PrepStation Docs
Sign In

Sharing Recipes

Share your recipes with colleagues, customers, or the world. Whether you want to publish recipes publicly for discovery or share a private link with specific people, this guide covers all your sharing options.

Sharing Overview

What it is: Recipe sharing lets you generate a public URL for any recipe, making it accessible to anyone with the link—no login required.

Why you'd use it:

  • Share recipes with customers who want to recreate dishes at home
  • Publish signature recipes to build your brand
  • Collaborate with colleagues at other locations
  • Embed recipes on your website or blog

How it fits together:

Recipes → Sharing Settings → Public URL
                          → Embed Code
                          → Social Sharing

Key terminology:

  • Public Recipe - Listed on the public recipes page and accessible via direct link. Anyone can discover it.
  • Link Only - Accessible only via the direct link. Not listed publicly—perfect for private sharing.
  • Embed - An HTML code snippet that displays your recipe on external websites.

Starting to Share a Recipe

  1. Open the recipe you want to share
  2. Click the Share nav item in the navigation bar
  3. Click the Share action button that appears
  4. The sharing modal opens, showing your options

Watch it in action:

If the recipe hasn't been shared before, you'll see an option to Start Sharing. Click it to enable sharing with default settings (Link Only mode).

Tip: You can change between Public and Link Only modes at any time after sharing.

Sharing Modes

Public Recipe

When you set a recipe to Public:

  • It appears on the public recipes page (/recipes/public)
  • Anyone can find it through search
  • Social sharing buttons become available (Twitter, Facebook, Email)
  • Great for building your brand and sharing signature dishes

To make a recipe public:

  1. Open the sharing modal
  2. Click the Public button in the Sharing Mode section
  3. Your recipe is now publicly listed

Link Only

When you set a recipe to Link Only:

  • It's accessible only via the direct URL
  • Not listed on the public recipes page
  • Not discoverable through search
  • Perfect for sharing with specific people like customers or colleagues

To make a recipe link-only:

  1. Open the sharing modal
  2. Click the Link Only button in the Sharing Mode section
  3. Share the URL only with people you choose

Switch between modes:

Copying the Share Link

Once sharing is enabled, you can copy the public URL to share via any method:

  1. Open the sharing modal
  2. Find the URL in the Public Recipe Link or Private Recipe Link section
  3. Click Copy to copy it to your clipboard
  4. Paste and share via text, email, or messaging apps

Copy the link:

The URL uses a friendly format like /recipes/shared/chocolate-chip-cookies that's easy to read and share.

Social Sharing

When your recipe is set to Public, social sharing buttons appear:

  • Twitter - Opens a tweet with your recipe name and link
  • Facebook - Opens a Facebook share dialog
  • Email - Opens your email client with a pre-filled message

These buttons make it easy to promote your recipes to a wider audience.

Note: Social sharing is only available for Public recipes, not Link Only.

Embedding Recipes

Want to display your recipe on your website or blog? Use the embed feature to add an interactive recipe card.

Generating Embed Code

  1. Open the sharing modal
  2. Find the Embed Code section
  3. Click Copy to copy the HTML embed code
  4. Paste the code into your website's HTML

Embed Preview

Before copying the code, you can preview how the embed will look:

  1. In the Embed Code section, click Click to load preview
  2. An interactive preview appears showing how the recipe will display

Copy embed code and preview:

Embed Customization

The embed code supports URL parameters for customization:

  • ?simple=true - Simplified view
  • ?hide_header=true - Hide the header section
  • ?hide_footer=true - Hide the footer section
  • ?show_costs=true - Show cost information (if enabled in settings)

You can combine parameters: ?simple=true&hide_footer=true

Sharing Settings

Control what viewers can see and do with your shared recipe.

Allow Embedding

Toggle this setting to control whether others can embed your recipe on their websites.

  • Enabled (default): Embed code is generated and the recipe can be embedded
  • Disabled: Embed code section is hidden; attempting to embed returns an error

Show Costs

Control whether ingredient costs and total recipe cost are visible to viewers.

  • Enabled: Viewers see the full cost breakdown
  • Disabled (default): Cost information is hidden from public view

Configure sharing settings:

Tip: Showing costs can be helpful for customers who want to understand the value of your dishes, but you may want to keep costs private for competitive reasons.

Stopping Sharing (Making a Recipe Private)

Changed your mind? You can stop sharing a recipe at any time.

  1. Open the recipe you want to make private
  2. Click the Share nav item in the navigation bar
  3. Click the Share action button to open the sharing modal
  4. Scroll down to the Stop Sharing section (red-themed card at the bottom)
  5. Click the Stop Sharing button
  6. Confirm that you want to make the recipe private

Watch it in action:

When you stop sharing a recipe:

  • The public URL stops working immediately
  • The recipe is removed from the public recipes page (if it was Public)
  • Embed codes stop working
  • Anyone who tries to access the old link sees a "not found" message

Reversible: Making a recipe private can be undone. You can share it again later, and the same URL will work.

What Viewers See

When someone visits your shared recipe, they see a clean, public-facing view of your recipe.

Recipe Header

  • Recipe name
  • Your organization name
  • Publication date
  • Category (if set)

Recipe Content

  • Recipe image (if uploaded)
  • Servings and total time
  • Description
  • Full ingredient list with quantities
  • Step-by-step instructions with timers

Interaction Options

  • Copy Link button to share further
  • Print button for a printer-friendly version
  • Cost information (if enabled in settings)
  • Embed code (if embedding is enabled)

The Public Recipes Page

All public recipes from all users are listed at /recipes/public. This page includes:

  • Featured Recipes - Highlighted recipes at the top
  • Search - Find recipes by name or keyword
  • Filters - Filter by category or organization
  • Pagination - Browse through all available recipes

This is a great way for others to discover your recipes and for you to find inspiration from the community.

Tips for Sharing

For Maximum Reach

  • Add a high-quality photo to your recipe
  • Write a compelling description
  • Categorize your recipe accurately
  • Set to Public mode for discoverability

For Professional Sharing

  • Use Link Only for recipes you want to control access to
  • Disable embedding if you don't want recipes on other sites
  • Consider whether to show costs based on your audience

For Your Website

  • Enable embedding and copy the embed code
  • Customize the embed with URL parameters
  • Test the embed preview before publishing

Common Questions

Q: Can I change sharing settings after a recipe is shared?
A: Yes! You can switch between Public and Link Only, toggle embedding, and change cost visibility at any time from the sharing modal.

Q: How do I stop sharing a recipe?
A: Open the sharing modal and look for the Stop Sharing section at the bottom (red-themed card). Click Stop Sharing and confirm. The recipe will immediately become private.

Q: What happens to the URL if I make a recipe private and then share it again?
A: The same URL continues to work. Recipe URLs are based on the recipe's unique slug, which doesn't change.

Q: Can viewers see my ingredient costs?
A: Only if you enable Show Costs in the sharing settings. By default, costs are hidden.

Q: Can I share a prep recipe that's used as an ingredient in other recipes?
A: Yes! Prep recipes can be shared just like any other recipe. Viewers will see the prep recipe's ingredients and instructions.

Q: How do I know who has viewed my shared recipe?
A: Currently, viewing analytics are not available. You can only see that a recipe is shared, not how many times it's been viewed.

Q: Can I password-protect a shared recipe?
A: Not directly, but you can use Link Only mode to limit access to only those who have the URL. Don't post the link publicly if you want to restrict access.

Next Steps

Last updated: March 23, 2026