[ask] first time use sambapos

[Richard_Lie]

hi im first time use samba pos…what i must to do in setting?? any tutorial step by step in indonesia??
FYI i download sambapos v4…
setting for:
1.i will go for android for waitress can it happens?
2.bar and kitchen print or split monitor connect
3.stock for my product
thanks in advance

[Shivan]

I would highly suggest to take a look at this

Download SambaPOS 4.1.82 and read Tutorials

Welcome to SambaClub Forums. Free Version Downloads SambaPOS 4 Downloads Please install latest version of SambaPOS V3 if you are planning to migrate from V3. Default Admin PIN is 1234. Start a work period form Work Periods section to enable POS button. Open Source Downloads SambaPOS 3 Downloads SambaPOS 2 Downloads SambaPOS V5 Downloads & Documentation Welcome to SambaPOS 5 Documentation http://www.sambapos.com/wiki Help! Restaurant opens next week and I have no idea what to do! Some …

there are many tutorials available to make it do what you want

You can also check this category out

V4 Tutorial

And just so you know, there is a search button that you can use to search anything relating to what you are trying to do.

To answer some of your questions though.

1. Android tablet for waitress is possible. Using RDP connection, refer to link below
   Step by step on how to Configure multiple concurrent RDP clients to run SambaPOS (IPHONE ,IPAD, Galaxy tablet) - #32 by ordinary_person

2. You can split print to bar and kitchen.
   Printing Tutorial in Detail
   This link will give you more information regarding printing and how to set it up the way you want.

3. for Inventory control(stock control and consumption control)
   Inventory Control for Menu Items via Order Tags and Portion Mapping
   this could be a starting point to help and understand what you can do.

If you run into any issues regarding any setup, or have questions relating to anything,

try to use the search feature in the forum, if you see that you cannot find a clear enough answer , make a new post and make sure you use screenshots and as much detail to help us help you set your system up just the way you want.

NOTE: We will not do the whole work for you(We are also users like you are), the beauty of samba is to learn how to use the program inside out, and if you get stuck somewhere and have made attempts, we will try bring you on the right path.

Good luck :D, and hope that information has been helpful.

[Danial]

I just downloaded Samba POS 4 and have nothing but frustration!

First time I said “no” to font icons, and re-install would not work. Just got “Check Database Version” no matter what I did. I then downloaded the latest (is there a way to find out what version you’re running).

Anyway, its running. Now I’m playing with it and can’t do basic things. Some things:

1. Why in the sample data does it launch a keyboard when I press Breakfast?
2. Why does the keyboard launch randomly in general?
3. I enter some item by mistake, say Greek Salad. There’s no delete key? void and minus are greyed out. I can’t remove an item before I send it? There’s a gift button but no edit or delete?
4. I can only close or settle? I can’t hold, or only send some items to the kitchen?
5. There should be some modifiers in the sample data, like dressings for the salad. I cant figure out how to create modifiers (I later found the tutorial. Cumbersome)
6. There’s no table layout? I see the entity table stuff, but some tables seem randomly on the screen, how did they get that way?
7. I hit the wrong table (purposefully, because it happens a lot). I can’t just exit and not save the ticket? I exit by going to “Change Table”, but I’m not sure if it saves the ticket. In Change table I can’t get to Main Menu.
8. What’s the point of the keypad in the lower right? It doesnt seem to do anything.
9. Can I add a text tag to an item (with custom instructions?)

Thats it for the first 10 minutes.

[JTRTech]

@Danial

1. Why in the sample data does it launch a keyboard when I press Breakfast?

Can you post a screenshot so we can see what you mean, what keyboard etc.

@Danial

2. Why does the keyboard launch randomly in general?

Keyboard launching randomly? you mean the keyboard if you press the keyboard button on bottom left?

@Danial

3. I enter some item by mistake, say Greek Salad. There’s no delete key? void and minus are greyed out. I can’t remove an item before I send it? There’s a gift button but no edit or delete?

Cancel is what you want.
Select the order and click cancel.
Void is only for submitted/sent orders.

@Danial

4. I can only close or settle? I can’t hold, or only send some items to the kitchen?

A ticket need to go somewhere for it to be closed without payment, the default is table or customer.
If your looking to allow a hold/switch user type setup there are a couple of tutorials on the forum of ways to set this up to how you want it to work.

@Danial

5. There should be some modifiers in the sample data, like dressings for the salad. I cant figure out how to create modifiers (I later found the tutorial. Cumbersome)

They are called order tags.
You create a group/set of order tags and then add mapping to the products you want them to be options for.
To choose tags in POS screen you by default select the order to show the portions/tags screen.
If you tick the AUTO SELECT option in the menu settings it will automatically select the order on adding and prompt for the tags.

