Setting up order templates

Setting up order templates

This article shows you how to get started with our EposNow Order Templates App

Watch The Demo

Watch the video demonstrating how to use the Slynk dashboard and the app on Epos Now.


Get Started

Create your account on Slynk and make sure you have an active subscription to our Epos Now Order Templates service.

Ensure that you have our app installed in your Epos Now System. If it is not yet installed, please request installation from Epos Now.

Once your Slynk service is active and the app is installed in Epos Now, we are ready to link the two systems.

Link Epos Now & Slynk

Please note that this step happens automatically once you have installed our app, but just in case you need to set the app up on another location, then this may be useful.
  1. Login to your Slynk account and select your order templates app from the list
  2. Select templates, and then click on manage templates, this will open a new page
  3. Select API from the navigation menu

  1. Copy your Slynk API Key (highlighted)
  2. Login to the Epos Now Till (Our app only works with the Athena version of the Epos Now Till Software)
  3. From the menu (top left of the screen) select Settings
  4. Select Action Buttons and set the toggle switch for Order Templates to ON

  1. Go back to the till main screen and then select the Order Templates button from the action buttons at the bottom right of the till.
PRO TIP: Enable the 2 rows of action buttons to have even easier access to our action button
  1. If this is the first time you are running our app, you will be taken directly to the Settings screen. If you are not automatically redirected, select Settings from the menu (top right of your screen).

  1. Enter your Slynk API key and click on Save
  2. Slynk and Epos Now are now linked and we are ready to start creating templates

Manage Templates

We are now ready to start creating your templates.

Login to your Slynk dashboard and open the order templates app. 

Select Manage Templates from the menu on the left hand side of the screen.

The image below shows the main screen of the Order Templates app.



1. Active Templates Count
Shows how many active templates you have used in your subscription.

You can have as many templates as you like in your account, but only a certain number of active/published templates to use within Epos Now depending on your subscription plan.

2. My Templates
Shows a list of all the templates in your account.

3. Template Title
The name of your template. This is the name that the template is referred to as in Epos Now, so choose the name carefully so that it is easily identified. Clicking on the title will open this template for editing.

4. Template Status
This shows whether the template is in draft of published status

5. Template Creation Date
This shows the date and time when the template was created

6. Template Updated Date
This shows the date and time when the template was last updated

7. Default Template
This shows whether the template is the default template. You can only have one default template. Click on the star icon to set a template as the default. This is used in conjunction with the Default Action Button Setting (see 10)

8. Duplicate Template
You can create a duplicate of an existing template by clicking this icon.

9. Delete Template
Click on this icon to delete the template. Please be careful with this function as deleted templates cannot be recovered.

10. Default Action Button Setting
When the action button is pressed on the till, this setting defines what happens. There are three options:

a. Show order list
This will show a list of the 5 most recent orders on the till

b. Select template with last order
Automatically select the last order on this till and allow the user to select one of the active templates to print. This is useful when you have multiple active templates.

c. Print last order with default template
Automatically select the last order on this till and print the default template

11. Create New Template
Click on the + icon to create a new template. You can pick a starter template from our gallery, or start with a blank canvas.

Add a Template

1. Add New Template
Click on the blue plus button at the bottom right of the main screen. This will open up the add template screen.



2. Select Starting Point
You can choose to start with a completely blank canvas, or choose one of the ready made templates to use as a starting point. Click on the image to view a preview of the template, or click on USE TEMPLATE to create your template.

3. Edit Template
You can now start customising your template.

Edit Template

On the edit screen, the template content is defined, the layout is setup and  a preview using live data from EposNow can be viewed.



1. Content & Settings Main Tab
This tab has all the settings for defining the size and content of the template.

2. Layout Main Tab
This tab has the layout editor. It is used to position all the elements on the template.

3. Preview Main Tab
Once the content and layout is defined, this tab can be used to load your template with live data from Epos Now so that you can preview what the template will look like.

Content & Settings

The content and settings tab has all the settings for defining the size and content of the template.
Please note that if you are creating the template for the first time, or if you have added/deleted some content, then you must save before the elements are updated in the layout editor.



1. Document Settings
Define the paper size, spacing and template status

2. Fonts & Colours
Define the fonts and colours to use in the template

3. Table Styling
Define the styling of any tables used in your template

4. Text Fields
Set the content of any text fields used in your template

5. Image Fields
Set the content of any image fields used in your template

6. Epos Now Fields
Define which Epos Now fields you would like to use in your template

7. Spacers
Define any spacers that you would like to use in your template

8. Footer
Define the content of the footer. Please note that for ‘standard’ document types, the footer is only shown at the bottom of the first page. For ‘ticket’ document types, the footer is shown at the bottom of each ticket.

