There are three different types of Cooking Notes:

• All Notes - All public notes
• Most Helpful - The most popular public notes sorted by upvotes
• Private - These notes are only visible to you (Available to Cooking and All Access subscribers only)

Reading Cooking notes differs slightly between a web browser and the iOS and Android Cooking apps.

Web Browser

You can read notes at the bottom of every recipe page. To read the most popular public notes, select the Most Helpful tab. 

Cooking Apps

You can read notes by selecting Notes from the top of any recipe page. To read the most popular public notes, select the Helpful tab. 

Anyone can write a public note as long as they have registered for a New York Times account. To write public notes, select the text field beneath Add Note on a web browser or Add on the mobile apps to start your draft. You are required to enter a name that will appear alongside your note.

Once you’ve written your note, select Submit on a web browser or Add Note in the Cooking Apps.

Note: Your name and note will both appear publicly in the Cooking Notes section if approved. 

Some tips on what makes a note great:

• Attempt the recipe before you comment. 
• Provide constructive information for future readers about your experience making the recipe. 
• Write in standard format, not in all capital letters.

To recommend, or upvote, a cooking note you like or agree with, select the Is this helpful? button underneath the note: 

The notes with the most votes appear at the top of the Most Helpful section.

You can only upvote a Cooking note on a web browser at this time.

Subscribers with Cooking or All Access (included with Home Delivery) subscriptions can add Private notes on recipes. These notes are accessible in the Cooking app and in a web browser. 

Select Private in the Cooking Notes section to write a note that’s visible only to you. 

Next time you make the recipe, select Private in the Cooking Notes section to see your notes for that recipe. We recommend you save your recipes to your Recipe Box so you can find your private notes faster the next time you’re ready to start cooking.

You cannot change or make edits to a note once it’s been submitted. Therefore, we recommend that you check for grammatical, spelling or accuracy errors in your note before submitting.  

Notes are either approved or rejected, and are not edited by The New York Times. However, we reserve the right to edit a note that is quoted or excerpted on NYTimes.com or on our affiliate blogs. In those cases, we may fix spelling, grammar or punctuation.

The New York Times Cooking team reviews all note submissions. This creates a moderated space where our readers can exchange useful information about a recipe and rely on notes as a trustworthy source for feedback  and tips.

Since notes are moderated, they do not appear on the site until they have been approved. Notes are typically posted faster during business hours, and less frequently in the evening and on weekends. 

It’s okay if you don’t like a certain recipe or the ingredients listed; New York Times Cooking welcomes feedback on our recipes, particularly constructive information for future readers that relates to the recipe in question. 

The following will not be permitted:  

• Name-calling, personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, and SHOUTING.
• Personal attacks against our staff. 
• Excessive comments on the moderation policies of The New York Times. The New York Times will not allow comments to become inundated with discussions of our moderation policies, and the Cooking team will moderate accordingly. 

The New York Times reserves the right to display Notes in a variety of ways, including within the text of articles or in advertisements. Once your note is published, it can be found in search results on websites like Google and Yahoo. 

A New York Times staffer may occasionally use the email address you have listed in your Account for a follow-up interview. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

If you find a note that you feel violates our policies, please contact cookingcare@nytimes.com