Sharing Recipes
Sharp Cooking makes it easy to share your favorite recipes with others and build shared cookbook collections. Whether you’re sending a single recipe to a friend or creating a community cookbook for your family, we have tools to help you collaborate and share.
This guide covers both individual recipe sharing and community features.
Two Ways to Share {#two-ways}
Individual Recipe Sharing
Send a one-time copy of a recipe to someone via link, email, or text. They get their own copy to save, edit, and use.
Best for:
- Sharing a specific recipe with a friend
- Sending recipes to family members
- Posting recipes on social media
- Quick, one-off sharing
Communities
Create ongoing shared collections where members can add, edit, and access recipes together in real-time.
Best for:
- Family cookbook collections
- Recipe clubs or cooking groups
- Shared meal planning with roommates
- Collaborative recipe development
Sharing Individual Recipes {#individual-sharing}
How to Share a Recipe
From the recipe page:
- Open the recipe you want to share
- Tap the Share button (share icon)
- Choose how to send it:
- Copy link - Get a shareable URL
- Text message - Send via SMS
- Email - Send via email app
- Social media - Post to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Recipient opens the link
- Recipe displays in Sharp Cooking (works without an account)
- They can save it to their own collection (requires account)
What Recipients See
When someone opens a shared recipe link:
Without an account:
- Full recipe view (ingredients, instructions, photos)
- Can use Cooking Mode
- Can print or save as PDF
- Cannot save to their collection or edit
With an account:
- Everything above, plus:
- Save to my recipes button
- Recipe becomes a copy in their collection
- They can edit their copy independently
- Changes don’t affect your original
Sharing Options
Copy link (most flexible):
- Creates a permanent public URL
- Works for anyone, account or not
- Can be shared anywhere (text, email, Discord, Slack, etc.)
- Link doesn’t expire
Email:
- Opens your email app with pre-filled message
- Includes recipe link and preview
- Personalize the message
- Great for family sharing
Text message:
- Opens SMS with recipe link
- Quick and simple
- Perfect for last-minute recipe requests
Social media:
- Share to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
- Shows recipe preview card with photo
- Great for food bloggers or public sharing
Privacy and Sharing
Who can see shared recipes?
- Anyone with the link
- Recipes don’t appear in public search
- Not listed on your profile
- Only people you send the link to can access
Can I revoke access? Currently, no. Once a link is shared, it stays active. Don’t share recipes you want to keep private.
Can they see my other recipes? No. Shared links only show the specific recipe, not your collection.
Recipe Communities {#communities}
Communities are shared spaces where multiple people can add, view, edit, and organize recipes together.
What is a Community?
Think of it like a shared cookbook folder. Everyone in the community sees the same recipes, and anyone can contribute.
Examples:
- “Smith Family Recipes” - All family members can add and view
- “Book Club Potluck” - Members share recipes for monthly dinners
- “College Apartment” - Roommates share meal ideas
- “Italian Cooking Class” - Students and instructor collaborate
Creating a Community
- Go to Communities in the main menu
- Tap Create new community
- Enter community name (e.g., “Johnson Family Cookbook”)
- Optional: Add description
- Choose privacy setting:
- Private - Only invited members
- Public - Anyone can join with link
- Tap Create community
- You’re the admin
Inviting Members
After creating a community:
- Tap Invite members
- Choose invitation method:
- Copy invite link - Share anywhere
- Email invites - Enter email addresses
- Text invites - Send via SMS
- Recipients click link
- They join the community (requires Sharp Cooking account)
- They instantly see all community recipes
Managing members:
- View all members in Community Settings
- Remove members if needed (admin only)
- Promote members to admin (multiple admins allowed)
- See who added which recipes
Adding Recipes to a Community
Method 1: From your collection
- Open a recipe you own
- Tap Add to community
- Choose which community
- Recipe is copied to community (your original stays in your collection)
Method 2: Directly in community
- Go to the community
- Tap Add recipe
- Add via photo, URL, text, or manual entry
- Recipe goes directly to community
Method 3: Save from outside
- Add a new recipe from any source
- During save, check “Add to community”
- Choose community
- Saves to both your collection and community
Community Recipe Management
Who can edit?
- All members can edit any community recipe
- Changes are visible to everyone immediately
- Edit history is tracked (see who changed what)
Who can delete?
- Recipe creator can delete their contributions
- Community admins can delete any recipe
- Deletion requires confirmation
Organizing community recipes:
- Community admins can create tags and categories
- All members can tag recipes
- Filters and search work within communities
Community Permissions {#permissions}
Member Roles
Admin:
- Full control over community
- Can add/remove members
- Can delete any recipe
- Can edit community settings
- Can promote other members to admin
- Can delete the entire community
Member:
- Can view all recipes
- Can add new recipes
- Can edit any recipe
- Can comment and favorite
- Cannot remove other members
- Cannot delete others’ recipes
Privacy Settings
Private communities:
- Invitation required to join
- Not discoverable in search
- Members list is hidden from non-members
- Best for families and closed groups
Public communities:
- Anyone with link can join
- May appear in community directory (coming soon)
- Members list visible to all
- Best for cooking classes, food blogs, open groups
Leaving a Community
To leave a community:
- Go to Community Settings
- Tap Leave community
- Confirm
- You lose access to community recipes (unless you saved copies to your personal collection)
If you’re the only admin:
- Must promote another member to admin first
- Or delete the community entirely
- This protects the community from becoming orphaned
Practical Sharing Scenarios {#scenarios}
Scenario 1: Family Recipe Preservation
Your situation: Digitizing grandma’s recipes and want all family members to access and contribute.
