Help

Our database is developed from user submissions and through an automated crawl of the Web. Many start out as basic recipes and then become more complete as individuals edit and add missing information.

What is the Foodista definition of 'Food'

In the Foodista database,"foods" are the most basic ingredients, either as they come from nature or preparations that are very difficult to produce in the average home kitchen. Another way to think of it, is if you can find a recipe for it, then it shouldn't be listed as a food. Examples of foods include: Apples , Salt , Cheddar Cheese , Pork Chops , Vodka

Can I copy or re-use recipes and other content from Foodista?

Please do! Our only requirement is that you give us credit by linking to us. We value openness and sharing, so our content is provided under one of the least restrictive creative commons attribution licenses . For Internet re-publishing, a direct link back to the page AND prominent text stating the material came from "Foodista.com – The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit" satisfies our attribution requirement. For offline distribution, prominent attribution to "Foodista.com - The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit" will suffice.

Should I edit a recipe or create a new recipe?

We believe in quality over quantity, so whenever possible we recommend adding details to existing recipes rather than creating a new recipe.

Examples of when to Edit and when to Create:

Is your recipe just a little different? Then it's best to edit the current recipe. For example, you see the recipe for Eggplant Parmesan doesn't contain oregano, but you like to add oregano, then add it as an ingredient or simply make note of it in the About section. E.g."Optional ingredient: 1/2 tsp. of oregano gives this dish a nice flavor."

Create a new recipe if your Eggplant Parmesan recipe is completely different, such as a vegan version or there are more steps involved, etc.

I don't want anyone to edit my recipe. Is that possible?

Yes, when you add a recipe you can set it to "Personal Recipe - Only I Can Edit" before you click "Save". You can only do this before you publish it for the first time, however, you can always change from Personal to Public. Please note, Foodista staff may edit your recipe or change it to Public if we find that a common dish has been added as a Personal recipe. Personal recipes are intended for your creations and unique twists on well-known dishes. Generally we believe it's valuable for all content to be editable by everyone and have found that recipes remain fundamentally unchanged when they have been edited. Most edits are only minor tweaks, such as spelling correction, adding other names, formatting for consistency, etc. Please note, while only you can edit a Personal recipe others can still view it.

How do I edit a page?

Go to any page and click the "Edit" tab at the top. You can change anything as you see fit. Note that links are added automatically to much of the content after you hit save. This can usually be seen if you reload the page after 5-10 seconds.

How do I name my recipe?

Be as descriptive and brief as possible. Maybe your corn bread recipe has buttermilk and none of the others do, so naming it "Buttermilk Corn Bread" will catch the eyes of readers versus "Corn Bread 2". After you submit a recipe, you can go to the edit page to add "other names" to help people find your recipe.

My recipe has multiple parts. How should I enter it?

List all the ingredients in the order you would use them, then describe the different parts in the steps section. You can also describe the different timing or ways of preparing in the "About Recipe" section. Another option is to add a separate recipe and include that recipe title as an ingredient (for example, you could list "Tomato Sauce" as an ingredient for making"Pizza").

Where do you get your pictures?

Anyone can upload their own photos to Foodista pages. We also get photos from the Flickr Creative Commons .

What is image voting?

We match photos to pages based on descriptive words known as 'tags,' that are added by photographers. Sometimes those tags aren't a good match for the subject of the page. You can help make the slection of photos better by voting 'Yes' or 'No' where it asks "photo helpful?" under the large image view.

I just entered a recipe but my name isn't associated with it. What happened?

Just like Wikipedia.org we don't require users to sign in to make contributions. If you'd like to make sure your additions are recognized we recommend signing in first. You can create your profile by clicking on the Sign In link at the top right of every page. Still want to get recognition for your contribution? No worries! Simply go back to your addition, click on the Edit tab, make a simple edit, then click save. You will then see your name on the detail page as well as in your profile!

Why isn't an ingredient linked to a food or recipe page?

This can happen for several reasons. The most common is that we don't have it in our database. If you add a page for a missing food or recipe, our system will create links to it from recipes that list it as an ingredient

Sometimes we have the we know an ingredient by a different name. You can help improve linking by adding to the "other names" field on the food or recipe page.

Can I list a brand named product as an ingredient?

Sure, but in most cases we won't be able to link it to an ingredient page. We'd prefer it if you used a generic description of the ingredient, like "Hot Sauce,' instead of Tabasco. We plan to add support for branded ingredients in the future.

Will you have unit and temperature conversions in the future?

Yes, we're working on more ways around structured data such as this. Stay tuned...

What is the 'History' tab about?

This section shows all the user edits that have happened on a page. You can click on the linked 'Edited' in each entry to see earlier versions of the page.

What is the 'Widget' tab about?

This is for all you food bloggers! You can build traffic to your blog by adding a link on Foodista to your blog post. Have you blogged about Eggplant Parmesan? Simply cut and paste a little code in your post and we'll automatically link from the Eggplant Parmesan page to your post. Foodista users will be able to read a couple of sentences of your post and follow the link to your blog. Here's how the logo will look: