BrightMenu provides restaurants with a touchless menu solution that enables customers to display a menu on their mobile devices. Customers connect to a BrightSign player via Wi-Fi, then scan a printed QR code to view the menu. BrightMenu runs on any phone with a browser and any number of patrons can view "the menu" at once. Connecting and viewing the menu does not require an internet connection, app download, or even HD display. This page shows how to setup a player and use BrightAuthor Classic to publish and "near-cast" your restaurant's menu throughout the location using the provided BrightMenu-v.0.0.93.bpf project.

The BrightMenu solution configures the BrightSign player to act as a web server which configures the installed wireless module as a Wi-Fi access point and hosts a Custom Device Webpage containing a restaurant menu. This allows a user to connect their phone to the broadcasted Wi-Fi network or SSID which does not offer internet access (the SSID is set to My Menu Network for the example demo). Once the user’s phone is connected to the Wi-Fi access point, they can easily scan a printed QR code and view the menu in a web browser on their phone. Instead of scanning a QR code, a user can type in the hostname into their browser to view the menu (the hostname is my.menu in our BrightMenu Example Demo). While BrightMenu does not require a display, one can certainly be connected to the BrightSign player to enhance the experience by playing engaging content onscreen while at the same time serving the BrightMenu solution to connected user phones.

Since BrightMenu uses essentially the same functionality as BrightLink, but with only 1-way engagement between the BrightSign player and the user phone, many phones can be linked at once to the Wi-Fi access point to reliably view the menu. BrightMenu also offers an Admin Portal which is a Custom Device Webpage that can be accessed at the URL hostname/admin (in the example demo, it is my.menu/admin) of a connected phone and offers a user interface to easily upload and activate JPG and PNG menu image files which are then viewable when a connected user scans the QR code. If multiple image files are selected to be viewable, they will display in a vertical scrolling fashion on the user phone in alphabetical order. The Admin Portal also allows you to customize the SSID and hostname user variables instead of using the default names in the BrightMenu Example Demo.

The BrightMenu-v0.0.9-PACKAGE.zip has been provided which contains:

A BrightSign player running a BrightMenu presentation configures the installed Wireless Module to act as a Wi-Fi access point. Therefore, the Wireless Module cannot be used for any other purposes such as a Wi-Fi client or for publishing presentations via BrightAuthor Classic or BrightAuthor:connected.

BrightMenu requires the following elements in a BrightAuthor Classic project file to implement its functionality on a BrightSign player. Each of these elements are described in detail on this page.

A printed placard communicating to patrons the Wi-Fi Network name to connect to and a QR code to scan to view the menu. BrightSign provides a BrightMenu-Placard-Template.docx file that supports our BrightMenu example demo and can easily be modified for a customized BrightMenu implementation.

When deploying BrightLink, it is a good idea to adjust and test the WiFi access point signal range of the installed wireless module. The typical signal range of a BrightSign player with an installed wireless module and connected antenna is about 15 feet. Attenuators can also be used to help reduce the wireless signal range. When the wireless module antenna is not used, the wireless signal range can drop to about 4-5 feet. The signal range is also affected by location, for example, whether the player is in the line of sight of the user or mounted behind a display.

BrightAuthor Classic projects designed for BrightMenu primarily employ the following elements:

This section will primarily focus on explaining the components that make up our example BrightMenu presentation. See the “Optional Connected Screen Implementations” section to play a digital signage presentation while running a BrightMenu solution.

In the BrightMenu example demo, a multizone presentation has been created to run on a screen which can be helpful for setup and testing purposes. It displays the following content:

BrightMenu supports an array of customizable user variables allowing you to customize the experience for your implementation. These user variables configure the associated plugins which in turn program your BrightSign player to perform as a web server and wireless access point using the installed wireless module which does not need an Internet connection. Please note that the wireless module is solely used for BrightMenu functions and cannot be used for publishing presentations.

The user variables must reside in the BrightAuthor Classic project file under the Presentation Properties > Variables dialog as follows:

This plugin configures the BrightSign player to act as a web server and as Wi-Fi access point which is what allows a user device to connect to it. No Internet is required for the BrightSign player to enable this BrightMenu feature.

This plugin file needs to be referenced in your BrightAuthor Classic project under Presentation Properties > Autorun > Script Plugins. The name must be Access (it is case sensitive) and the path must be indicated.

This plugin starts a node server on the player and unzips npm.zip and BrightMenuInstructions.zip to the card. The plugin creates a /node folder with server.html and portal.js files. These files setup the player proxy to direct the connected phone to the menu’s Custom Device Webpage hosted on the BrightSign player. The webpage’s URL is accessible via the specified hostname in the user variables described previously. This plugin also builds the server containing the Admin Portal webpage code.

