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Updated: July 21, 2017
WP Recipe Maker is a plugin from the same author as WP Ultimate Recipe and is currently my go-to recipe recommendation, along with WP Tasty.
So, remember when we talked about whether or not you should switch to WP Ultimate recipe? We discussed how it was great for SEO and was backed by great support, but, otherwise, I just couldn’t get on board with any of it. Overly bloated and challenging to use, I couldn’t bring myself to recommend the average user convert to it.
WP Recipe Maker, on the other hand, appears ready to fill the void EasyRecipe left in its wake. In fact, from a developer standpoint, it’s my favorite recipe plugin.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Best option for SEO – markup for Google AND Pinterest
- Great support team – good response to questions and requests
- Degrades gracefully – recipes are available even when the plugin is deactivated
- Lightweight – no unnecessary features, with plans to support optional add-ons
- Intuitive – works for those used to the insert-into-a-post method
- Custom Post Type – we can still sort by ingredient, course, cuisine… although this functionality can’t be done without custom coding at this point
These features mean you can now have “fully enhanced” recipe cards using a FREE plugin.
Cons
No Imperial-Metric conversionsNo full nutrition information (now available in premium version)No dedicated HTML ID (allowing easy “jump” button at top of post)No dedicated “print” link (allowing “print” button at top of post)No custom print styles- Doesn’t import EasyRecipe links or strip them out
- Recipe edit has minor load delay… and I’m reaching a bit on this one
Here’s the thing: these cons are not critical! Plus, based on my experience with Brecht, I have a feeling he’s got an in-depth to-do list planned. 😉 << I was right!
Discussion
In the article discussing WP Ultimate Recipe, we discussed the importance of JSON-LD, support, and custom post types. Here’s what’s new:
Deactivate WP Recipe Maker without losing your recipes
When recipes are a HUGE component of your content, the recipe plugin you choose can be a risk. What will you do when it is no longer supported? If you’re lucky, there will be an automated transition to another plugin. What if you need to get rid of the plugin, but you don’t have a new plugin to use? In some plugins, you lose. all. your. recipes. Well, that’s not really true – they still exist… you just can’t see them and neither can your users. So what good is that?
With WP Recipe Maker, you can deactivate the plugin and still have your recipes. The format and markup will no longer be available, but at least your user experience isn’t completely derailed.
Reduce code clutter by including only the necessary functionality
A good plugin is as slim as possible, with the ability to add (or edit) functionality as needed. This means you’re running less unnecessary code and your WordPress dashboard isn’t cluttered with confusing options you don’t need or comprehend.
By that definition, WP Recipe Maker is a good plugin.
This structure is good for developers, for visitors who want your site to run quickly, and for anyone interested in user experience – that of the blogger entering the recipe.
Minimal workflow interruption – works similar to the existing recipe plugins like EasyRecipe
Good news EasyRecipe users: this plugin works similarly to what you’re familiar with! Using it, you write regular posts, inserting your recipe by clicking a button above the editor. When you want to edit your recipe, you’ll click on the placeholder in your content.
The biggest change will be how to enter data: each ingredient and instruction goes in a separate text box rather than in one large text area. Ultimately, this is good and part of what makes this plugin better than EasyRecipe – because of the potential it holds for developers and thereby your readers.
The bad news is that users who took advantage of links in their recipes will need to manually remove those from old posts and re-add them (using the super easy link management page).
Migrations
Should I switch from EasyRecipe to WP Recipe Maker?
If you’re still on EasyRecipe, nearly any recipe plugin would be better at this point.
Should I switch from WP Ultimate Recipe to WP Recipe Maker?
Are you using the “extra” WP Ultimate Recipe features? Menus? Meal Plans? No? Then switch and get rid of the bloat!
Final Verdict
Based on what’s currently available, WP Recipe Maker is my recommendation of recipe plugins. It’s extremely capable and ahead-of-curve technologically. That said, the workflow is quite different from Easy Recipe and links don’t import, so some may find Tasty and more acceptable replacement. 🙂
P.S. Read about the Cookbook Plugin!
