4.4 Creating a repository

If everything has gone well until now, you’re ready to create a project repository. This is where all your code, all your data, all your output files, everything, should live. Whilst you can create a repository directly on your computer, I would advise against this as it causes additional headaches when you want to connect it with GitHub. Instead, create the remote repository first on GitHub.

  • Go to www.github.com and click the + and “New repository”.
  • Choose a project name
  • Decide whether you want it to be a public or private project (choose private if working on sensitive data and research, as you can always convert it to public later)
  • Initialize with a README file

4.4.1 Connecting to GitHub

If you are using SourceTree, there are two ways to connect your computer to your GitHub repositories. I would recommend the first option, as it makes cloning repositories (making a copy on your local computer) easier in the future, as you don’t have to go to GitHub each time to find the HTTPS/SSH address. The methods for GitKraken are essentially the same, and SourceTree seems to be slightly more popular, hence why I describe it here.

Method 1

  1. Go to Tools -> Options -> Authentication in SourceTree and add your GitHub account details
  2. Leave the preferred protocol at “HTTPS” for the moment, unless you know what you’re doing with SSH keys
  3. Now open a new tab, click on Remote, and you should see your repositories listed
  4. Clone the repositories that you’d like to work on

Note: Now SourceTree and GitHub are connected, you shouldn’t have to do the first few steps - just go to step 3.

Method 2

  1. Go to your repository on GitHub and click on the green “Clone or download” button
  2. Copy the HTTPS address (your settings should say “Clone with HTTPS” above it, otherwise click “Use HTTPS”)
  3. Go to SourceTree, open a new tab, and click on “Clone”
  4. Paste the HTTPS address into the “Source Path / URL:” box
  5. Click on the “Clone” button at the bottom

Method 3 (not recommended)

If you would like to do it the hard way and use the Git Bash, read the instructions here

Note: if you would like to use SSH keys, read the instructions here