Menus that change without a reprint
Put one code on the table tent and point it wherever you like — a PDF today, a page with tonight's specials tomorrow, and something else again at lunchtime.
The problem with a menu QR code
Almost every menu code in the wild encodes a link directly. When the file moves, the site is rebuilt, or the agency that hosted the PDF stops answering, every table tent in the room is a dead link — and the only fix is reprinting them.
A dynamic code encodes a short address that resolves through us. The printed square is permanent; the destination is a field.
Somewhere for it to go
If you have a menu page already, point at it. If you do not, host the PDF in the media library and repoint the code at a new version whenever the prices change — the printed code never knows the difference. Or build a landing page here, which is the option that reads properly on a phone without pinching.
What you learn
Scans by hour and weekday, which tells you when people actually reach for the code; by device, which tells you what to design for; and by code, if you use a different one per section of the room or per venue.
A code printed at 2 cm on a laminated card in low light is at the edge of what a phone camera manages. The printing notes cover size, contrast and error correction.
See it happen
What you can do with it
Change the menu without reprinting the table tents
The printed square is permanent; where it points is a field. New prices at nine in the morning are live at nine in the morning, on every table in the room.
A different menu at different times of day
Point it at breakfast until eleven and at lunch afterwards. The code on the table never knows the difference, and neither does the person reading it.
Somewhere for it to go, if you have not got one
Host the PDF here and swap the file when prices change, or build a page that reads properly on a phone without pinching — which a PDF, honestly, does not.
You learn when people actually reach for it
Scans by hour and weekday. On a menu code that is a picture of your service, and it is usually not the shape anybody guesses.
Getting there
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Make one dynamic code
One is enough to start, and the free plan gives you two.
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Point it at your menu
An existing page, a PDF hosted here, or a page built here.
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Print the table tents
2–3 cm, matte rather than gloss, and test a proof.
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Change the menu whenever
The tents stay on the tables for as long as they last.
More in the same place
Questions
Do diners need an app?
No — the phone camera reads it and opens the browser they already have.
Can I use one code for every table?
Yes, and most places should. Separate codes only earn their keep when you want to tell parts of the room apart in the reports.
The restaurant's Wi-Fi is unreliable. Does that matter?
Only for your own devices. A diner scanning the code is on their own mobile connection, and the page is small enough to arrive on a poor one.
Will a laminated card still scan?
Matte laminate is fine. Gloss reflects, and a gloss-laminated code under a downlight can be unreadable at every angle somebody naturally tries.
Try it with one code
The free plan has no expiry and asks for no card, and the analytics behind it are the same ones a paying customer gets.
Free forever for one person. No card, and 10,000 scans a month included.