Preliminaries

Before beginning this assignment please thoroughly read our tutorial: Guide to Git Shell: Git and GitHub at Command Line. It will benefit you to keep this tutorial open while you work on this assignment. Also, you should complete this assignment on a computer you will likely be using the most this semester, because you will be configuring it to get it working routinely with Git and GitHub and navigating your own file directories. (You can always set up Git on other computers when you need to and access GitHub wherever you are.)

Analysis of the task

The goals of this assignment are:

  1. Create a GitHub account
  2. Download Git on a local computer
  3. Understand where and how to access command line / terminal / git shell on your local computer
  4. Navigate our introDH-Hub repository on GitHub's web interface
  5. Comment and/or create an Issue on GitHub.

Step By Step

Begin by navigating to our tutorial and following the steps under Let's Get Started to create a GitHub account and download Git Shell. Do not rush through this process and be sure to read thoroughly.

Once you have completed the above tasks navigate to our introDH-Hub repository. First read through the README.md file that displays at the bottom of the repo. This is a general welcome to the introDH-Hub and details the basic workflow of using this repo.

In order for you to contribute to the introDH-Hub we will need to add you as a collaborator. This is the perfect moment to create and/or comment on a GitHub issue. Navigate to the introDH-Hub GitHub page. At the top of the page, under ebeshero/introDH-Hub you will see a tab that says Issues. In our introDH-Hub Issues Board notice there are open issues and closed issues. Search through the open issues for an issue where others are asking to be added as a collaborator using keywords like collaborator in the search bar. If there is such an issue already existing click on it to create a comment. If there is not an existing issue click the New issue button at the top of the page.

GitHub Issues Board

As mentioned in our tutorial section GitHub as Social Media, issues and their comments are written in markdown language. GitHub offers a comprehensive guide to writing markdown that you should reference as you find the necessity to create and comment on issues (especially when you want you to include segments of code). For the purposes of this assignment though you will only need to create an issue with the title Adding Hub Collaborators and/or comment in such an issue with your GitHub username (i.e. Dr. Beshero-Bondar's username is ebeshero). Along with your username, also type the @ symbol followed by Dr. Beshero-Bondar's username this will notify her to add you. In future issue comments use the @ and specify any GitHub user by their username and this will send an email or push notification to the user leading them to your comment as well as leave a link to their profile for the instances that you may be trying to designate credit to them. Your issue comment for this assignment should resemble this:

GitHub Issues Board Example Comment

We will be monitoring the issue board to add collaborators as they come in. As you wait for us to add you, take some time to read our Welcome to the Issues Board issue.

Taking it further...

Great Job! You now know how to use the GitHub interface and how to navigate around our introDH-Hub. You also have started the process of being a Git user by downloading Git locally. Go to Git Exercise 2 to learn more on using Git and setting up GitHub Pages!