frequently asked questions

How does Recipezaar feel about Freedom of Speech?

Freedom of Speech is a privilege here, not a right. Recipezaar is not government-owned, it is private. Therefore, we have no obligation to grant Freedom of Speech, just as you have no obligation to allow strangers in your own home say whatever they want. We grant and protect the privilege because we value it. (There are not many recipe/cooking sites owned by a Political Science major, so Recipezaar is a bit different in its respect of free speech.)

However, we do limit this privilege. As one would expect, we do not allow pornography, hateful or harrassing speech or privacy violations. Additionally, to promote a welcoming and enjoyable community, we require that everyone be polite and respectful of each other. This requirement does not prohibit nor inhibit the exercising of Free Speech. Any idea can be expressed in a manner that is not pornographic, hateful/harassing, rude or disrespectful and we condone and defend that expression, even if we don't agree with it.

Related to Free Speech is censorship. Censorship is the act of deleting or otherwise preventing speech from public consumption. Except in extreme cases (pornography, hateful/harassing speech, privacy violations, etc.) we never delete text. Therefore, by definition, we do not censor. Discouraging certain types of speech is not censorship.

What we may do is move any thread in our Forums which has become rude, disrepectful, etc. to The Frying Pan (what is The Frying Pan?).

Is Recipezaar a good place to discuss my strong religious and/or political beliefs?

No, Recipezaar is a cooking site. There are many better places on the web to discuss such topics (let us know if you need help finding those places).

Our experience has shown that these topics often inspire heated debate that devolves into name-calling and attacks, rather than polite respectful discussions. As a result, they are usually thrown in The Frying Pan and the people involved are reprimanded.

Is it okay to be rude to people if I believe it's my right to Freedom of Speech to voice my opinion?

No. Freedom of speech does give you the right to voice your opinion, but, as courts have decided time and time again, there are limits. For example, you cannot walk a crowded movie theater and yell "Fire!". You cannot slander or libel others. You cannot infringe on other people's copyrights and more. And in the environment of Recipezaar, we specifically limit Freedom of Speech to only respectful and polite speech.

Related:
How does Recipezaar feel about Freedom of Speech?

How to write helpful recipe reviews

New to writing reviews? Want some tips on how to make your reviews more helpful to others? Here are some ideas to help you learn how:

• Remember to check the Stars.

  5 stars is for highest, 1 star for the lowest. See "What does each star level mean." If you just want to leave a comment without any stars, then select "no stars." This is allowed and does not count as a zero(more on this below).

• Leave some written Comments about the recipe.

  Whether you loved the recipe or hated it, or just thought it was ok, we want to know what you liked or disliked and how the recipe can be improved.

  Things you might mention would be:

  • How did it taste to you?
  • How accurate were the measurements and/or instructions?
  • Were the instructions clear or vague?
  • Did you feel the need to make any changes? What were these changes?
  • Would you make the recipe again?

  Note: You don't have to answer all of those questions - these are just suggestions. You also don't have to write a lengthy review (although you may ) Even just a few words about why you liked it or didn't like can be very helpful. Even though currently comments are not required, most people will find your review much more helpful if you do leave some.

• Be polite and tactful!

  No one likes to hear that you "fed this to the dogs it was so bad" or that their recipe "looked like puke." Real people have submitted these recipes and they have feelings. You can say the same thing politely and still get your message across, such as: "I did not enjoy the taste of this recipe and would not make it again" and "I thought the dish looked very unappetizing."

• Always be HONEST.

  This is one of the most important rules to follow. Writing a review should never be a scary experience. Don't be afraid to write your honest comments and rate the stars according to your particular experience with this recipe. You are not rating the recipe poster but the recipe itself. Don't be afraid of hurting the feelings of a friend - as long as you are polite & honest, a lower rating is not hurtful.

• Don't deliberately over-rate or under-rate a recipe.

  Leaving a bunch of inflated marks for recipes your friends have posted really isn't helpful to most people looking for good recipes to try. Folks might tend to discount your reviews if they think you are just trying to boost someone's ego. Does this mean you can't rate the recipes of your friends and family? Not at all - you most certainly are allowed to rate the recipes your friends or family members have shared. Just rate them honestly and don't be afraid of hurting their feelings.

