Using Git and GitHub

[iBelieve]

There's lots of useful information on GitHub and git at http://help.github.com

GitHub uses Git for version control. To set up git on your local computer, see https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git (but see the following about how to install it). When configuring your name for Git, make sure you use your real name if you have your real name set in GitHub, otherwise use your user name. They have to match, otherwise it will look like multiple people did your work.

To install git, don't go to the git website, use the packaged version in Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install git git-cola

I'd also recommend an excelent plugin called Liquid Prompt: http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/liquid-prompt-adaptive-prompt-for-bash.html. Among other things, it provides very useful information about the current git repository you're working in.

To work on the project, you'll need to clone a local copy:

 git clone https://github.com/uBible/uBible.git

This will create a directory called uBible, cd into it.

Git uses a concept called branches to keep work separate. Since the master branch is supposed to be the stable, working, nothing-in-progress branch, you won't do any work in the master branch. Instead, you'll create other branches (the naming scheme for branches is lowercase, with dashes separating words).

git checkout -b new-branch

Now do your work. When you're ready to save your work as a commit, run

git cola

Git Cola is a handy GUI app for making git commits. Basically, on the right is a list of files that have been changed. Click on each one, and in the main box, the diff for the file will be shown. If you like the changes you've made, right click on the file and choose Stage Selected. When you've staged all your changes, type a commit message and click commit.

Now you've saved a versioned commit of your work, but the project on GitHub doesn't know about it. To send your changes to GitHub, use

git push

If this is a new branch, you'll be prompted to set the upstream. Just run the example command. Now in the github project, you can view your new branch.

When you're happy with your work, submit a merge request to have it merged into the main master branch. Do this by clicking the Pull Request button above the list of files, and create a pull request. I'll review it as soon as I can!

To switch between existing branches, use

git checkout <branch>

(no -b, that creates a new branch).

[iBelieve]

@Israel-, @londumas - Something I'd highly recommend is setting up a repository in your own accounts and tinkering with it. You can just delete it when you're done and don't have to worry about messing up anything related to the uBible project.