FW Food Menu – Documentation
Meal Category Module
FWFM Meal Category Module
The FWFM Meal Category Module displays meal items from one or more specific menu categories in any Joomla module position. Unlike the full menu view, which presents all categories at once, this module focuses on a targeted selection — making it ideal for drawing attention to particular items anywhere on your site.
Use Cases
- Homepage featured category — surface a "Today's Specials" or "Chef's Picks" category directly on the homepage, so visitors see highlighted items without navigating to the full menu.
- Sidebar category preview — place a compact "Starters" or "Popular Items" category block in a sidebar position alongside other page content.
- Landing pages — promote a seasonal or promotional category on a dedicated landing page without exposing the entire menu.
Creating a Module Instance
- In the Joomla administrator, go to Extensions → Modules and click New.
- Select FWFM Meal Category from the module type list.
- Give the module a title and assign it to a module position.
- Configure the parameters described below, then save and publish.
Module Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Template | Selects the design template used to render the module output. Options are drawn from your installed FW Food Menu design plugins (for example, Coffee or Sushi layouts). If no template is selected, the default layout is used. |
| Category | Choose one or more menu categories to display. Meal items from all selected categories are merged and shown together. Categories must contain published items to produce visible output — empty categories render nothing. |
| Module class suffix | A CSS class appended to the module wrapper element. Use this to apply custom styling to a specific module instance without affecting others. |
How It Works
When the module is loaded on a page, it retrieves published meal items for the selected categories using the FW Food Menu meal model. The items are then rendered using the chosen design template, producing output that mirrors what appears in the main menu view — but limited strictly to the categories you have selected.
If more than one category is selected, items from all of them are combined into a single display. The Template parameter controls the visual presentation; switching templates changes the layout without affecting which items are shown.
