Using the Wiki and Managing Code Versioning

       In the previous chapter, we explored the main page of a repository and we covered the basics of its issue tracker.

GitHub also provides a wiki-style place to add your project's documentation. You can create as many pages as you like and also grant public access to it so that everyone can edit it.

In addition, when you are the creator of a product and have users that rely on it, you will want it to be as stable as possible. Versioning helps to maintain an achievable goal. GitHub provides the right tools to release versions of your code, which in reality are just snapshots in time. Whenever you believe your project is ready to go out into the wild, whether bugs are fixed or new features are added, you can use the releases feature and deliver versioned tarballs to the world.

After finishing this chapter, you will have learned how to create, edit, and maintain a wiki by providing a home for your documentation that will complement your project.

You will also learn how to create a new release out of an existing branch or tag accompanied with optional release notes. This way, the end user can understand the changes from any previous versions.

This is what we will cover:

• Using the wiki:
  • Why wikis are a nice place to document your project
  • Creating a new wiki page
  • Deleting a page
  • Introduction to Markdown
  • How to add a sidebar and a footer to your wiki
  • Watching a wiki page's commit history and reverting to a previous state if needed
• Managing code versioning:
  • Creating a release
  • Editing a release
  • Pushing a tag from the command line
  • Marking as prerelease
  • Making a draft of a release
  • Uploading your own files
• Tips and tricks:
  • Subscribing to new releases via atom feed
  • Editing the wiki locally