Question
What's the difference between a copy, a deep copy, and a version in Toast Multilocation Management (MLM)?
Answer
Copy (sometimes referred to as a "shallow" copy): Creates a new version of the menu entity, but all of the associated menu components are still linked to the original version.
If you make a copy of a hamburger, there will be a new hamburger menu item but any hamburger modifier groups will stay the same.
If you change the price of one hamburger, the other hamburger will not be affected.
If you update the hamburger modifiers, the changes will apply for both hamburger menu items (the original and the copy).
When might you need to copy your menus? Copying can work well for happy hour menus. Simply copy your alcohol groups and utilize menu-specific pricing. That way, because you’ll be reusing the same items and modifiers from the original group, you’ll have cleaner reporting on item sales.
Deep copy: Creates a new version of the menu entity and all of the associated menu components. None of the components are linked to the original entity.
If you make a deep copy of a hamburger, there will be a new hamburger menu item and any hamburger modifier groups/modifiers will also have a new version.
If you update the new menu item (or modifier group/modifiers), the changes will not apply to the original menu item.
Note: Take caution when using the deep copy feature, as duplicates of everything will be created.
When might you need to deep copy your menus? Deep copying may be helpful if you're creating a dinner menu that matches your lunch menu except all of the portions (for inventory) are different.
The diagram below shows the difference between a copy and a deep copy:
For more explanation of when to copy, deep copy, or reuse menu entities, see this Toast Central article: Reuse or Copy Menu Groups, Items, and Modifiers.
Versioning: If your restaurant group uses Toast Mulitlocation Management (MLM), you can create versions of menus/menu groups if you wish to have location-specific objects for the given location. Having location-specific versions means that group and subgroup versions of the given entity are superseded by the location-specific entity. A location sees only the latest, most specific version of the given entity relevant for its location.
Versioning menu entities does not result in more entites; it just changes the version of the entity that is seen by a given location.
When might you need to create versions of your menus or menu groups? You may need to use versioning for your enterprise if you have different prep station configurations at one location versus another, or if you would like to change prices and taxes specific locations.
For more information on versioning, see our technical documentation: