Overview

The Template Editor lets you create the parent- and community-facing version of your school menus. You control what gets displayed, how it looks, and how families access it — whether through a link or embedded directly in your district website.

Each template can be assigned to one or more menu plans, styled with your preferred colors and fonts, and configured to show exactly the information you want parents to see.

Set Menu Plan Display Settings

By default, the public menu shows the internal name of each menu plan. To give it a family-friendly label:

1. Navigate to the relevant menu plan setting (outside the Template Editor).

2. Find the Public menu name field and enter a display name — for example, "Fall Menu" instead of "October-November 25-26".

Note: You can also hide a menu plan from the public menu entirely using the Hide from public menu toggle on the menu plan.

Open the Template Editor

1. Existing templates appear as tabs at the top (e.g., MS template, ES template).

2. To create a new template, click + Add template (top right).

3. To edit an existing template, click its tab.

Configure General Settings

In the left panel under General:

• Template name — Enter an internal name (e.g., "MS template"). This is for your reference only.

• Assign menu plans — Use the dropdown to attach one or more menu plans. The template will display menus from all assigned plans.

Tip: You can assign multiple menu plans to a single template, or create separate templates for different grade groups.

Styling Your Template

Week Layout: Display days a calendar grid or as a list
Color Theme: Choose from preset color themes by clicking any swatch. The selected theme applies to the header row of each day column.
Headline font: Select a typeface for menu, meal card. and custom section titles.

The live preview panel updates in real time. Use the controls at the top of the preview to switch between menu plans, Week and Month views, and Desktop and Mobile. Click Preview to open a full-screen view.

Configuring Meal Cards

The Meal cards section controls what information appears inside each day's card on the public menu. Use the toggles under Display Options to:

Show/hide category names (Main, Sides, etc.) — Displays the category header above each group of items.
Show/hide sub-category names — Displays labels such as Entrée, Salads & Deli, Protein, Fruits.
Show/hide serving sizes — Displays the serving size for each item.

You can also manage which menu offerings are visible by clicking the Sub-Category chip to show or hide it

Daily Offerings Section

Use the Daily offerings section to pull out items available every day and display them in a persistent sidebar — rather than repeating them on every meal card. Ideal for items like a fruit and salad bar, daily pizza, or standing grab-and-go options.

Toggle Enable daily offerings section on.
Set the Column position (Left or Right).
Under Daily Lunch Offerings, use the dropdowns to select the sub-categories to list in the panel.
Use + Add Category to add more sub-categories as needed.

How it works: Categories added here are excluded from individual day cards and shown once in the sidebar — freeing up space in the day columns for items that change day to day.

Custom Section

A flexible panel for announcements, images, links, or other information for families.

Toggle Enable custom section on.
Set the Column position (Left or Right).
Enter a Panel title (e.g., "Welcome Back").
Add a featured image and any custom text or links as needed.

Sharing Your Public Menu

Share a Link

Copy the URL from the Preview page or copy each schools unique link from the Menu plans page. Families can select which menu plan or school to view, switch between weekly and monthly views, filter by allergen, and export to PDF.

Embed in Your Website

The menu can be embedded directly into your district website as an inline frame, so it appears as a seamless part of your site.

Embed (<>) in the top bar of the template preview. Click
Copy the embed code provided.
Share the code with your IT team to insert it into the appropriate page.

Note: Embedding requires IT or web administrator access. The menu updates automatically whenever you publish changes in Gaia, no need to re-share the link.

Export / Print

Click the Printer Icon on the bottom right of the screen to export to PDF.

Print options allow to show hide different menu attributes to help administrators and families customize the print out and fit menus into 1 page.

Display: Click on the chips to show / hide custom sections or detailed information inside meal cards
Settings: Choose toggle to select font size, density, and color.
Weeks: Choose number of weeks to print to fit menu on 1 page