Step 7 of 7 , Unit 11
Your site is published. Now you need to know how to update it, because your portfolio is not done when you click publish. It grows every time you complete a new unit, fix something, or improve a design. Here is how to keep your live site in sync with your latest work.
Every time you change something on your site and want that change to go live, you need to upload the updated file to GitHub and commit it. GitHub will detect that the file has changed, rebuild your site, and push the update live within a few minutes.
The process is the same as Step 4, just for one file at a time instead of your whole project.
For small changes, fixing a typo, updating a sentence, changing a color value, you can edit files directly in GitHub's browser editor without touching your computer.
Go to your repository, click on the file you want to edit, then click the pencil icon in the top right of the file view. Make your changes in the editor, then scroll down and commit the change with a descriptive message. GitHub will rebuild your site automatically.
For larger changes, adding a new section, redesigning a page, completing a new unit, edit the file on your computer first. When you are happy with the changes, go to your repository on GitHub, navigate to the file's location, and upload the updated version using Add file → Upload files. GitHub will replace the old version with the new one.
Every commit gets a message. After you have been working on a project for months, those messages become the history of your decisions. Write something specific enough to be useful to your future self.
Every time you commit a change, GitHub Pages rebuilds your site. This usually takes 2 to 5 minutes. If you visit your URL right after committing and the change is not there yet, wait a few minutes and do a hard refresh: Command + Shift + R on Mac, Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows.
Everything in this guide used GitHub's website to upload and manage files. That works well for a portfolio workflow. But most professional developers use a tool called GitHub Desktop, a free app that makes it even faster to sync changes between your computer and GitHub.
GitHub Desktop is worth exploring once you are comfortable with the basics. You can download it at desktop.github.com. It connects to your GitHub account, lets you see exactly what changed in each file before you commit, and syncs updates with one click. It is not required, but it is how most working developers manage their projects day to day.
Units 21 through 27 each produce a new project. As you complete each one, upload it to your repository and update your portfolio homepage to link to it. By Unit 27, your GitHub Pages site will be a fully stocked portfolio of seven distinct design projects, exactly the kind of body of work a design internship or entry-level job application needs.
You have finished the GitHub setup guide. Your site is live, your files are backed up, and you know how to keep everything updated as you build more.
Unit 21 starts the design project phase of the curriculum, five projects that will fill your portfolio with the kind of work that gets noticed. You have everything you need to begin.