@Danial

7. I hit the wrong table (purposefully, because it happens a lot). I can’t just exit and not save the ticket? I exit by going to “Change Table”, but I’m not sure if it saves the ticket. In Change table I can’t get to Main Menu.

After selecting a table you can remove table by pressing the X in the top right on the entity screen.

‘but I’m not sure if it saves the ticket. In Change table I can’t get to Main Menu.’
Can you elaborate on that, not sure what you mean.

@Danial

8. What’s the point of the keypad in the lower right? It doesnt seem to do anything.

You can setup to search for products in the number pad field

@Danial

9. Can I add a text tag to an item (with custom instructions?)

This is an order tag again but on the tags settings page tick the box for allow free tagging

[Danial]

@JTRTech

Cancel is what you want.Select the order and click cancel.Void is only for submitted/sent orders.

Select the order from where? I’m on the screen. I dont see cancel anywhere.

I’ve entered 7 items and the 8th one is wrong. I have to cancel the entire ticket?

Something I missed is that each order-in is a separate ticket? There’s no way to see the entire bill on one ticket screen? if I have 7 tickets for a table (4 rounds of drinks, apps, entrees, dessert). I see the screen with the tickets once they’re closed, but no way to cancel anything. Merge is grayed out. How do I review the entire order on one screen?

[JTRTech]

If you don’t have a cancel button for whatever reason you can create it easily by rebuilding default buttons.

CANCEL is for new orders
VOID is for orders which have been submitted which happens on ticket close.

[JTRTech]

@Danial

Something I missed is that each order-in is a separate ticket? There’s no way to see the entire bill on one ticket screen? if I have 7 tickets for a table (4 rounds of drinks, apps, entrees, dessert).

If you have 7 separate tickets you would not see the ‘entire bill’ as you have 7 bills/tickets…

@Danial

I see the screen with the tickets once they’re closed, but no way to cancel anything.

Which screen is that, the tickets list? You cannot edit paid tickets if thats what you mean or am I misunderstanding?

[Danial]

rebuild buttons added the missing functions. It made no sense.

The default / Sample should be functional.

I guess customization is good, but it’s also pretty complicated. Why would the Cancel and Change Price buttons be gone? How could cancel not be a required option.

[JTRTech]

I am not sure why you would not have had those buttons, only seen them ‘missing’ myself when I upgraded from v3 to v4 a long time ago which also was at the time I switched that client from CE to SQL (not sure which was the culprit).
But good to hear it sorted it

@Danial

I guess customization is good, but it’s also pretty complicated.

It can be a little daunting at first but once you pick up the basics and see how versatile SambaPOS is you will appreciate the way it is. I tell my customers the ‘unoficial moto’ of SambaPOS is ‘Make it your own’ as you can customize almost anything and make it work how you need it to rather than how the programmer decided it should work.

[sukasem]

Why would the Cancel and Change Price buttons be gone? How could cancel not be a required option

There was a lot of requests to make it disappear because everyone want there own way to do thing so emre remove them from hard code.

But I do agree it should be automatically build those button for the first time installation.

[sukasem]

SambaPOS is ‘Make it your own’

I like this motto.

[Danial]

There’s also a training issue when there’s a long learning curve. Sure, I can spend a week learning how to add a modifier tag, but I want a manager to be able to make simple adjustments also. The more cumbersome it is, the less useful it is, in some respect.

I’m not sure how I feel about the multiple ticket approach. One ticket per table where you can see everything has some value.

Ok, so I have Ticket #30 on my screen and there are 3 other tickets for this table (or maybe 2 or 4, who knows). There’s no 1 button jump to show all of the tickets? I have to close (and thus send what I’m working on to the kitchen) in order to review other tickets?

[JTRTech]

@Danial

Ok, so I have Ticket #30 on my screen and there are 3 other tickets for this table (or maybe 2 or 4, who knows). There’s no 1 button jump to show all of the tickets? I have to close (and thus send what I’m working on to the kitchen) in order to review other tickets?

Why separate tickets then? If you want to all be on one ticket why not just use one ticket? Sorry if am misunderstanding.

[JTRTech]

@Danial

There’s also a training issue when there’s a long learning curve. Sure, I can spend a week learning how to add a modifier tag, but I want a manager to be able to make simple adjustments also. The more cumbersome it is, the less useful it is, in some respect.

Is this not the same with any system? Would you not need to train the manager to make those required changes?

