Set a Default Order Type for Table Sections in Shift4 Dine Customer Hub

Description: Learn how to assign a default order type to a table section so every ticket started from that section's tables opens with the correct order type automatically.

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Note: This feature is currently available only for Pilot users.

Overview

Venues with distinct service zones — a full-service dining room, a quick-service bar, a patio — often need a different order type in each zone. Previously, default order types could only be set at the Job level or the Terminal level, so staff routinely had to correct the order type after opening a ticket.

With a section-level default, any new ticket created by selecting a table in that section opens with the section's configured order type automatically applied. The default resolves in this priority order:

1. Section level: The table section's default order type (this feature).
2. Terminal level: The device's default, set under Hardware Settings.
3. Job level: The logged-in employee's Job default.

This mirrors the same override-hierarchy pattern used for terminal-level menu type defaults — the more specific setting always wins, falling back level by level when it's not configured.

The setting is available in both Shift4 Customer Hub and Shift4 Customer Hub Location Management, and it is found in the same place in the table section settings in each. The difference is that Location Management can manage settings at the enterprise level or at an individual location.

Before You Begin

• Prerequisites: Your location must have at least one table section configured, and order types must be set up.
• Configuration surface: The section default is configured only in the back office — either in Shift4 Customer Hub or Shift4 Dine Customer Hub Location Management (at the individual location level). It cannot be configured on the Workstation.
• Devices: The default applies when tickets are created from Table View on the Workstation and Handheld, and from Host View on the Workstation. Host View is not available on Handheld.
• Ticket Grid exception: Tickets created in the Ticket Grid retain their original order type even if a table is assigned later in Host View.

Assign a Default Order Type in Shift4 Customer Hub

1. Log in to the Customer Hub and go to the Table Layout settings.
   
2. Select the section you want to configure.
3. In the Default Order Type dropdown, select the order type for the section. The dropdown lists all of the merchant's order types, including inactive ones, which are displayed in italics.
   
   Note: If a section's assigned order type is later deactivated, the assignment is kept in the back office but treated as None at runtime, so tickets fall back to the Terminal-level or Job-level default. If the order type is reactivated, the section default resumes working automatically.
4. To remove a section default, select None. The section then falls back to the Terminal-level, then Job-level default.
5. Select Save. The setting is saved per section and persists across sessions.

Assign a Default Order Type in Shift4 Customer Hub Location Management

In Shift4 Customer Hub Location Management, the setting works the same way and is found at the individual location level.

1. Log in to Customer Hub Location Management.
2. Select an individual location.
3. Go to the Table Layout settings by navigating to Shift4 Dine > Table Layout and selecting the section you want to configure.
   
4. In the Default Order Type dropdown, select the order type for the section (inactive order types appear in italics), or select None to remove the default.
5. Select Save. Enterprise-level changes apply to locations that have not set their own override; location-level changes apply only to the location in question.

How It Works During Service

Table View: When a staff member taps a table to start a new ticket, the ticket is created with the section's default order type already applied — no manual change needed. This works on both the Workstation and Handheld.

Host View (Workstation only): When a host or server creates a new ticket by selecting a table from the floor plan, the ticket is created with that table's section default order type.

Ticket Grid: Tickets created from the Ticket Grid are created before any table is selected, so the order type is set from the Terminal-level or Job-level default at creation time. Assigning a table from Host View afterward does not retroactively change the ticket's order type.