Getting started with GitHub - YKul/Tutorials GitHub Wiki

Learning Objectives

Tasks

1. Create an Account

Follow these instructions to create your GitHub account.

This account will be for academic and professional use, so choose an appropriate username. This could be something based on your own name like your first name and last initial. Just remember that this will be visible. Because this will be academic/professional, you may want to register using your @dal.ca e-mail address.

2-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a nice security feature, but if you find the instructions hard to follow, it is not critical for now.

2. Create a Repository

Follow these instructions to create a Public respository named "hello-world" with a ReadMe file.

3. Create a Wiki

You can use mine as a reference for what yours should end up looking like. I have included screenshots of the markdown formatting for each page under the appropriate sections to help guide you along the steps.

Use the following instructions to add and edit your first Wiki page

Make your first page

  1. Ensure that Edit mode on your toolbar is set to "Markdown"

  2. Delete the welcome message from the content box and click the "h1" button on the toolbar. This will add a # to your content, indicating a primary header format. Title this header "About Me" by simply typing it after the space (eg. # About Me).

  3. Go to the next line in the content box and click "h2" to make a secondary header. Title it "My Interests".

  4. Now use "h3" to make a tertiary header. Title it after one of your interests you want to share.

  5. In the next line, click the "Unordered List" button from the toolbar (Hint: You can hover your cursor over the buttons to get a description).

  6. Similar to how you entered the header content, enter content for your first unordered list point after the * and say something about this interest.

  7. On the next line, simply type * to create another unordered list point and say something else about this interest. Notice that you don't need to actually press the buttons!

  8. Click the "Preview" tab at the top to see how it looks! Then click the "Write" tab to get back to the editor.

  9. Repeat step 4 to create a secondary Header titled "Computer Experience".

  10. In the next line, write a short paragraph of a few sentences describing

    • Do computers excite you? Why or why not?
    • Are you comfortable working with computers, or do you find it difficult?
    • Have you ever done any programming?

  11. Create a primary Header titled "Accomplishments"

  12. Click "Save page" at the bottom right. This will take you to your wiki page. Note the URL for this page, as you will need it later.

Example:

Screenshot from 2024-01-08 18-28-48

Now make your second page

  1. Right-click the green "New page" button and select "Open link in new tab" (this allows you to work on the new page while keeping the wiki open for your first page, which will come in handy later)
  2. At the top, name the new page "Winter 2024"
  3. Make a primary header titled "Accomplishments"
  4. Use the numbered list button to start listing your accomplishments so far.
    • For your first list item, use the Link button on the toolbar to create a link that says "Created Wiki Homepage" and links to the URL of your first Wiki page from before
  5. Save your page

Example:

Screenshot from 2024-01-08 18-35-30

Now link your first page to your second

  1. Go back to the editor for your first page
  2. On the line below your "Accomplishments" header create a link that says "Winter 2024" and links to the URL of your second page
  3. Continue to explore! Add your own personal touch, see if you can figure out how to add images, emojis, tables, or other information you would like to share. (Hint: Use https://www.markdownguide.org/ as a reference for what Markdown language can do!)
  4. Save your page

Admire your work

Explore your wiki a little bit. Notice that your headers and pages are organized in a panel to the right for easy navigation.

Click around and notice you can go between your first page and second page by following the links your created.

If you hover your mouse over a header on a Wiki page, you'll notice a Link icon appears. This link adds #YOUR_HEADER_NAME to the end of your Wiki's URL (eg. https://github.com/YKul/hello-world/wiki#computer-experience). This can be used to create links to specific sections of your Wiki for quick reference and ease of navigation. This will be useful if you are ever creating more complicated Wikis as you can link users directly to specific instructions or relevant background information.

More information about Markdown syntax and formatting can be found at https://www.markdownguide.org/

I don't see a Wiki tab

If you do not see the Wiki tab in your repository, follow this solution to enable Wikis for your repository.

If you accidentally made your repository Private you will not be able to enable Wikis.

  1. Go into the settings for your repository (as described in the above solution).
  2. Scroll to the "Danger Zone" at the bottom.
  3. Under "Change repository visibility" click "Change visibility" and set it to Public.