Your approach:
- Create “Family Heirlooms” community
- Invite all family members
- Each person adds recipes they have
- Everyone tags recipes: “Grandma’s recipes”, “Holiday”, “Summer BBQ”
- Family can access from anywhere
- Recipes preserved forever with cloud backup
Outcome: 50+ family recipes in one place, accessible to 3 generations.
Scenario 2: Meal Planning with Roommates
Your situation: 4 roommates sharing cooking duties and groceries.
Your approach:
- Create “Apartment 3B” community
- Everyone adds their go-to recipes
- Plan weekly meals together using community recipes
- Generate shared shopping list
- Rotate cooking nights, everyone knows what’s being made
Outcome: Reduced food waste, fair meal rotation, shared grocery costs.
Scenario 3: Recipe Club
Your situation: Monthly cooking meetups with friends, everyone brings a dish.
Your approach:
- Create “Tuesday Night Cooks” community
- Before each meetup, members add recipe they’ll bring
- Everyone can see the full menu in advance
- Avoid duplicates (no three people bringing brownies)
- Generate shopping lists if doing group cooking
Outcome: Organized potlucks, diverse menus, easy planning.
Scenario 4: Sending One Recipe to a Friend
Your situation: Friend asks for your famous chili recipe.
Your approach:
- Open your chili recipe
- Tap Share
- Copy link and text to friend
- Friend opens link, uses recipe immediately
- Friend creates account and saves it to their collection
Outcome: Friend has recipe in seconds, can cook it tonight.
Scenario 5: Food Blog Sharing
Your situation: Run a food blog, want readers to easily save recipes.
Your approach:
- Create recipes in Sharp Cooking
- At end of blog posts, add “Save this recipe to Sharp Cooking” button
- Link goes to shared recipe
- Readers save to their accounts
- Track popularity (see how many saves)
Outcome: Readers get organized recipes, you build following.
Community Collaboration Tips {#collaboration-tips}
Naming Conventions
Establish naming standards for your community:
- Recipe titles: Clear and descriptive (“Mom’s Chicken Soup”, not “Soup”)
- Tags: Agree on tag vocabulary (“vegetarian” vs “veg” vs “meatless”)
- Categories: Use consistent categories across recipes
Communication
Set up a communication channel:
- Use recipe comments for questions
- Create a group chat for community discussions
- Post announcements in community description
Recipe Quality
Maintain standards:
- Encourage complete recipes (no missing ingredients or steps)
- Add photos when possible
- Test recipes before adding
- Use notes section for variations
Conflict Resolution
If two people edit the same recipe simultaneously:
- Sharp Cooking detects conflicts
- Both versions are shown
- Admin or members vote on which to keep
- Or merge the best parts of both
Frequently Asked Questions {#faq}
Do I need an account to receive a shared recipe? No, you can view it without an account. But to save it, you’ll need to create a free account.
Can I share recipes I imported from websites? Yes, any recipe in your collection can be shared.
What if someone edits my shared recipe? Individual shares are one-time copies. Their edits don’t affect your original.
In communities, what if I don’t want others editing my recipe? Currently, all community recipes are collaborative. If you want exclusive control, keep it in your personal collection and share via link instead.
Can I be in multiple communities? Yes, unlimited.
Can I move a recipe from my collection to a community? Yes, use “Add to community.” It creates a copy in the community; your original stays in your collection.
Do shared recipe links expire? No, they’re permanent.
Can I see who viewed my shared recipe? Not currently, but it’s on our roadmap.
What happens if I delete a recipe that’s shared? Individual shares stay active. Community copies remain if you delete from your personal collection.
Can I unshare a recipe? Links can’t be revoked once shared. For communities, admins can remove recipes.
Are community recipes backed up? Yes, fully backed up like all Sharp Cooking data.
Can I export all recipes from a community? Yes, admins can export community cookbook as PDF or CSV.
What if a community admin deletes the community? Members get a warning to save recipes they want to keep. After deletion, community recipes are gone unless members saved copies.
Can I create sub-groups within a community? Not yet, but you can use tags to organize (e.g., tag recipes “Desserts” vs “Mains”).
How many members can a community have? Unlimited.
Can I make money sharing recipes? You own your recipes. If you want to monetize, you can share links on a paid platform, but Sharp Cooking doesn’t facilitate paid recipe sales.
What if someone shares my recipe without permission? Contact info@sharpcooking.com. We take copyright seriously.
Can I share recipes outside Sharp Cooking? Yes, export as PDF and share however you like.
Do shared recipes include photos? Yes, if you added photos, they’re included.
Can I share a whole community? You share the invite link. New members see all recipes.
What if I want to share recipes but stay anonymous? Create an account with a pseudonym. Use that for sharing.
Can I limit what members can do in a community? Limited. Members can add/edit. If you need tighter control, use individual sharing instead.
Related Help Articles
- Creating an Account - Required for communities and saving shared recipes
- Organizing Your Recipes - Tag and categorize community recipes
- Adding Your First Recipe - Add recipes to share with others
- Meal Planning - Use community recipes in meal plans
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