EDS 296: Data Science Portfolios

Customizing your GitHub profile

---

November 1st, 2024

GitHub is a portfolio

---

Yes, it’s a place to safely preserve versions of our work (in case our computers implode).

But it’s also (often) a place where current and / or potential collaborators and employers can:

explore your code

see your documentation

get a sense of your organizational practices and workflows

understand how you collaborate on projects (and with who)

learn about you as a person who has interests and a personality

Personalize your profile

---

By default, your profile photo is a unique Identicon, which is generated from your GitHub user ID – pretty cool! But you should absolutely update this with your photo.

• Takes very little time and “gives a sense of authenticity”
• Photo makes your commits / contributions more easily recognizable
• Short bio is a nice quick intro + links to your public profiles / website(s)

To update your profile image and information:

Click on your profile image, which takes you directly to your settings page

Pin the repos that demonstrate your skills

---

• Each should be well-organized, have a README, and ideally a short description (update “About” section)
• Order them from most > least “important”
• Update your pinned repos as necessary
• Which repos should you pin?
  • “things that do the best job of communicating the skills that you’re bringing to the table” (A. Haddad)
    • personal website is a great place to start!
    • personal projects
    • course projects
    • capstone repo(s)

To pin (up to six) repositories:

A. Navigate to your desired repo > click Pin (top right), or

B. If you already have a pinned repo(s): navigate to you landing page > click Customize your pins > check up to 6 boxes

Pin the repos that demonstrate your skills

---

Contributions show your commits

---

• Greener squares = more commits
• An *indicator of how much you’re coding
• *Indicates quantity, not quality

Add a profile README

---

Add a profile README

---

• A place to introduce yourself!
• Consider including:
  • A version of your bio
    
  • Impactful contributions you’ve made (and context)
  • Personal project descriptions + links
  • Something(s) that you’re currently working on
  • Guidance on how to connect with your professional communities
• Some template suggestions are provided when you first create your repo / initialize your README (and check out the Emoji Cheat Sheet)

To add a profile README:

1. Create a new repo and give it the same name as your GitHub username (e.g. my repo is named “samanthacsik”)

2. Make sure your repo is Public and initialize it with a README

3. Click the Edit README button to edit directly in the browser (I find this easier than cloning and editing locally)

Explore / adapt from other profile READMEs

---

See someone with a really cool README? Check out the source code! Navigate to their profile README repo > click on the README.md file > switch to “Code” view:

Always consider web accessibility

---

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and contribute to the Web

-W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

Improve your GitHub profile page accessibility

---

A few simple ways to ensure that assistive technology can help users understand and navigate your README:

1. Make links descriptive: assistive technologies present links in isolation, so provide context
   • e.g. opt for “Find the EDS 296-1F course description…” rather than “Find the EDS 296-1F course description here”

2. Add alt text to images: screen readers read alt text descriptions out loud
   • e.g. in html, <img src="image-url.com" alt="This is alt text">

3. Use proper heading structure: helps people understand content structure and more easily navigate sections
   • e.g. use # for your title, then the appropriate level-header thereafter (don’t skip levels)

4. Structure lists with proper markup: helps people understand lists as they are intended
   • e.g. use * or - for each list item, rather than special characters or emojis

End

~ This is the end of Lesson 2 (of 2) ~