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How to use the Nutrition Tracker plugin

Track daily calories, macros, and custom nutrients with automatic USDA food data lookup, barcode scanning, and optional weight-based intake recommendations.

Amr Alshareef avatar
Written by Amr Alshareef
Updated this week

The Nutrition Tracker plugin lets users log meals, track nutrients, scan barcodes, and pull detailed nutritional data directly from the USDA database. You can choose which nutrients appear on the dashboard, add your own food database items, and enable smart features like history suggestions, product suggestions, and weight-based intake guidance. The plugin supports calories, macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates), water, vitamins, minerals, caffeine, and any custom measurement you need — all displayed in a clean daily dashboard.

Requirements

  • This is a Boost plugin, available on the Standard, Growth, and Business plans

  • A USDA FoodData Central API key

How to use the Nutrition Tracker plugin

  1. Log in, go to Builder in the left navigation

  2. Click the + button to open the Plugin Marketplace

    • Search for Nutrition Tracker, then click Add Plugin

    • Name your plugin and choose whether to add it to the side menu, then click Add again

  3. Stay in the Content tab

    • By default, users will see calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and one additional nutrient

    • Click Add Nutrient to include vitamins, minerals, water, caffeine, or any custom measurement

    • Drag nutrients to reorder them — the top five appear on the main dashboard

  4. Click the Design tab

    • Choose between the available layout styles

    • (Optional) Enable Advanced Mode to apply custom CSS for this plugin only

  5. Click the Settings tab

    • Add your USDA FoodData Central API key to enable real-time nutritional lookups

    • Turn on History Suggestions to surface previously logged foods in search results

    • Turn on Product Suggestions to prioritize your manual food database over USDA search

    • (Optional) Enable Pull Data from Weight Tracker to automatically calculate recommended daily calories and protein based on BMI

  6. Test in out in the App Preview

    • Tap Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, or Snack to add an item

      1. Search for foods — results come from USDA, your history, or your own food database

      2. Adjust servings to update totals

      3. Tap Save to add the item to the daily log

    • Use barcode scanning to add packaged foods

      1. Tap the Scanner icon to open the device camera

      2. Scan product UPC

      3. If USDA data exists, nutrient values populate automatically

      4. If not, create a manual entry in the Food Database

    • Manage your Food Database

      1. Open the Food Database tab

      2. Add items manually for foods not in USDA

      3. Include serving size, nutrients, and UPC so future scans autofill correctly

    • View weekly nutrition insights

      1. If Weight Tracker recommendations are enabled, tap suggested calorie/protein targets

      2. View week-by-week charts indicating days you met (green) or missed (red) suggested intake

  7. Click the Security tab

    • Turn on Require Login to restrict access

    • (Optional) Add tag-based restrictions and choose whether to match any or all tags

  8. Click the Tagging tab

    • Enter a tag name to automatically apply to users when they open this feature

    • Click Add Tag

  9. Click the Purchase tab

    • Check Require Purchase to enable

    • Choose your product type (e.g., Single Purchase or Subscription)

    • Upload an image, fill out purchase text, and success/failure messages

  10. Click the Analytics tab to see feature performance

    • View data such as number of views, users, and devices over time

Pro tips

  • Keep the dashboard clean — show only nutrients users track daily

  • Encourage users to scan UPCs for faster, more accurate nutrition logging

  • Add manual foods for local items, custom meals, or recurring entries

  • Turn on both History Suggestions and Product Suggestions for the smoothest search experience

  • If using Weight Tracker, remind users to keep weight entries updated for accurate intake recommendations

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