Daycast Admin Guide

📦

Product Management

Custom panel · Manage products, menus, pricing & stock

💡

This is a custom panel (not the default Django admin). It has its own sidebar, navigation, and a visual interface designed for day-to-day product operations.

📷 Main view — Sidebar with organization tree, Location/Product view toggle, and search

🛠 Getting Around

Action	How	Type
Switch between Location & Product view	Use the toggle buttons at the top of the sidebar	Click
Navigate Org → Location → Machine	Click the arrow to expand each level in the sidebar tree	Click
Search sidebar	Type in the search box at the top of the sidebar	Type
Resize sidebar	Drag the right edge of the sidebar	Drag

📷 Location selected — Product grid with images, prices, stock, featured stars, and tabs (Products / Machines / Pricing)

🍴 Products Tab (Location View)

Action	How	Type
Browse products	Select a location → Products tab shows a visual grid of all products in the menu	Click
Search products	Use the search bar above the product grid	Type
Toggle featured product	Click the star icon on the top-right of any product card	Toggle
Add product to menu	Click "+ Add Product" → search and select from the product catalog → set price, stock, availability	Form
Remove product from menu	Click the trash icon next to the product in the table view	Click
View product details	Click on a product card to see full details, locations where it appears, and pricing	Click

📷 Add Products modal — Search and toggle products to add them to the location's menu

🤖 Machines Tab (Location View)

Action	How	Type
View machines at a location	Select a location → Machines tab shows cards for each vending machine	Click
See machine status	Each card shows a green/orange/red badge with the current status	—
Click into a machine	Click any machine card to see its menu items and product list	Click

📷 Machines tab — Grid of vending machines at the selected location with status badges and product count

💰 Pricing Tab (Location View)

Action	How	Type
View cross-machine pricing	Select a location → Pricing tab shows a table of products vs. machines	Click
Edit price per machine	Click any price cell in the table → type the new price → press Enter or Tab	Inline
Edit stock per machine	Click the stock number in the table → type the new value	Inline
Bulk set price	Click a product row → "Set Price" button → choose machines → enter price → Apply	Bulk
Toggle availability	Click the toggle switch in the availability column	Toggle
Change menu item category	Use the category dropdown in the table row to reassign	Select

📷 Pricing tab — Cross-machine pricing table with inline editable prices, Bulk Set Price, and Save Changes

✍️ Create & Edit Products

Action	How	Type
Create a new product	Switch to Product View → click "+ New Product" → fill in name, SKU, category, price, image	Form
Edit product details	Click on a product → click "Edit" → modify fields → Save	Form
Upload product image	In the edit form, click the image area or "Choose File"	Upload
Delete a product	Click on a product → click the trash icon in the header	Click

📷 Product View — Browse all products in the sidebar with images and prices

📷 Product detail — Locations, machines, pricing, stock & availability

🔄 Sync & Menu Management

Action	How	Type
Sync products from SandStar	Click the "Sync" button next to a location or machine (requires external_id)	Sync
Create menu for a location	If no menu exists, a prompt appears → click "Create Menu"	Click
Copy menu QR link	Click the link icon next to the menu name in the header area	Click

⚠️

SandStar Sync only works for machines that have an external_id configured and when the SandStar integration is active. The sync runs in the background — you'll see a confirmation toast when the task is queued.

🎨

Category Block Editor

Custom panel · Edit hero banners & spotlight content blocks

/admin/product-management/blocks/

🎬

This editor shows a live phone preview. All edits (text, images, colors) update the preview in real time. Click directly on any text in the preview to edit it.

📷 Block Editor — Organization selector, category sidebar (dot = has blocks), live phone preview with hero banner and inline editing

🎯 Getting Started

1 Select an Organization from the dropdown at the top of the sidebar
2 Click a Category in the sidebar list (a yellow dot indicates it already has blocks)
3 The phone preview loads with the category's hero banner and existing blocks

🌄 Hero Banner Editing

Action	How	Type
Edit badge text	Click directly on the badge pill at the top of the hero → type new text	Inline
Edit category title	Click on the title text → type new name. Press Enter once to split into light/bold lines	Inline
Edit description	Click on the description text below the banner → type new text (quote marks are added automatically)	Inline
Change hero image	Hover over the round image → click "Change Image" → select file. The background gradient updates automatically from the image's dominant color	Upload
Add/change decorations	Click any of the 3 decoration slots (dashed circles at corners) → upload an SVG or image	Upload
Remove a decoration	Hover over a decoration → click the × button	Click
Save hero changes	Click the checkmark button at the top-right corner of the hero banner	Click

⚠️

Title formatting: The first line appears in light weight and the second line (after pressing Enter) appears in bold. Only one line break is allowed.

