Getting Started

Welcome back! Now that we have a basic overview of what GitHub is, let’s get ready to start using it. In order to do that, we need two things: a GitHub account and the GitHub Desktop client. Let’s handle the account first.

Creating a GitHub Account

Go to github.com, enter your email address in the box in the middle of the screen, and click the green “Sign up for GitHub” button.

Enter a password and click “Continue.” The password must either be at least 15 characters long or be at least 8 characters long and include both a number and a lowercase letter. After clicking “Continue,” you will be prompted to enter a username. The username may contain only letters, numbers, and hyphens, and must not be a username that is already in use by another GitHub user. Click “Continue” again. You will now be asked whether you want to receive email updates and announcments from GitHub. Enter y to receive such updates or n to opt out, and click “Continue” again. You will then need to complete a CAPTCHA verification. After completing the CAPTCHA, click the “Create account” button at the bottom of the screen.

You will then need to verify your email address. Open your email account and find the email with a six-digit code from GitHub. Enter the code on the next screen.

Now GitHub will ask for some additional information to help personalize your experience. Select the size of the project team you anticipate working with. If you are a student or a teacher, indicate that as well, and then click “Continue.”

On the next page, GitHub will ask you which features you are interested in using. Since we will be using the GitHub Desktop client, select the “Client Apps” checkbox. You may select any of the other checkboxes you anticipate using and then click “Continue.” GitHub will then recommend which plan it thinks is best for you. You may opt for the paid plan if you wish, but I will be continuing with the free option. Selecting the free option will take you to the GitHub dashboard.

At the top of the dashboard is a prompt to go through the “Hello World” example guide. Ignore this for now; we’ll install the desktop client first and then come back to it.

Installing the GitHub Desktop Client

Got to desktop.github.com. On the homepage, you will see options to download the installer for Windows 64-bit, macOS, or Windows MSI. I am on a Windows 64-bit machine, so your steps may differ. Click the “Download for Windows (64bit)” button.

When the download finishes, right-click and select “Open in folder.” You will see a file named GitHubDesktopSetup-x64.exe. I recommend performing an antivirus scan on the downloaded file if your antivirus software has that capability; however, it is not strictly necessary. Double-click the file to run it. The installer will complete automatically and launch the GitHub desktop client when it is finished.

You must now sign in to the desktop client using your GitHub.com account in order for the client to upload and download your repos to/from GitHub.com. Click “File → Options…” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-, to bring up the Options menu. On the “Accounts” tab, click “Sign in” under the “GitHub.com” heading (not the GitHub Enterprise heading).

The sign-in screen will launch in a browser window. After signing in, you will be asked to confirm authorization for GitHub Desktop to access your GitHub account on your behalf. Click the green “Authorize desktop” button.

You should be redirected back to GitHub Desktop, where the right side of the screen will now display a message that says “Looks like there are no repositories for your username here on GitHub.com. Refresh this list if you’ve created a repository recently.”

Congratulations! You now have your GitHub account created and the desktop client set up. We’ll create our first repository next week.

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