> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.reciperoom.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Posts and Recipes Connect

> Link any public Recipe to the Post made with it while keeping both pieces of content independent.

A Post shows the photograph and tells its story. A Recipe keeps the settings behind the look. Linking connects them without combining them.

## Link any public Recipe

You can link a Post to your own Recipe or one published by another photographer. Search the whole Recipe Room community and choose the Recipe that was actually used for the photographs.

You do not need to create a copy first. Linking points to the existing Recipe and its creator.

<Callout icon="/icons/file-text.svg" color="#7C6B4F">
  A link does not transfer ownership. You keep your Post and photographs. The Recipe creator keeps their Recipe and settings.
</Callout>

## Create once, link it again

A Recipe only needs to be published once. It can then be linked from as many relevant Posts as needed.

This matters when you use the same Recipe across several shoots. Share each set of photographs as a new Post and link the same Recipe again instead of rebuilding it.

It also means one Recipe can collect examples from different photographers around the world. Opening the Recipe shows how the look has been used across different subjects, places, and light.

## What the link adds

When a Post links to a Recipe:

* The Post shows a linked Recipe card.
* People can move from the photograph to the full settings.
* The Recipe shows how many Posts have linked it and lets people open those photographs.
* Fork activity shows how often photographers have adapted the Recipe into a new version.
* Both creators remain clearly identified.
* The Post and Recipe gain another useful route through the community.

Linking can help people discover both pieces of content, but it does not guarantee a particular position in Home, Explore, or Search.

## What stays separate

| Post                                       | Recipe                                                                    |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Photographs, title, caption, and tags      | Camera, film simulation, settings, description, and reference photographs |
| Owned by the person who published the Post | Owned by the person who published the Recipe                              |
| Can stand alone without a Recipe           | Can exist without any linked Posts                                        |
| Can link one public Recipe                 | Can collect many linked Posts                                             |

Deleting or changing a Post does not rewrite the Recipe. Updating a Recipe does not turn its linked Posts into Recipes.

## Link, save, add, or Fork?

| Action                 | Use it when                                         | What happens                                      |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Link a Recipe          | You are publishing photographs made with it         | The Post points to the existing Recipe            |
| Save a Recipe          | You want to return to it privately                  | It appears in Saved Items                         |
| Add a Community Recipe | You want an unchanged Recipe on your Recipe profile | It keeps the original source and settings         |
| Fork a Recipe          | You changed one or more settings                    | You publish a new version connected to the source |
| Create a Custom Recipe | You developed the settings independently            | You are shown as the source creator               |

Read [Recipe Types](/creating/recipe-types) for the full difference between Custom, Community, and Forked Recipes.

## A simple example

Elise publishes a Recipe called Golden Hour Pastel. Mina uses it unchanged for a landscape shoot and publishes a Post linking Elise's Recipe.

Mina owns the Post. Elise owns the Recipe. People can move between both, see the settings behind Mina's photograph, and browse other Posts that use the same Recipe.

If Mina later changes the white balance or another setting, she can Fork the Recipe and link the new Post to her Fork. The original source remains visible.

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does every Post need a Recipe?">
    No. Link one only when the photographs were made with a Recipe you can identify accurately.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I reuse the same Recipe?">
    Yes. Link it to as many future Posts as you make with those settings.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I have to own the Recipe?">
    No. You can link any public Recipe used for the photographs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does linking merge the content?">
    No. The Post and Recipe remain independent and link to each other.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>