Menu Board Gadget

The Menu Board gadget is functionally very similar to our Google Sheets Gadget but also provides a number of layout options for creating professional looking menu boards. The gadget can source its items and pricing from either a Google Sheet or a Data Table managed inside the Revel Digital CMS. Both use the same simple column format (item name, description, and one or more price columns), described below.

A Data Table keeps everything inside your account — no external Google account or link sharing — and pushes edits to your players in real time, with no publish step. It can also be updated from the CMS, the Slack AI Assistant, the API, or an AI scheduled task, which makes it a good fit for menus that change often or update automatically.

Add the menu board gadget to your template

To add the gadget to your template just add a new gadget zone, then select the Menu Board gadget from the gadget selection dialog.

Option 1: Using a Google Sheet

Create your Google Sheet

Open the following link to our sample spreadsheet. You will need to copy this to your own Google account.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oWU4J8N3w5n2RWiAC55ydhP7a8ilVaDMKdIafGVDSkE/edit#gid=0

Open the File menu in the sheet, then click Make a copy...

This will prompt you to copy the sheet into your own account. Once copied you'll need to share it in order to make the link accessible to the gadget.

Select the option Anyone with the link can view, then click the Copy link button.

Customize Items and Pricing

Rows can be added or removed to reflect the items visible on the menu. Descriptions are optional.

Pricing columns can be added or removed to reflect various price options. For example, if you only wanted to display a single price just remove the Medium and Large columns. If you wanted to add an XL option, then just add a fourth column with a new label in the header and prices.

Point the gadget at your sheet

Open the gadget properties, make sure Data Provider is set to Google Sheets (the default), and paste your new link into the Published Google spreadsheet URL field.

Clicking the template preview button will now show the menu board gadget populated with your sheet data.

Option 2: Using a Data Table

Instead of a Google Sheet, you can drive the menu board from a Data Table. Data Tables are a spreadsheet-like way to manage structured data directly in the CMS. They're stored in the cloud, available to every template and device in your account, and any change is pushed to connected players within seconds — no republishing required. For more on Data Tables in general, see the Data Tables article.

Create your menu Data Table

In the CMS, open Data Tables and create a new table using the same column layout the menu board expects from a Google Sheet:

• Name (String) — the menu item name.
• Description (String) — shown beneath the name on templates that display it. Leave cells blank, or use the Classic (Name only) template, if you don't want descriptions.
• One or more price columns (String) — add a column for each price tier. The column name becomes the price header shown on the board, so name them however you want them to read (for example Small, Medium, Large). For a single price, use one column; to add an XL option, add another column. Enter prices exactly as you want them displayed, including the currency symbol (e.g. $3.25).

Add one row per menu item, for example:

Rows can be added or removed to reflect the items on the menu, and price columns can be added or removed the same way you would edit the sample sheet.

Point the gadget at your Data Table

Open the gadget properties:

1. Set Data Provider to Data Table.
2. In the Menu Data Table field that appears, select the table you just created.

Clicking the template preview button will now show the menu board populated from your table. Because the gadget reads the table live, any edit — from the CMS, the Slack AI Assistant, the API, or an AI scheduled task — appears on your players within seconds, with no need to republish.

Customize the layout

Once your data source is connected, you can customize the gadget by modifying the gadget properties for text style, menu format, spacing, etc. These options apply the same way whether your data comes from a Google Sheet or a Data Table.

There are a number of menu board layouts to choose from including the following:

Centered	Classic	Classic (Name only)	Modern	Classic (No dots)

A Prices only template is also available for boards that display item names and prices without descriptions.