Question

I discovered GitHub some time ago, and I’m loving it. It’s got an awesome UI, lets me code from anywhere, is free, etc., etc.

However, now that I’m using GitHub a lot, I’m starting to code on mobile devices (iPod Touch, Kindle Fire). However, I can’t test the websites I’m working on without a laborious download process that only works on the Kindle Fire.

I’ve seen other approaches that involve me having to type stuff into a shell, or modify the Git config. While fine on a desktop, that doesn’t work for online file editing – just opening the file on GitHub.com and pressing Edit and typing a commit message.

How can I push the master branch to gh-pages automatically when I’m using a mobile device – without filesystem access or a shell?

Answer 1

Well, here’s a solution I’ve found – it’s not automatic, but it is good enough for me.

1. Find a file you’d like to edit on GitHub. Click on it, and click Edit. Edit it, add a commit summary, etc, etc.
2. Merge that commit into the Master branch. GitHub will take you to that screen automagically.
3. Go to the main page of your project. Click the ‘Pull Request’ button – at the middle top.
4. GitHub will tell you that ‘Master’ is already up to date with ‘Master’. Choose the gh-pages branch in the first box. Enter the same commit message and title you entered previously.
5. Click ‘Send Pull Request’. GitHub will take you to a screen where you can merge the pull request by clicking, if my memory serves me, a blue button in the center-left-ish area of the screen.
6. When you’re finished filling out all these forms and clicking all the buttons, GitHub will merge your Master branch into gh-pages. gh-pages will update in anywhere from zero seconds to ten minutes – usually about 45 seconds for me.

I hope this works – it’s not perfect, and isn’t automatic, but it is only using GitHub and doesn’t take terribly long.