We all know that category-wide options for online menus are a huge time saver. We can create an option list in one place and have it populate for all items in that category. Works great for categories where they get a choice of side with each item or need to select their preferred salad dressing. But what about situations where there are 1 or 2 exceptions? What if all Sandwiches in the category have the same options for "Extras" but there are 2 items that have something slightly different?
Here is what we recommend for these situations:
1. Create the category-wide option
2. Map the category-wide options (if using a POS integration)
3. Go to one of the menu items that has a different list and click the Edit button
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Advanced Information" right above the "Save Menu Item" button.
5. New options will open up. Click that one that says "Exclude from Category-Wide Options"
6. Make adjustments to the options for that particular item.
7. Click "Save Menu Item" button
8. Make sure to map those new options for that item if using a POS integration.
Now if you make a change to the category-wide options, it will update all the other items in the category *except* the ones that you asked to be excluded. This way your changes to their option lists will not be overwritten.