Document Settings





1. Status
Set the status to published when you are ready to make your template available for use in the Epos Now system. Leave it in draft status if you would like to continue working on the template without making it available to Epos Now yet.

2. Type
If you would like to create one page per order item, then select ticket as the type. If you have 3 items in the order, then 3 pages will be printed out for this template.
For all other fields, see the image above showing each setting visually.

Please note that it is very important to set the Paper Width and Height accurately for the paper type you will be printing on in order for the elements to be positioned correctly. In your printer settings, please set the margins to Zero as the paper margins set in our template will then be used correctly.

Fonts & Colours

You can set the fonts and colours to be used in your template.

Slynk utilises the open source Google Fonts library. To view the font styles available click here. To request a font style to be added to our list, please send an email to help@slynk.io.



1. Font Style
Select the Google font to use for headings and for the body (any text on the document which is not a heading)

2. Font Size
Set the size of the font for the body and each heading type

3. Font Colour
Set the colour of the font for the body and each heading type.

Table Styling



1. Font Size
The font size to be used for the text in the table including the table header

2. Cell Spacing Vertical
The space above and below the text in each cell of the table

3. Cell Spacing Horizontal
The space to the left and right of the text in each cell of the table

4. Header Background Colour
The background colour to be used for the table header

5. Header Text Colour
The colour of the text to use for the table header

6. Row Text Colour
The colour of the text for each row

7. Alt Row Background Colour
Alternate rows (every second row) can have a different background colour to allow for easy identification of each row

8. Alt Row Text Colour
Alternate rows (every second row) can have a different text colour to allow for easy identification of each row.

Text Fields

You can add as many text fields as you like.



1. ID
This is an internal identifier that is automatically generated and cannot be edited.

2. Identifier
Set the name for your text element here. This is used to identify this text element in the layout editor. This is only used for identification in the layout editor so you can set it to whatever you need, it will not be printed on the template.

3. Content
Type in the content for your text field. You can set the text as bold/italic, change the alignment of the text and set the colour of the text using the controls in the content area. Be careful when pasting text here especially when copying from your browser or Word, it is best to paste it into notepad or any other text editor first, and then copy and paste into this content area.

4. Text Style
Highlight the text for which you wish to change the font style and then use this dropdown to set the text style for the selected text. This will then use the font, size and colour defined in the Fonts & Colours tab. The colour can be set specifically for this text content using the text colour control in the content area.


Image Fields

You can add as many images to your template as you wish.



1. Image Preview
A preview of the image is shown here. To replace an existing image, click on the image and you will then be able to select another image

2. Add Image
Click to add a new image to your template. You will be able to choose from images you have already uploaded, or upload a new image

3. Alignment
Set how the image should be aligned

Epos Now Fields

You have access to a wide variety of the Epos Now fields related to an order. You can add as many of these fields into your template as required



1. Epos Now Field Name
Select the field you would like to add to your template from the list

2. Prefix
Add any text that you would like to be added before the data for the field. For example, if you wanted to add a prefix before the order number, you could set the prefix to Your order number is and this would then be printed on your template as Your order number is 0123456 where 0123456846 is the order number.

3. Suffix
The same as for the prefix, except that this text will be added after the data for the field.

4. Style
Select the text style that should be used for this field (including prefix and suffix). This will then use the styling set in the Fonts & Colours tab

5. Alignment
Set the alignment that should be used for this field (including prefix and suffix)

Order Items Table

You can add tables for the items purchased in the order. You can add as many columns for the order item data as you like and change the order in which they appear in the table. One row will be added for each item in the order.




1. Columns
Add/edit the columns that you would like to show in the table

2. Epos Now Field
Select the field you would like to add to your table from the list

3. Label
Enter the label for this column. This will be displayed in the table header for this column.

4. Width
Enter the width in percentage for this column. The total of all the widths for all the columns should not exceed 100%.

5. Alignment
Set the alignment for the text for this column

6. Column Order
You can drag/drop to change the order of the columns in the table.

7. Add Column
In order to add a new column, click on this button

8. Delete Column
In order to delete a column, hover your mouse cursor on the right side of the column and click on the minus icon


Order Summary Table

Order summary tables are used to display the tax summary or the tenders summary for the order.



