What offline mode does when the internet goes down

What the print app's offline mode is

Offline mode isn't a second system: it's the same print app you already use to send orders to the thermal printer. With the offline block in its config.json, that device does two more things. It keeps a copy of the menu, the tables, the waiters and the kitchens while the internet is fine, and it opens an ordering page at an address on the restaurant's network, like http://192.168.0.50:8765/.

When the connection drops, the waiter's phone can't reach the cloud anymore, but it can reach the print app over the restaurant's Wi-Fi. They open that local page, choose the waiter and the table, build the order from the saved menu and send it: the ticket prints right away and the order goes into a queue stored on the device itself, with a local number like OFF-1. That queue stays saved even if the print app is restarted.

Why this saves the service

• The kitchen keeps getting paper. That's what matters in the middle of service: the ticket prints at the right prep station's printer, with the table, waiter, quantity, add-ons and note, just as it would with internet.
• Nothing has to be typed twice. When the connection comes back, the orders upload on their own and enter qmen.us with the time they were placed, at the right table. Nobody stays late re-entering orders.
• No ticket prints twice. Each order carries its own key and reaches the cloud marked as already printed. If the queue is sent again, qmen.us recognizes the key and doesn't create a duplicate order.
• The page is served from inside the restaurant. That's why it opens even without internet: the screen comes from the print app, on the restaurant's Wi-Fi, not from a server out there.
• It costs nothing extra. qmen.us is free for the restaurant with no commission per order, and we're not a marketplace like iFood. Offline mode comes with the print app, which you install yourself on a device at the restaurant.

How to work without internet in 6 steps

There are six steps: what to prepare beforehand, what to do during the outage and what happens on its own when the connection comes back.

1. Keep the print app on and the menu saved

   Everything depends on one thing: the print app has to be running before the outage. While there's internet, it fetches the menu, the tables, the waiters and the kitchens every few seconds and keeps that copy on the device. If you've never let it connect, the local page opens saying No saved menu. Connect to the internet once. and you can't order anything.

   Tip: Give the print app's computer or Raspberry Pi a fixed IP in the router's DHCP reservation. That way the local page's address doesn't change from one day to the next and the QR code at the counter keeps working.

2. Keep the local address handy before you need it

   When it starts, the print app writes out the local page's address, in the format http://192.168.0.50:8765/. That address needs to be saved in qmen.us to become two shortcuts: the QR code to stick near the counter and the No internet — tap to open offline mode notice, which shows up on its own at the top of the waiter app when the connection drops. This QR code belongs to the print app and isn't the table QR code: it opens the staff's ordering page.

3. During the outage, open the local page on the phone

   The waiter's phone needs to be on the restaurant's Wi-Fi — the internet is down, but the internal network is still up. Tap the notice in the app, scan the QR code at the counter or type the address. A dark screen opens with the header qmen.us — offline mode (no internet), the restaurant's name and the fields Waiter, Table, Order name (optional) and PIN. The PIN is only required if the restaurant set one up; if it's wrong, you see Wrong PIN. Tap Start.

4. Build the order and tap Send and print

   The saved menu appears by category, with each item's price. An item with a size or flavor opens the choices sheet with Add and Cancel; the others go in with one tap. The bottom bar shows how many items and the total, and the View order button opens the order to change quantities, write a note (e.g. no onions) or remove a line. With Send and print, the ticket prints at the right kitchen's printer and the screen confirms with the local number, like Order OFF-1 printed!

5. Know what doesn't work while the internet is out

   During the outage there's only the local page. The kitchen display, the Dashboard, reports, the table QR code for guests and chat ordering depend on the cloud and are offline. You also can't move the order along: there's no Preparing, Ready or Served there, and no Custom items or closed bills. What counts is the paper that printed in the kitchen — and the printed price is the one from the saved menu.

6. Let the queue sync on its own when the internet comes back

   There's no send-everything button. The print app tries to sync every few seconds and, as soon as the connection comes back, uploads the queue in the sequence it was taken. Each one enters qmen.us already as Ordered at the right table, with the original waiter, items and time, and shows up on the kitchen display and in the waiter app. No ticket is printed again, because the kitchen already has its own.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Offline mode

A section of the print app's settings that makes it serve a local ordering page and keep a queue while the restaurant has no internet.

Print agent

The small program that runs on the kitchen's device, fetches tickets from qmen.us, prints them on the thermal printer and confirms.

Local page

An ordering screen served by the print app itself at an address on the restaurant's network, like http://192.168.0.50:8765/, with the header qmen.us — offline mode (no internet).

Saved menu

A copy of the menu, tables, waiters and kitchens that the print app downloads while it has internet and uses to build orders during an outage.

Local queue

A list of orders taken offline that stays saved on the print app's device until the internet comes back and each one goes up to qmen.us.

OFF-1

The number the local page gives an order during an outage (OFF-1, OFF-2, OFF-3), so your team can keep track before syncing.

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