1. Enter items directly into the order table on the "Member Order Edit Screen".
2. Select items from the product list on the “View/Search Pricelist” screen and add them to the order.

1. Member Order Edit Screen

If you have a UNF catalog and are able to find what you want in that, you can click on the "Step 5: Enter Order" button on the Main Menu of FoodLink.  That brings up the "Member Order Edit Screen" where you can enter items on the bottom row of the table that is displayed there.  For each item, enter the Product (product code from the catalog), Split (whether you want to split the case with others), Qty (the minimum amount you want), and More (how much more than the minimum you're willing to take).  FoodLink validates each item you enter and displays the description, the unit price, whether it's on special, and the expected cost of your minimum order.  When you're ready to send your complete order to the batcher, just click on the "Print/Send" button in the upper right corner of the screen and then on the "Email Order File" button on the resulting popup window.  Make sure the correct batcher is displayed in the "Send to" box.

2. View/Search Pricelist Window

If you don't have a UNF catalog, or prefer to build your order from the FoodLink product list, click on the Step 4: View Pricelist" button on the Main Menu.  That will display the entire product list to start.  The trick is to narrow down the list on display by using the Search function.  It's best to search on Description.  Select "Description" in the "Search in Field" box, then enter bits of description in the "Search for" box.  For example, if you're looking for Strawberry Yogurt, you might put "str + y + rt" in that box.  That tells FoodLink to display all items that have all three of those pieces of text in the description.  FoodLink will then display all products with descriptions like Strawberry Yogurt, Strb Yogurt, Straw Ygrt, and other such abbreviations.   For each search, after you've set up the search criteria in the "Search in Field" and "Search for" boxes, you have to click on the "Search Now" button to kick off the search.  The search criteria are cumulative – that is, you can further narrow down the search results by selecting additional criteria and searching some more.  For example, if after the previous search, you want to see only Mountain High Strawberry Yogurt, you can select "Brand" in the "Search in Field" box and put MNTHI in the "Search for" box, then click on the "Search Now" button.  But of course, you would have to know already that MNTHI is FoodLink's abbreviation for the Mountain High brand.  Another useful search is to see what's on special for the month.  Just select "Specials" in the "Search in Field" box, then click on the "Search Now" button.  To clear any search in order to do another search from scratch, just click on the "Restore" button.

Once you've found the item you want, select it from the displayed list by clicking on the box on the far left of the row.  A black pointer shows what row you're on.   When the pointer is on the correct row, click on the "Add to Order" button.  A small window pops up, and that's where you tell FoodLink how much you want -- specifically, whether you want to split a case, what's the minimum amount you want, and how much more you're willing to take.

After you've added a few items, you can see what's in your order by clicking on the "Step 5: Enter Order" button back on the Main Menu.  You might want to keep the "Member Order Edit Screen" open at the same time as the "View/Search Pricelist" window.  Just move them out of each other's way so you can see both at once.  Note that items added from the "View/Search Pricelist" screen do not automatically show up on the "Member Order Edit Screen". You have to click on that screen in order to refresh it with the newly added items.

As before, when you're ready to send your complete order to the batcher, just click on the "Print/Send" button in the upper right corner of the "Member Order Edit Screen" and then on the "Email Order File" button on the resulting popup window.

Web Form

As a last resort -- if you can't get FoodLink to work for you -- you can use the web form at http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/forms/FoodLinkOrderForm.htm.  But you have to be careful to enter the correct product codes because, unlike FoodLink, this form does not show descriptions along with the codes or validate the codes you enter.