1. Summary Table
Select the summary table to add to your template

Spacers

It is very useful to be able to add some vertical spacing between elements in your layout. You can add as many spacers as you like and then position them in your layout to achieve your desired design.



1. Height/Size
Define the height of the spacer in millimetres.

Remember to give your spacer a unique identifier so that you can easily identify it in the layout editor.

Please note that for ‘standard’ document types, the footer is only shown at the bottom of the first page. For ‘ticket’ document types, the footer is shown at the bottom of each ticket.



1. Footer Content
Enter the content that you would like to be shown in your footer

2. Alignment
Set how you would like the footer content to be aligned on the page

3. Spacing
The footer is shown at the bottom of the page. Set the distance from the bottom of the page from where the footer should be printed. It is advisable to have this value less than the Paper Vertical Margin Bottom setting in the Document Settings tab to prevent overlapping.

Layout

The drag and drop layout builder is used to position all the elements/fields that you have added to your template. Each element is identified by the unique identifier that you set in the Content & Settings tab.




1. Add Row – 1 Column
Add a row to the layout. Single column, 100% width of the paper.

2. Add Row – 2 Columns
Add a row to the layout. 2 columns, each column is 50% width of the paper.

3. Add Row – 3 Columns
Add a row to the layout. 3 columns, each column is 33.33% width of the paper.

More row layouts will be added over time

4. Row Container
The light grey background shows the row and all the elements within it

5. Element Identifier
This shows the identifier that you set for your fields/elements in the Content & Settings tab

6. Delete Element
Click on the x to remove the selected element from the layout. It will be moved to the Inactive Elements (13) section.  You can also drag and drop an element into the Inactive Elements (13) section.

7. Move Row Up
Click on this to move the selected row up one level

8. Move Row Down
Click on this to move the selected row down one level

9. Delete Row
Click on the x to remove the selected row from the layout. All elements within the row will be moved to the Inactive Elements (13) section.

10. Column 1 Container
The dotted line shows the column and all the elements within it

11. Column 2 Container
The dotted line shows the column and all the elements within it

12. Column 3 Container
The dotted line shows the column and all the elements within it

13. Inactive Widgets
This section holds all the elements that have been defined for the template in the Content & Settings tab but have not yet been positioned. Any elements that are left in this section are not printed on the template. This is useful for elements that have been defined, but have been removed from the layout temporarily.

Preview Template

Once you have saved your template, you can preview how it will look with live data from Epos Now using some sample orders we have created.



1. Select Order
Select the order to use to generate the preview of the template

2. Load Preview
Once you have selected the order, click on this button to generate the preview. It may take a few moments to generate the preview.

3. Page Indicator
The thin dotted line shows the page breaks

4. Paper Boundary
The thick dotted line shows the edges of the paper for the paper size defined for this template

Using Templates in Epos Now

Once you have defined your templates in Slynk and set their status to Published, they are then ready to use in Epos Now.

Our Epos Now Order Templates app is available to be used via the Epos Now Back Office or the Epos Now Till.

Back Office

To use the app in the Epos Now Back Office:



  1. Login to the Epos Now Back Office
  2. Select Apps from the left hand side menu
  3. Select Order Templates from the list

Till

To use the app in the Epos Now Athena Till:

1. Click on the menu button at the top left of the till
2. Select Settings
3. In the Till tab, switch on the Show two rows of action buttons setting



4. In the Additional tab, on the Action Buttons section, switch on the Order Templates setting


Order Selection

In the order selection screen, the last 5 orders are shown by default. The user can then select which order they wish to print.



1. Customer Filter
The orders can be filtered for specific customer ID’s (only in the back office). Please note that the customer ID must be entered here. To obtain a customer ID, go to eposnow > management > customers > click on details for the selected customer. This opens the customer details screen.
In the URL in the browser, you can obtain the customer ID.

e.g. https://www.eposnowhq.com/Pages/BackOffice/CustomerDetails.aspx?CustomerID=1398681 

2. Sales Person Filter
Select whether to filter the orders by the user currently logged in

3. Device Filter
Select whether to filter the orders taken on the till being used

4. Number of Results
Select the number of results to return. The larger this number, the longer it takes to retrieve all the data.

5. Refresh List
Click to load the orders that match the filter criteria in 1-3 above

6. Select & Print
Select the order and go to the template selection screen

7. Menu Button
This is the menu button to navigate through the app

Template Selection

Once an order has been selected, you can then select the template to print.



1. Select Template
Click the template that you wish to print. Once clicked, the template will be printed.

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