Issues with Collaborative Editing, Formatting, and Plugin Integration on My Restaurant Menu Web App Using ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors

I am building a web-based platform for a restaurant to showcase their full menu and specials, and part of the workflow relies heavily on ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors for editing and maintaining menu documents before publishing them online. The documents contain detailed tables, images, and embedded links for different items and categories. One major issue I am encountering is that when multiple team members open the same document simultaneously, certain changes like inserting images or adjusting table layouts sometimes fail to sync properly. The result is conflicting versions of the document that require manual reconciliation, which significantly slows down the content update process. I am not sure if this is a limitation of the desktop editor itself or if additional server-side configuration is needed.

Another challenge involves handling large documents that include high-resolution photos of menu items and detailed descriptions. The desktop editor frequently lags or crashes when resizing images or applying table formatting, which disrupts workflow. I have tried reducing image sizes and using optimized formats, but the performance impact persists, especially when multiple documents are open at once. I am curious if there are specific settings, memory optimizations, or best practices recommended for ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors when handling media-heavy restaurant documents.

Formatting consistency is also a concern. Some text styles, table borders, and embedded links appear differently when opened in the desktop editor versus the web version or mobile preview. This inconsistency makes it difficult to guarantee that the online menu displays exactly as intended. I have attempted to standardize styles using templates, but there are still occasional discrepancies when exporting or saving changes. I would appreciate guidance on how to ensure full fidelity across desktop, web, and mobile platforms when using ONLYOFFICE to manage complex menu documents.

Integration with plugins and macros is another area where I am running into obstacles. Certain automated workflows, such as updating pricing tables or generating item lists from spreadsheets, do not always execute correctly in the desktop environment. Some scripts fail silently, and errors are not clearly reported, leaving me unsure whether the issue is with the macro, the editor settings, or the document structure. I would like advice on best practices for testing and debugging plugin functionality in ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors to maintain a smooth content pipeline.

Collaboration features such as comments, track changes, and version history are critical for my team, but the desktop editor sometimes shows delayed updates or fails to display certain annotations added by others. This is especially problematic during peak editing periods when several people are updating seasonal offers or promotional sections at the same time. I need to understand whether these issues are related to the local editor, server sync, or network latency, and what measures can be taken to guarantee real-time collaborative editing without data loss.

Finally, I am planning to scale this system to manage menus for multiple restaurant locations, each with unique items, seasonal specials, and document templates. This introduces further complexity in managing document libraries, templates, and versioning across locations. I want to maintain centralized control while still allowing local staff to make timely edits without interfering with other branches. Any advice on architecture, workflow optimization, or desktop editor configurations for efficiently managing multiple menu documents across several locations would be extremely valuable. Please assist as I am not a technical person :pray:

Is there anyone who can assist me? I am a beginner please

Hello @joeroot

Do I understand correctly that your files are located on a certain server, to which several Desktop Editors connect? From current perspective usage of Desktop Editors is unclear. Do you connect via WebDAV/SMB protocols?

I would recommend using ONLYOFFICE Docs (Document Server) for full integration with your storage. You can find more information about integration here: How it works | ONLYOFFICE