# Taking an order
# Tables, bar and terrace
After [logging in](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/logging-in) you reach the **Orders** screen. This is the starting point: from here you open a new order or go into one that is already open.
## New order
At the top there is one button for each type of order: **Table**, **Bar** and **Terrace**. Only the types set up for the restaurant in PizzaGest are shown; the restaurant in the example has no bar.
Tap one of them, for example **Table**, and all the table numbers appear:
**Free**: the table has no order. Tap it to open one.
**Taken**: the table already has an open order and is shown in gray. To go into it, use **Open orders**.
*Example: in the picture, tables 3 and 12 are taken. Tap **7** to open a new order.*
After you choose the table, the PDA asks for the [number of guests](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/guests).
## Open orders
Below are all the orders currently open in the restaurant, with their count to the right of the heading. An order can be in one of two states:
**Open**: tap it to [view or change the order](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/changing-an-order-already-sent).
**Locked**: another waiter is changing that order right now on another device. It is shown in red with a padlock. You can go in to look at it, but the PDA [warns you](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/warnings-and-messages) that it is locked.
The list refreshes by itself every 30 seconds. To refresh it right away, tap the **circular arrows** button at the top right.
# Guests
When you open a new order, the PDA asks how many people are at the table:
Tap the **number of guests** and you go straight to the [product categories](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/categories-and-items).
*Example: there are 4 people at Table 7, so tap **4**.*
If someone joins later or you made a mistake, change it from the [order](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/reviewing-the-order) screen with the **Change** button.
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From now on, the top of every screen in the order shows:
- The **table** you are working on and your name.
- **Categories**: to go back to the product categories.
- **Order**: to [see what has been ordered so far](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/reviewing-the-order) and its total.
- **Finish order**: to [send the order to the kitchen](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/sending-the-order-to-the-kitchen).
- The **flag**, to change the language.
# Categories and items
Products are organized in **categories**, the same as in PizzaGest: pizzas, salads, drinks, desserts…
Tap a category and its **items** appear, each with its photo.
## Adding an item
**Tap the item** (or the **+** button) to add **one unit** to the order, just as it comes on the menu. There is nothing to confirm: the PDA shows a green message at the top and you can keep adding.
*Example: go into **Salads** and tap the **César** salad. The message "Added: César" appears.*
If you need more than one unit, a change of ingredients or a cooking note, tap the **Options** button that every item has at the top right corner of its photo:
- If the item has ingredients, you go to the [ingredients](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/changing-the-ingredients) screen.
- If it has none (a drink, a dessert), you go straight to the [quantity](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/quantity-and-cooking-notes).
## Course
Above the items is the **Course** selector, which tells the kitchen in what order each product should come out:
**?**: not set.
**S**: starter.
**1st**: first course.
**2nd**: main course.
**D**: dessert.
Choose the course **before** adding the items. It stays selected for everything you add afterwards, until you change it.
*Example: before the salad tap **S**, and when you go into **Medium Pizzas** tap **2nd**. The salad will come out as a starter and the pizzas as the main course.*
If you make a mistake, you can change the course of each product later from the [order](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/reviewing-the-order) screen.
# Changing the ingredients
When the guest wants a product made their way, tap the item's **Options** button on the [items](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/categories-and-items) screen. You will see a screen like this one:
The top shows the item's **name**, its **price**, the description and its **allergen** icons. The price and the allergens update with every change you make.
## Recipe: removing ingredients
**Recipe** lists the ingredients the item comes with.
To **remove** an ingredient, tap it: it is shown crossed out, in red, with the word **NO**. Tap it again to put it back.
## Add extras
Below are all the ingredients you can add, grouped the same way as in PizzaGest (dough, sauces, cheese, protein, vegetables…). Tap an ingredient to add it: it appears in the recipe, in green, with the word **EXTRA**. To remove it, tap it in the recipe.
To the right of each group there is a counter, for example **0/5**: the extras added and the maximum that group allows. Once the maximum is reached, the other ingredients in the group can no longer be tapped.
## "Choose one" groups
Some groups, such as the **dough** or the **base cheese**, are marked **Choose one**: the product must always have one option, and only one. The current one is checked. When you tap another, the PDA makes the swap: in the recipe the old one appears as **NO** and the new one as **SWAP**.
If one of these options is missing, the PDA shows the message **Still to choose** and does not let you continue until you pick it.
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*Example: the guest orders a **Medium BBQ Chicken** with no bacon, with caramelized onion and mushroom, on thin dough.*
1. *Under **Recipe** tap **Bacon**: it becomes "NO Bacon".*
2. *In the vegetables group tap the caramelized onion and **Mushroom**: they appear as EXTRA and the counter goes to 2/5.*
3. *Under **Dough** tap **Thin dough**: it appears as "SWAP Thin dough".*
4. *The price has gone from €12.99 to €15.39.*
When you are done, tap **Continue** to set the [quantity and cooking notes](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/quantity-and-cooking-notes). To discard the item, tap the **X** next to its name.
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On a tablet, the recipe and the extras are shown in two columns:
# Quantity and cooking notes
You reach this screen by tapping **Continue** on the [ingredients](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/changing-the-ingredients) screen or, if the item has no ingredients, directly from its **Options** button.
**Quantity**: use the **−** and **+** buttons to set how many units the guest wants. You can also tap the number and type it.
**Cooking notes**: the instructions for the kitchen. The usual notes the restaurant has set up in PizzaGest for that category are listed (for example "Lightly cooked"); just tap one. If you do not need any, leave **None** selected.
**Other note**: if what the guest asks for is not on the list, tap here to type it.
Type the note (25 characters max.) and tap **Add note**. You go back to the previous screen, where the note now appears.
Finally, tap **Add item** to add it to the order.
*Example: the guest wants **2** BBQ pizzas like the one just prepared, **cut into 8 slices**. Tap **+** to set the quantity to 2, tap **Other note**, type "Cut into 8 slices" and tap **Add item**.*
> Cooking notes only appear for categories that are printed in the kitchen.
# Half and half
In categories that allow it, such as pizzas, you can make a product **half and half**: half of one item and half of another.
It takes two steps:
1. Add the **first half** as a normal item, with **one unit**.
2. For the **second half**, tap the other item's **Options** button and then **Continue**. The [quantity](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/quantity-and-cooking-notes) screen shows the question **Half and half with the previous item**: select **Yes** and tap **Add item**.
*Example: the guest wants a pizza that is half **4 Formaggio** and half **Carbonara**. Tap **Medium 4 Formaggio** to add it. Then tap **Options** on the Medium Carbonara, **Continue**, select **Yes** and **Add item**.*
On the [order](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/reviewing-the-order) screen the two halves appear together, marked **1st half** and **2nd half**, with a single price.
Keep in mind that:
- The question only appears if the previous item is **one unit** from the same category (or from a category that can be combined with it).
- Each half can have its own [ingredient](https://docs.pizzagest.com/books/pizzagest-pda-icL/page/changing-the-ingredients) changes.
- If you delete one half from the order, both are deleted.