How to use GitHub Pages: All the keys

Hosted directly from a GitHub repository, GitHub Pages is designed to simplify editing and building websites from scratch. We explain in detail how to get started and what you need to get started with your project.  

What is GitHub Pages?

GitHub Pages is a hosting service for static websites that takes HTML, CSS, and Javascript files directly from a repository on GitHub and optionally runs the files through a build process and publishes a website.

You can host the site on github.io or on your own custom domain. In fact, you can create GitHub Pages websites that are publicly available on the Internet. Also, organizations using GitHub Enterprise Cloud can publish sites privately by managing access control. 

Types of GitHub Pages sites

There are three types: 

• Project-based: it is connected to a specific project hosted on GitHub (a JavaScript library or a collection of recipes).
• User: a repository owned by a personal account must be created and the source files of a project site are stored in the same repository.
• Organizational: a repository owned by an organization named <organization>.github.io .  

One caveat is that GitHub Pages sites are publicly available on the Internet, even if the repository is private, so it is not recommended to include sensitive data in the repository.  

GitHub Pages Examples

Here are some examples of sites that use GitHub Pages, such as Jekyll, Netflix, Yelp, Twitter, Facebook…  

How to deploy GitHub Pages

You can use GitHub Pages to showcase open-source projects, host a blog, or share documents. Here’s a guide on how to do this: 

Create a Website

1. In the top right corner, select “New repository”. 
2. Enter username.github.io as the repository name and replace the “username” with your own.  
3. In settings, go to the “Code and automation” section and click “Pages”.
4. Go to “Build and Deploy” > Source > Deploy from a branch > Branch > Select a publishing source.
5. Optionally, you can use Readme to write the content of your site, and you can edit the file or keep the default content. 
6. You can add more pages by creating more new files. Each file will be available on your site in the same directory structure as its publishing source.  

GitHub Assessments & Worskshops

At Plain Concepts, we offer a wide selection of assessments and customized workshops to help you get the most out of GitHub and make your teams the best experts they can be: 

• GitHub Maturity: Discover the capabilities and benefits you can get from GitHub through our customized DevSecOps assessment. You’ll get the basis for taking the next steps, an implementation proposal, key improvement points, and the roadmap to get you there. 
• GitHub Migration: with this workshop, you will be able to: 
  • Identify the key points for migrations and pitfalls to avoid.
  • We will train your team for the upcoming migrations.
  • We will document the migration process.
  • Your repositories will be migrated.  

• GitHub Basics: We will work with your developers to get the most out of this tool. This translates into: 
  • Policy settings and recommendations for organizations.
  • Guides for developers on how to work with GitHub.
  • Documentation on branching strategies and workflows.
  • CI/CD starter templates.
  • Policy settings and recommendations for GitHub Copilot.
  • Starter templates for publishing and consuming internal packages.  

• GitHub Developers Productivity: discover tools designed to improve developer productivity by leveraging AI, in-house sourcing, and advanced features: 
  • Extended automation for workflows.
  • Repository and package strategy for collaboration within resources.
  • Extended recommendations on the use of GitHub Copilot (hackathons, pilot projects, etc.).  

• GitHub at Scale: improve your organization’s governance of GitHub and scale it to the enterprise level: 
  • Organizational governance strategy and policies.
  • Repository policies focused on internal collaboration.
  • Leverage control with GitHub Codespaces.
  • Repository governance automation, policies, and permissions. 

• GitHub Insights: strengthen your teams with customized reports: 
  • Define benchmark metrics for performance, productivity, and quality.
  • Empowerment to create new reports.
  • Better understanding of the development process.
  • Creation of custom metrics. 

• GitHub Advanced Security: We work with your developers and security team to build a solid strategy using GitHub tools. Our experts will help you secure your code with advanced security features: 
  • Hands-on guidance to enable a pilot team, troubleshoot problems, and provide a plan for subsequent deployment.
  • You will work with a GHAS expert to develop a comprehensive deployment and rollout plan.
  • Accelerate the adoption of advanced security in your organization. 

If you want to become a GitHub expert, don’t hesitate to contact us, and we’ll advise you along the way.