How to connect local folder to Git repository and start making changes on branches?

Question

I'm new to source control; in the past, I've manually backed up copies of files and made changes on clones then transferred changes manually to master files once debugged. I realize this is similar to how branches work with Git repositories, however I've never used one.

I downloaded Git and made an account on GitLab, and started a new project. My site is hosted on a local server and my files are saved locally. How do I connect these files to a Git repository and continue developing with branches?

Solution

To register a project as a local Git repository the first thing you need to do is perform the following command at your project root:

git init

This will create a .git folder at your project root and will allow you to start using Git in that repository.

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If you want to "push" your local Git repository to a remote Git server (in your case, to GitLab), you'll need to perform the following command first:

git remote add origin <Repository_Location>

You can call origin whatever you like, really, but origin is the standard name for Git remote repositories. <Repository_Location> is the URL to your remote repository. For example, if I had a new project called MyNewProject that I wanted to push to GitLab, I'd perform:

git remote add origin https://gitlab.com/Harmelodic/MyNewProject.git

You can then "push" your changes from your local machine to your remote repo using the following command:

git push origin <branch_name>

where branch name is the name of the branch you want to push, e.g. master.

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You can find a good beginners guide to Git here.

Comments

[codr]

Thanks for the info! So my site is still hosted on my local server; so I can create a branch remote and it'll add it locally and vice versa? Do I have to create two sites (clones of each other, to do live testing)? Does the branch connect to the live site?

[exoRift]

So If I have a script that builds the same files in the repo, I can use this to commit changes without having to clone the repo first?

[Freemium]

I am trying to push a new branch however running the last command results in error: src refspec develop does not match any. error: failed to push some refs to [...]

[Freemium]

I had to commit a file and also do git branch <branch> first

[Kane]

error: src refspec main does not match any