P.P.S. Read about the Tasty Plugin!
P.P.P.S. Meal Planner Pro is more similar to the EasyRecipe data-entry and I really love Meal Planner Pro + the people behind it! That said, their functionality doesn’t match WP Recipe Maker at this moment.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for the writeup!
Our previous discussion about WP Ultimate Recipe was actually part of the reason for starting this new recipe plugin.
WP Recipe Maker was built using the experience we have and lessons we learned from 3 years of developing and supporting a recipe plugin. We wanted to build a great core product that any food blogger can use and takes care of the SEO essentials.
It’s still an early version and we have many things planned for the plugin, including some of those cons you mentioned. (We do actually have an HTML ID in the form of wprm-recipe-container-123 with 123 the recipe ID mentioned in the shortcode placeholder).
Looking forward to any feedback other food bloggers might have!
Brecht
Thanks for responding, Brecht! I should re-phrase what I wrote about the HTML ID. I’m referring to a uniform ID that can be used on all recipes without js. The current implementation is what the majority of plugins are currently using. This requires us to use js to add a “jump” link, instead of just hooking into the theme (although, that also would require the ability to check if the post has a recipe inserted, anyway). Here’s my current implementation for “jump” links in WP Ultimate Recipe: https://gist.github.com/oncecoupled/4b3fac07f413ebd392db92beaa33f682
Oh right, I see your point. We don’t use the same ID for every recipe because you can add multiple recipes to the same post/page and IDs should be unique.
We could probably add a shortcode that adds a link to jump to the first recipe.
Hi again,
I just wanted to let you know that we’ve just released WP Recipe Maker 1.2.0 which includes brand new “Print Recipe” and “Jump to Recipe” shortcodes. You can add them by clicking on the “WP Recipe Maker” button just like when you’re adding a recipe and then going to “Recipe Snippets” on the left.
Brecht
Love it! I wrote an article on how to take advantage of this new functionality using any Genesis theme: https://www.oncecoupled.com/2016/09/auto-jump-print-buttons-wprm/
They are also coming up with a pricing option, so the reader can see how much each recipe cost. That’s very cool. I went from WP ultimate recipe to this plugin. Love it!
Thank you Lauren for the information. I still can’t figure out for a multilingual blog / WPNL which one I should choose between WP ultimate recipe and WP recipe maker. I’m with Joomla for the moment and an preparing switch to WordPress and have to decide which one to choose.
Thanks Florence
Hey, Florence, have you reached out to Brecht? He’s the author of both plugins and can help you make that decision. Feature-wise, I’d still choose WP Recipe Maker, so if there’s anything needed to work with your ML setup, I’d see what Brecht’s timeline is on implementing that into WPRM. 🙂
I use recipe card for years it’s been abandoned how do I migrate to a new recipe plugin like wp recipe maker without losing all my recipes or having to go back and redo every single one of them??? Any quick transfer options ? I don’t know html though…
Hey, Jenny, WPRM has an import feature that works with many different plugins: https://bootstrapped.ventures/wp-recipe-maker/import-from-yummly/. If the plugin you’re using isn’t in this list, you can always reach out to their support team and see if that’s on their current roadmap!
Thanks for the in depth post! Wondering if this plug in can convert all my existing recipes on the blog to its version, or would I have to do it manually?
Thanks for the post. I’m in the beginning stretch of my food blog and it’s really important to me to choose a recipe plugin that makes the user experience straightforward. I like when recipes are visually compressed (not super stretched so the recipe follower doesn’t have to scroll down a lot between ingredient lists and instructions). Based on this 1 specification, do you think I’m better off going with the WPRM?
Sara, the recipe card design can be changed, so any of the major players would be an option for you, based on that requirement. Here are the designs available from some recipe plugins: https://demo.wprecipemaker.com/recipe-templates/ (WP Recipe Maker) and https://support.wptasty.com/tasty-recipes/general-information/what-do-the-recipe-card-templates-look-like (Tasty)