  Also, if you are mad at a recipe poster and want to "get even" with them by giving them a crummy review, think again. Reviews are NOT the place to start a feud and you should never mark down a recipe as a vendetta. This type of review is not allowed and will get rejected or deleted. If you have an issue with someone, contact the Webmasters or that person directly.

• You may leave a No-Star Comment

  If you have not made the recipe, but want to comment on its authenticity or changes you would make, etc you may do so. However - you might consider not selecting any stars. You are not required to leave stars in order to leave a comment. Leaving a no-star comment, when tactfully worded, can be very helpful to others, but folks tend to get very upset when someone marks low stars on a recipe you have not tried. If you really feel you must leave stars anyway, then you may do so, it just might not earn you many helpful marks.

• Bear in mind any changes you made

  Many chefs like to play with the ingredients of a recipe or choose to make substitutions due to cost, ingredient availability, dietary needs and personal tastes. This is part of the fun of cooking! But please remember that changing the ingredients or method may sometimes produce a good result, but may also have contributed to an unsuccessful outcome. We do want to know what changes you made, but you might want to consider whether your changes affected your impression of the recipe. It might be more helpful in some cases to leave a no-star comment explaining what you did differently, so others may still benefit from your experience, but without falsely lowering or raising the star rating of the "as directed" version of the recipe.

• Reviews are not the place to ask questions of the chef.

  If you want to ask the recipe poster a question about the recipe or just to let them know that you think their recipe sounds great, you can do this two different ways. You can either select the "ask the chef a question" link at the bottom of the recipe page - the webmasters will send your question directly to the recipe poster via Zmail (Premium Feature). Or, if you need a quicker response, you can post a question on the message boards.

• You can revise reviews to make them more helpful.

  If you would like to re-write an old review, you may do so. Simply re-enter the stars and write new comments in the review box - your new review will replace the old one. If you simply want to add more info to your original comments, copy & paste your old review comments into the review box, and then add the additional comments (and don't forget to check off the stars again). You can fix typos this way too, by the way.

• You may not review your own recipe.

  If would like to address a point made by a reviewer, you may send in a correction and update your description, ingredients or steps. If you want to contact a reviewer, you may do so by leaving an ISO message on the message board for them or asking the Webmasters to privately email them with your message.

• If you don't have any recipes posted you MAY still review recipes.

  There is no requirement that you post recipes here in order to rate a recipe. The number of folks who are only here to gather recipes far outweighs the number of folks who actually post recipes. Zaar has thousands of members who only visit to try out recipes and never post one here themselves. Don't be afraid to share your experience with others. We are happy you found something to try and hope you'll try more.

  Furthermore, new members may also rate recipes. You may rate recipes as soon as you join Recipezaar. There is no waiting period, no mandatory number of posts etc. You can jump right in!

Isn't it impossible to voice a dissenting opinion without appearing rude or impolite?

No. Lawyers do it all the time. So do politicians. So do many people on this site. It can take practice, but everything can be worded politely and respectfully no matter how strongly you disagree with someone. For example, I don't believe that the Earth is flat, but if I were discussing this topic with someone who does believe that the Earth is flat, I could respond in two ways:

"You are a complete moron! Everyone knows that the Earth is round!"

This may be a true statement, but it is neither polite or respectful.

"I see what you're saying, and I agree that the Earth does appear flat when you're standing on the surface, but that's because it is so large. I've also seen pictures of Earth from space, and it's definitely round in those pictures."

This is polite and respectful because it acknowledges their point of view, e.g., it is respectful, and states my point-of-view in a polite and respectful way.

What do I do if someone is acting inappropriately in the Forums?

Let us know by clicking the "Notify us of inappropriate posts" at the bottom of the particular thread. This is the best way to let us know. Often the worst thing you can do is "attempt to put them in their place."

I'm proud that I'm not politically-correct! Why do people get angry with me?

It's fine to not be "politically-correct". However, if you are just using that as a euphemism for not being polite or for being rude (or both), it won't be tolerated. Say what you want, just do it with politeness and respect for others.

Is it okay to "hijack" a thread and change the topic?

Taking control of a thread for the purposes of changing the subject or ending the discussion is neither polite nor respectful to the people participating in the thread. We understand this happens accidentally at times, but "Hijacking" threads purposefully is rude and we will issue warnings to those who practice this.

If you do not have an interest in a topic, we suggest you participate in topics in which you have an interest.