealing with conflicting allocations and enabling changes to be saved effectively in times of high usage. Here is a summary of the key changes.

The way that meals data is now stored in the system is fundamentally different and therefore far more robust. You may not be able to visually notice this change, however it is by far the most significant improvement we have made.

Event admins now have access to add or remove dietary requirement options. The default options also include the comprehensive government guidelines list of allergens. Admins now have the option to add custom dietary requirements themselves.

As well as being able to specify meals on an individual basis, each section; whether an area, sub-area or group can now create ‘single use tokens’. This means batches of tokens per meal sitting can be created, eg. 5 x Friday Breakfast, 5 x Friday Lunch, which can then be printed and distributed on site as an alternative to specified meals linking to individuals. Token allocations are linked to their section and therefore when those tokens are redeemed, redemptions also link back to the section.

4.Meals import - now works event-wide

For event admins, there is the option to Import meals in a grid. Before, you could do an import per section, but now we have changed it so that you can import meals across your event in one swoop!

5. More automation and smoother user experience

A number of smaller changes have been made to improve the overall experience. Here are some examples but please note this is not an exhaustive list.

-Canteen limits are automatically filled out when creating a new meal type or canteen.

-When creating a new canteen, Breakfast Lunch and Dinner are automatically created too

-Meals grid now separates First & Last name into their own columns

-Clearer wording in error messages for example if section limit of meals is reached

-Specify meals pop up window has more information displayed, and now also has the option to select dietary requirements