What are Github Pages?
Github Pages are public webpages freely hosted on Github.
You can create them online using an Automatic Page Generator, or using the command line.
What are User and Project Pages?
There are two basic types of GitHub Pages: User Pages and Project Pages.
User Page: A User Page lives in a public repo you create for the User Page. You get one User Page per GitHub account. You create a public repo named <username>.github.io.
Project Pages: You can have one Project Page for each of your repos. By default, content from the master branch is used to build and publish the Project Page site (but a gh-pages branch is also commonly used). Even if the repo is private (as in 281), the Project Page will be public.
Learn How to Build Github Pages
- Github Pages Basics
- GitHub Pages Automatic Generator
- How to Make a User Page
- How to Make a Project Page
Optional: Fork-n-Go!
Github’s Jessica Lord created this Fork-n-Go! website that offers a number of repos on GitHub designed to be forked (i.e., copied) and then easily modified to create your own site hosted on Github.
A fork is a copy of a repository. Forking a repository allows you to freely experiment with changes without affecting the original project.
Forks can be used to copy someone else’s project as a starting point for your own idea.
Example: How to Fork a Repo as a Starting Point for your own Idea
1. Fork a Repository
Open the Fork-n-Go! website, and fork the Simple Personal Page repo, by clicking Github Repository. When the repo opens, click Fork, in the top-right corner of the page.
Now you have a fork of the original repo in your Github account.
2. Create a Local Clone of your Fork
In the shell, cd to ~/Documents/repos/.
On GitHub, navigate to your fork repo, and copy the clone URL.
Run the git clone command, then cd into the cloned directory.
3. Modify the Content
Now you have a local copy of your fork, and you can modify the content however you like.
When you push to your remote, it will be pushed to your fork, not the original repo.
You can use this method to create a Github User page: push to <yourusername>.github.io.
You can use this method to create a Github Project page: push to the gh-pages branch of one of your project repos.