What is cumbersome about it? Saying it is bad doesn’t help anyone, explain why you think that and perhaps its because your looking at it the wrong way which a simple alternative recommendation would help

Not wanting to sound like a complete SambaPOS fanboy but this was the last POS system I had to look at for a friend;

This is the main menu for programming… options 1-6, that’s my opinion of cumbersome
Ok don’t want to get in to debate on that but with any system the terminology and location of settings is going to be the first hurdle, at least menus with descriptive titles make like a little easier

Either way voice you opinion, feedback is always a good thing, just try to be constructive and not just say something is bad - offer your resoning and ideas if you have one - emre does read the forum and takes comments into account. A few points I have made over the last year have been implemented into the software

[QMcKay]

@Danial

(is there a way to find out what version you’re running)

Double-click top-left corner where it says SambaPOS. This brings it into Window-mode where you can see the version in the title bar.

@Danial

Why in the sample data does it launch a keyboard when I press Breakfast?
Why does the keyboard launch randomly in general?

Because there are no Products in that Category, so it assumes you want to search for something, and thus brings up the keyboard.

@Danial

There’s no delete key? void and minus are greyed out.
There’s a gift button but no edit or delete?

Cancel is the button you are looking for. Select the item you want to remove, and click Cancel. You can re-label the button to read “Delete” if you wish, but that terminology is fundamentally incorrect. Cancel is the correct term in this scenario.

Void is for Submitted orders only, that is, Orders that have already been “sent to the Kitchen”. That is why it is disabled, and it will stay that way until you “submit” the Ticket, at which time the Void (and Move) buttons will become enabled.

@Danial

I can only close or settle? I can’t hold, or only send some items to the kitchen?

Close and Settle, by default, will “submit” the Ticket Orders for processing by your kitchen. Close is essentially the same as Hold. And yes, you can “only send some items to the kitchen” if you modify the default workflow. By default, it will send all items to the Kitchen when the Ticket is Closed (which puts the Ticket into a “hold” state as you call it).

@Danial

There should be some modifiers in the sample data, like dressings for the salad.

Should there be? According to whom? You? I suppose I could agree to your opinion that it would be helpful to have modifiers in the sample data.

@Danial

I cant figure out how to create modifiers (I later found the tutorial. Cumbersome)

They are called Order Tags in SambaPOS. The reason for their name is because they can be used for much more than simple modifiers like dressings, condiments, meat temp, etc. Cumbersome? No. Flexible? Yes. Powerful? Yes.

@Danial

Can I add a text tag to an item (with custom instructions?)

Yes. That is again an Order Tag. It is called Free Tagging.

@Danial

There’s no table layout?

Correct. The sample data does not contain a floor plan or Table layout. Could it be included? Sure.

@Danial

some tables seem randomly on the screen, how did they get that way?

Randomly? Interesting. Maybe your staff moved them around when you were looking the other way.

@Danial

I hit the wrong table (purposefully, because it happens a lot). I can’t just exit and not save the ticket? I exit by going to “Change Table”, but I’m not sure if it saves the ticket. In Change table I can’t get to Main Menu.

Click on the X in the upper-right to remove the Table from the Ticket, or select a different Table for the Ticket.

Also, you might want to change the Ticket Creation method. The sample data has this set to “Select Entity” which for many venues does not work efficiently in their workflow. Change it to “Create Ticket” and you will see the difference in operation. But be aware that you cannot close/hold a Ticket unless you assign and Entity (Table, Customer, Tab, etc) to the Ticket. You can define this behavior per-department.

@Danial

What’s the point of the keypad in the lower right? It doesnt seem to do anything.

You touch the number buttons and it fills out the field directly above it. It has multiple uses including quickly setting the Quantity of an item before selection, searching for Menu Items, scanning barcodes, etc. You can change it’s layout and size, or even remove the keypad or if it is not something you will use often.

@Danial

Ok, so I have Ticket #30 on my screen and there are 3 other tickets for this table (or maybe 2 or 4, who knows). There’s no 1 button jump to show all of the tickets? I have to close (and thus send what I’m working on to the kitchen) in order to review other tickets?

Multiple ways to handle this…

@Danial

Thats it for the first 10 minutes.

Congratulations. When you spend some more time with it, let us know if you have any other questions or comments. We are here to help.

@Danial

There’s also a training issue when there’s a long learning curve. Sure, I can spend a week learning how to add a modifier tag, but I want a manager to be able to make simple adjustments also. The more cumbersome it is, the less useful it is

10 minutes will not be sufficient to learn and understand the entire system, but the learning curve is really not very long. I would assume you could figure out how Order Tags work within 10-15 minutes though.

Every system is different. The beauty of SambaPOS is that it lets you define and build your own workflow to suit your needs.

[JTRTech]

@QMcKay

Click on the X in the upper-right to remove the Table from the Ticket, or select a different Table for the Ticket.