This plugin file needs to be referenced in your BrightAuthor Classic project under Presentation Properties > Autorun > Script Plugins. The name must be httpServer (it is case sensitive) and the path must be indicated.

The npm.zip file contains all the files for configuring the proxy. You can create your own Node.js® file which could contain further functionality for the experience.

This npm.zip file must be referenced in the BrightAuthor Classic project under Presentation Properties > Files dialog.

The instructions.zip file contains files which are unzipped and placed into a folder named uploads on the SD card when the BrightMenu Example Demo is run for the first time. The files this zip file contains are example menu images to test with as well as a default instructions.png file. The instructions.png file is activated by default to display on a connected phone when it scans the QR code. The instructions detail how to access the Admin Portal and upload menu images and activate them to display on a user’s phone.

The instructions.zip file must be referenced in the BrightAuthor Classic project at Presentation Properties > Files dialog.

The restaurant menu content that is viewed on a connected user’s phone is implemented using a Custom Device Webpage. When accessed via the user scanning a QR code, it opens the default web browser on a user’s phone to display it. There are multiple ways to create a Custom Device Webpage with the menu content.

Our BrightMenu example demo uses a basic approach in the design of its Custom Device Webpage which simply displays one or multiple JPG or PNG files in a web browser after a single QR code scan. If multiple images are selected to be displayed as part of the menu, they will be viewable in a vertical scrolling fashion and the images will be displayed on the user’s screen in alphabetical order. This implementation also supports an Admin Portal which makes it easy for restaurant owners to update menu content directly from their phone. This Admin Portal is explained in detail later in this document.

A more tailored and engaging solution can be created by designing a Custom Device Webpage that supports a wide variety of implementations rather than simply displaying a file to view. The design of a Custom Device Webpage for BrightMenu is not limited to what would run on a BrightSign player, but rather what would run on a smartphone. Custom approaches could include supporting multiple QR codes allowing a user to scan each one to quickly access a specific menu category of interest such as specials, drinks, desserts, etc. Yet another implementation could be to design an interactive Custom Device Webpage that supports buttons allowing a restaurant with a large menu to make it easier to navigate to the menu sections directly on the user’s phone. Experienced designers could even build out solutions that narrow choices by selected ingredients, view nutrition information and even display coupons, discounts, or simple games to keep children occupied.

In BrightAuthor Classic, the Custom Device Webpage is assigned under the Presentation Properties > Variables dialog. This webpage is accessed via the assigned hostname variable. If using BSN.cloud or BrightSign Network to publish your presentation, the HTML site name must be a unique name that does not match any other HTML site name saved in your account.

This free HTML code auto generates a QR code based on the currently assigned hostname user variable value. Once that value is changed, the QR code is auto generated for the new value. In the BrightMenu example demo, this HTML code is used to display a QR code on-screen in a zone that matches the hostname variable value. And this HTML code is also used to create the QR code that is generated and displayed within the Admin Portal when the same hostname variable value has been changed.

This HTML file needs to be referenced in your BrightAuthor Classic project under Presentation Properties > HTML Sites.

The Admin Portal is designed for restaurant owners and managers to easily use our default BrightMenu example demo as their own presentation to distribute their menu to patrons by uploading and choosing their menu images to display on user phones. End users can also use the Admin Portal to customize the SSID and hostname to meet the needs of their establishment. Access to the Admin Portal requires you to connected to the default Wi-Fi access point or SSID which is My Menu Network. Once connected, access the Admin Portal by entering hostname/admin in a browser. For the BrightMenu Example Demo this is by default my.menu/admin.

No login credentials are required to enter the Admin Portal unless a password has been set for the Diagnostic Web Server in the player setup process. If the password field is left blank, then no password will be required and the Sign In screen to the Admin Portal will not be displayed. If a password has been set, the username will be set to admin and you be prompted with a Sign In screen when accessing the Admin Portal. You can change the password at any time through the Admin Portal.

The Admin Portal supports the following operations and customizations:

Choose a method below to create a compatible PNG or JPG image file to use with BrightMenu.

Follow these steps to create a single photo image file of your printed menu.

Follow these steps to create your menu image files by editing our provided menu template.

Though you don't need to connect a display to the BrightSign player to use BrightMenu, a digital sign presentation can enrich the restaurant experience. BrightSign players deployed for BrightMenu solutions are powerful enough to run both the BrightMenu experience and a digital sign presentation simultaneously. The possibilities are virtually limitless to deploy both a BrightMenu experience on a user’s phone through a Custom Device Webpage while delivering an on-screen digital sign using our vast collection of BrightSign and BrightAuthor Classic features.

The example below demonstrates how to use the BrightMenu LS424 kit that can be purchased directly from BrightSign. It is a simple plug and play solution for end users.