Community Guidelines

The Weeknight Plate is built around real dinners for real weeknights, and the comment section is where a lot of the good stuff happens — swapped substitutions, honest feedback on a recipe, someone asking if the slow cooker chili mac freezes well. These guidelines explain how we keep that space useful, respectful, and safe for everyone who stops by, from first-time visitors to regulars who comment on every crock pot recipe we post.

Who These Guidelines Apply To

These rules cover comments on recipe posts, replies to other users, any contact form messages that reference community participation, and interactions on our social channels when they relate to content from this site. If you are looking for how we handle your personal data when you leave a comment, that is addressed separately in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. General terms for using the site as a whole are laid out in our Terms of Use, and these community guidelines work alongside those terms rather than replacing them.

Be Respectful, Even If You Disagree

Cooking is personal. Someone might think three cloves of garlic is nowhere near enough, and someone else might swear the honey garlic chicken needs less honey. Disagreement is fine — that is how recipes actually improve. What is not fine is turning that disagreement into an attack on another commenter. We ask that everyone:

• Keep feedback about the recipe, the method, or the post — not about the person who wrote it or commented on it.
• Avoid name-calling, mockery, or condescension, even when a comment seems obviously wrong to you.
• Assume good faith. Most people commenting on a dinner recipe are just trying to make dinner work for their family.
• Disagree with the substance of a comment without dismissing the commenter as a person.

No Harassment, Hate, or Abuse

This is a firm line, not a suggestion. We do not allow harassment, threats, hate speech, slurs, or content that demeans people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other personal characteristic. This applies to comments directed at other readers, at us as site owners, or at anyone mentioned in a post. Comments that cross this line will be removed without notice, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting further. If a situation feels serious — targeted harassment, doxxing, or threats — please report it to us directly rather than engaging back and forth in the comment thread.

No Spam or Deceptive Promotion

We love hearing that a recipe worked out, and we are happy when people mention their own cooking wins. What we do not allow is comments used purely to advertise unrelated products, services, or other websites, especially when they are dropped into unrelated recipe posts or repeated across multiple pages. This includes:

• Links to unrelated commercial sites, sales pages, or affiliate links unrelated to the recipe being discussed.
• Repeated, copy-pasted comments across multiple posts.
• Comments that impersonate another brand, cook, or website, or misrepresent who you are.
• Fake reviews or comments claiming to have made a recipe when it is clear from context that they have not.

If you run a food blog, a kitchen tool shop, or a related business and would like to work with us in a transparent way, we are open to that conversation — take a look at our Collaboration page instead of using the comment section for outreach.

Safety and Legality in the Kitchen

Because this is a cooking site, a few safety points matter more here than they would elsewhere. Please do not post comments that encourage unsafe food handling, such as ignoring safe internal temperatures for chicken, leaving perishable slow cooker meals out for extended periods, or suggesting substitutions involving unlabeled or unsafe ingredients. If you are sharing a modification — swapping a protein, adjusting cook time in a crock pot recipe, changing an oven temperature for baked feta pasta — please be clear that it is your own adaptation and not a guarantee of the same result. Our recipes themselves are tested and written in good faith, and the reasoning behind how we test and adjust them is explained in our Editorial Policy. Comments should never present unverified medical, allergy, or nutrition claims as fact; if you have a genuine health question about an ingredient, a conversation with a qualified professional is always the safer route than a comment thread.

All content on this site is offered for general informational purposes, and additional context on the limits of that information can be found in our Disclaimer.

Privacy and Personal Information

Please do not post other people's personal information in the comments — no addresses, phone numbers, or private details, even if you think you are helping. It is also best to think twice before sharing your own contact details publicly. If you want to reach us privately about something in a comment thread, our Contact page is the right place to do that.

How We Moderate

Comments are reviewed periodically rather than instantly, so there may be a short delay before a comment appears, especially if it includes a link. We may edit, hide, or remove comments that violate these guidelines, and we may do so without explanation, since public back-and-forth about moderation decisions tends to derail the conversation for everyone else. Repeated violations can result in a permanent block from commenting. We do not remove comments simply because they are critical of a recipe or point out a genuine mistake — constructive criticism is valuable and welcome, and it often helps us improve a post.

How to Report a Concern

If you see a comment that harasses someone, promotes something deceptive, or raises a safety issue, please do not respond in kind. Instead, email us directly at [email protected] with a link to the post and, if possible, the comment text or a screenshot. We read every report and take action where it is warranted. For anything unrelated to comments — general questions, recipe requests, or business inquiries — our Contact page has the details you need.

These Guidelines May Change

As the site and its community grow, we may update these guidelines to address new situations. Any changes will appear on this page, so it is worth a quick check back if you are a regular commenter. For related policies, see our Terms of Use and Editorial Policy, which together with this page explain how we run the site and why.