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Hands-On Exercise: Launch Your Academic Website

GIS Practicum · April 15, 2026 · CSA 303

Part 1 — Your First Git Repository (Local)

Open a terminal and run these commands one by one:

# 1. Create a project folder
mkdir my-first-repo
cd my-first-repo

# 2. Initialize Git
git init

# 3. Create a file
echo "# My First Repo" > README.md

# 4. Check what Git sees
git status

# 5. Stage the file
git add README.md

# 6. Save the snapshot
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# 7. View history
git log --oneline

Part 2 — Launch Your Website on GitHub Pages

Step 1 — Create a GitHub Account

Go to github.com and sign up (free).

Step 2 — Create Your Repository

  • Click New repository
  • Name it exactly: your-username.github.io (replace with your actual GitHub username)
  • Set to Public
  • Check Initialize this repository with a README
  • Click Create repository

Step 3 — Enable GitHub Pages

  • Go to Settings → Pages (left sidebar)
  • Under Source, select main branch → click Save
  • Wait ~60 seconds

Step 4 — Edit Your Content

Click the pencil icon on README.md and add:

# Your Name

PhD Student in [Your Field] at [Your University]

## Research Interests
- Topic 1
- Topic 2

## Contact
- Email: you@university.edu
- GitHub: github.com/your-username

Click Commit changes.

Step 5 — Visit Your Live Site

Open your browser and go to: https://your-username.github.io

🎉 You are live on the internet!

Bonus — Add a Theme

  1. Go to Settings → Pages
  2. Click Choose a theme
  3. Pick any theme you like → click Select theme
  4. Your site will update in ~30 seconds

Key Commands Reference

Command What it does
git init Create a new repository
git status See what has changed
git add <file> Stage a file
git add . Stage all changed files
git commit -m "message" Save a snapshot
git log --oneline View compact history
git clone <url> Copy a remote repo locally
git push origin main Upload local commits to GitHub
git pull origin main Download latest changes from GitHub

Useful Resources

  • Git Book (free): git-scm.com/book
  • Interactive Git tutorial: learngitbranching.js.org
  • GitHub Pages docs: pages.github.com
  • al-folio (academic template): github.com/alshedivat/al-folio
  • Git cheat sheet (PDF): education.github.com/git-cheat-sheet