{"id":16162,"date":"2018-02-25T01:59:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T09:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sharethis.com\/?page_id=16162"},"modified":"2021-06-16T07:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T14:56:50","slug":"github","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sharethis.com\/platform\/follow-buttons\/github\/","title":{"rendered":"Github"},"content":{"rendered":"
What is the GitHub follow button?<\/a>
\n

The\u00a0<\/strong>GitHub follow button<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0lets your website visitors easily follow you on GitHub\u00a0<\/strong>(a software development platform). GitHub brings together developers who want to see what others are working on, and connect with them \u2013 and when you follow someone, you\u2019ll see notifications on your personal dashboard about their activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is GitHub?<\/a>
\n

If you don\u2019t have a background in software development, you might have never heard of GitHub. If you\u2019re curious about what it is, here\u2019s the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGit\u201d is a version control system created by Linus Torvalds (who also created Linux). A version control system keeps different version of software safe in a \u201crepository\u201d, so that, for example, a bug fix that ends up causing\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0problems can easily be reversed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Git has taken over from previously popular systems, such as Subversion (also called SVN), as it\u2019s possible to use Git offline, and many people believe it has better\u00a0branching and merging support<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where does Git<\/strong>Hub<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0come in? This is an online space where developers can store their projects and network or collaborate with other developers.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s like a social network for computer programmers. If you want to find out more,\u00a0How to Geek has a great article explaining it in detail here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To encourage people to connect with you and follow your projects on GitHub, you can put a\u00a0GitHub follow button<\/a>\u00a0on your website.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why would I use GitHub?<\/a>
\n

GitHub is primarily used by developers (programmers), but it can also be used by anyone who wants version control\u00a0<\/strong>to make it easy to keep control of and merge changes. That means you could potentially use it for things like book manuscripts or large presentations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, though, you\u2019re probably only going to use GitHub if you\u2019re engaged in software development. Perhaps you\u2019re developing a mobile app, for instance. GitHub is a great way to get help and support from other developers \u2013 or you could use it as a place to look for projects that you might want to contribute to.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What are followers, stars, and sponsorship on GitHub?<\/a>
\n

On GitHub, people have a couple of ways of showing that they like your projects: they can \u201cfollow\u201d you and see your activity on their personal dashboard, and\/or they can \u201cstar\u201d one or more of your repositories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of followers you have is shown on your profile<\/strong>, so it can provide an indication of how established or popular a particular GitHub user is. (Linus Torvalds<\/a>\u00a0has the most followers on the platform.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cstar\u201d saves your repository to their personal list<\/strong>, which is a useful way to bookmark it so you can follow it later. It\u2019s also seen as a popularity signal, as the number of stars is displayed against the repository \u2013 so repositories with lots of stars are generally seen as more useful and tested than others. People can also see, on your profile, what you\u2019ve starred.\u00a0GitHub also has a \u201csponsorship\u201d system<\/strong>, where people can choose to sponsor you by giving you a recurring monthly payment. This works a bit like Patreon,\u00a0with different levels of sponsorship<\/a>\u00a0(set by GitHub) available.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"parent":16052,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16162","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nGithub Follow Button: Add the Github Button to Your Website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Start growing your Github following today! 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