A common question:

###"I want to contribute to Public Lab -- should I post a research note or a wiki page?"###

And one possible answer:

**If in doubt, just go ahead and [write a research note](/note/add).** You can always copy it into a wiki page later.

##What's the difference?##

**Research notes** are just like a blog. You are the author, and they have a publication date. They can be informal -- just a photo or a link -- or regular updates on your research progress. 

**Wiki pages** are collaborative documents. They're more formal and complete descriptions of projects, instructions, or anything structured *you want others to be able to edit and correct*.

##How do I write them?##

You can [post Research notes here](/note/add).

Wiki pages are made by simply navigating to a URL where you want the page. For example, if you wanted a page called "Making pancakes" you might go to http://publiclab.org/wiki/making-pancakes, which prompts you to create a page.