✨ Spotlight Blocks

Action	How	Type
Add a new block	Click "+ Add Spotlight Block" at the top right	Click
Edit block text	Click directly on the eyebrow, title, or story text in the preview	Inline
Change block background color	Hover over the block → click the palette icon → pick a color	Color Picker
Add value pair	Click "+ Add value" at the bottom of the block → fill in label and value	Form
Edit/remove value pair	Click on any value label or number to edit. Click the × to remove	Inline
Reorder blocks	Hover over a block → use the up/down arrow buttons	Click
Toggle block active/inactive	Hover over a block → click the eye icon. Inactive blocks show a dimmed overlay	Toggle
Delete a block	Hover over a block → click the red trash icon	Click

🤖

Vending Machines

Django admin · Status, test modes, QR codes & sync

/admin/machines/vendingmachine/

📷 Vending Machines list — Name, External ID, Location, Status, No Charge & HW Proxy toggles, Test Mode buttons, QR URL

🔘 Status & Toggles

Action	How	Type
Toggle No Charge	Click the No Charge toggle in the machine's row. Instantly toggles on/off — when enabled, the machine dispenses products without requiring payment	Toggle
Toggle Hardware Proxy	Click the HW Proxy toggle. This syncs with the legacy system and updates the QR code URL	Toggle

🛑

Toggle constraints: No Charge is disabled when test mode is active and hardware proxy is off. Test Mode buttons are disabled when hardware proxy or No Charge is enabled. These safeguards prevent conflicting states.

🔧 Test Modes

Click any mode button directly in the machine's row to activate it. The active mode is highlighted.

— NONE FREE EMPTY FULL MIX ERR

Mode	What it does
NONE	Normal operation (default)
FREE	Simulates free vend — no payment required
EMPTY	Simulates empty vend — machine reports no product dispensed
FULL	Simulates full inventory — all slots appear stocked
MIX	Mixed scenario — some slots empty, some full
ERR	Door malfunction simulation — machine reports door error

📲 QR Codes

Action	How	Type
Preview QR code	Click the "QR" button in the machine's row → a preview popup appears	Click
Download QR code	Click the download button next to the QR preview → saves as PNG	Click
Copy QR URL	Click the copy icon next to the URL in the QR URL column	Click

⚠️

Hardware Proxy machines have a different QR URL base. When you see a warning icon next to the URL, it means the machine is in proxy mode and uses the proxy QR base URL.

📷 Machine detail — Edit form with name, serial, location, status, and all configuration fields

🔄 Product Sync

Action	How	Type
Sync products for a machine	Click the "Sync" button in the machine's row (only visible if external_id is set)	Sync
Sync all machines from legacy	Click "Sync All from TNS" button at the top of the page	Sync

🔍 Search & Filter

Filter	Options
Search	Name, serial number, external ID, location name, manufacturer, model
Organization	Filter by organization (only shows orgs with machines)
Location	Filter by location (only shows locations with machines)
Status	Active, Maintenance, Offline
No Charge	Yes / No
Test Mode	None, Free, Empty, Full, Mixed, Door Error
Hardware Proxy	Yes / No
Created Date	Date range picker

🏷️

Categories

Django admin · Import/export, colors & sponsored categories

/admin/products/category/

📷 Categories list — Image thumbnails, scope badges (Global), color codes, product counts, and Export per row

📋 Manage Categories

Action	How	Type
View category list	Shows: image thumbnail, name, scope badge (Global or Org name), active status, color codes, product count	—
Edit colors inline	Click directly on the color_code or background_color fields in the list → type new hex value → press Enter	Inline
Create a category	Click "Add Category" → fill in name, display name, description, image, colors, organization (leave blank for Global)	Form
Edit a category	Click on the category name → modify fields → Save	Form
Upload category image	In the edit form, use the image field. Blurhash and dominant color are extracted automatically	Upload

📷 Category edit form — Name, display name, description, image, colors, and organization scope

📦 Import & Export

Import categories from file

1 Click "Import" button at the top of the category list
2 Choose your file format: CSV, XLSX, JSON, or ODS
3 Select the file → click "Submit"
4 Review the preview of changes → click "Confirm import"

Export categories to file

1 Click "Export" button at the top of the category list
2 Choose format: CSV, XLSX, JSON, or ODS
3 Click "Submit" → file downloads automatically

💡

You can also export individual rows by clicking the export button in each category's row.

⭐ Sponsored Categories (per Organization)

Manage which categories are sponsored

1 Go to Organizations → click an organization
2 Scroll to the "Sponsored Categories" section
3 Click any category chip to toggle it on/off. Active chips have a dark border and full opacity

📂

Subcategories

Django admin · Organize products within categories

/admin/products/subcategory/

📷 Subcategories list — Image, name, parent category, active status

📷 Subcategory edit form

📋 Manage Subcategories

Action	How	Type
View subcategories	List shows: image thumbnail, name, parent category, active status, creation date	—
Filter by category	Use the Category filter in the right sidebar to show only subcategories of a specific category	Click
Create a subcategory	Click "Add Subcategory" → fill in name, description, select parent category, upload image	Form
Edit a subcategory	Click on the subcategory name → modify fields → Save	Form
Toggle active/inactive	In the edit form, use the "Is active" checkbox	Toggle
Search	Use the search bar to find by name or description	Type

💡

Subcategories help organize products within a category. For example, under "Beverages" you might have "Hot Drinks", "Cold Drinks", and "Juices".