Also, you might want to change the Ticket Creation method. The sample data has this set to “Select Entity” which for many venues does not work efficiently in their workflow. Change it to “Create Ticket” and you will see the difference in operation. But be aware that you cannot close/hold a Ticket unless you assign and Entity (Table, Customer, Tab, etc) to the Ticket. You can define this behavior per-department.

Good shout Q, am so used to having a default config I restore on to new systems I often forget the sample install defaults as select table/entity ticket creation.
That question makes much more sense to me now LOL, was a little confused why you would selected a table to take it off again but that would be the case if select entity was creation method

[Danial]

@JTRTech

Why separate tickets then? If you want to all be on one ticket why not just use one ticket? Sorry if am misunderstanding.

I guess its the lingo being used. “Close” is the wrong word. Close means close. “Merge Tickets” is grayed out. It’s all a bit fuzzy

[Danial]

@JTRTech

Is this not the same with any system? Would you not need to train the manager to make those required changes?

What is cumbersome about it? Saying it is bad doesn’t help anyone, explain why you think that and perhaps its because your looking at it the wrong way which a simple alternative recommendation would help

Frankly, it’s the most unintuitive system I’ve ever seen. Think about an iPhone; “Settings” has most of the things you need to use the phone successfully. On this system, things you NEED to do are buried under categories where you’d never think to look. Setting up tables is under “Entities”? really? Setting up how you create tickets is under “Departments”? I don’t even know the difference between “Select Entity” and “Create Ticket”.

You can tell this was written by a programmer. I use the word Entity to a restaurant manager and they just tilt their head.

I have a blank ticket on my screen, I have to close or settle it to get to the management screen? Half of the time when I click “Main Menu” it does nothing. No error. No message. I just can’t do it.

On SambaPOS, “Settings” sets up a computer, not a POS system.The menus are cumbersome. (I personally hate tabs). I dont like that I have to highlight things to select modifiers or “portions”. When I select tea it should display the portions. Click Click. Not Click, highlight, click.

I found a video with a nice table layout. Table, Waiter settings. Where is that stuff?

Then I see people in forums asking how to do things, with answers like “Search is your friend”.

Maybe you can do all of these things with another week of training.

This system reminds me of WordPress. Taxonomies, term taxonomies. term relationships. A mess designed by a mad man.

[Danial]

@QMcKay

10 minutes will not be sufficient to learn and understand the entire system, but the learning curve is really not very long. I would assume you could figure out how Order Tags work within 10-15 minutes though.

Every system is different. The beauty of SambaPOS is that it lets you define and build your own workflow to suit your needs.

I was joking about the 10 minutes, obviously More like 1/2 a day. You don’t have an objective view of this product, sir, because clearly you’re totally familiar with it. This is like Linux. Great if you know how to use it. Otherwise, buy a MAC

[JTRTech]

@Danial

Setting up tables is under “Entities”? really? Setting up how you create tickets is under “Departments”? I don’t even know the difference between “Select Entity” and “Create Ticket”.

Entity actually makes sence as a term.
You can have more than just tables.
Have seen people use for;
Tables
Customers
Rooms
Gift Vouchers
Employees
Bookings
This gives you the power to customise the system to how you need it.
Is it potentially a bit more involved than off the shelf software… YES but you can do alot more and make the system how you want it but only once you have spent a bit of time to learn how it works.
This is the same as any software.
Have you ever installed something you have not used before and knew every setting and where it is and every term used in the software?

@Danial

I have a blank ticket on my screen, I have to close or settle it to get to the management screen? Half of the time when I click “Main Menu” it does nothing. No error. No message. I just can’t do it.

There might not be any orders on the ticket but if you have added something and canceled there is still a ticket open just with no orders and a ticket has to be closed before you can get out of POS.

@Danial

I dont like that I have to highlight things to select modifiers or “portions”. When I select tea it should display the portions. Click Click. Not Click, highlight, click.

In your menu go to that category and click edit product properties. The third column ins ‘auto select’ tick this and it will then promp you for portion and tags.
This is not automatically forced/left as optional as you can create multiple buttons for same product and predefine the portion.
For example I have setup pints and halfs on a berrs category where there are two carlsburg buttons, for which I have edited the button header to be carlsberg pint and carlsberg half and set print and half in the portion field for the button so I have two buttons one for pint and pone for half but using the same product.

The last system I had to use you had to have seperate PLUs for each - Pint, Half, Shandy Pint, Shandy Half - NOW THAT WAS CUMBERSOME

There might be more options in the back end than your used to but this is to allow us to set them as we like rather than being hard coded.
Yes it takes longer to get used to all the terms but ultimatly it allows you to have a system which works how you want it to rather than just how the programmer wanted it to work.
If you want to just install and add products and off you go then maybe you would be better off with an alternative off the shelf software.