Part 1 · Create the repository

Part one · in your browser · Step 1 of 13

Open the new
repository form

A repository is the empty home your project will live in. You are making it by hand so you can see every choice it involves.

Go to github.com/new.

If you would rather click your way there: press the + button in the top-right corner of any GitHub page, then choose New repository. Both land on the same form.

Confirm before continuing

The Create a new repository form is open in my browser

Part one · in your browser · Step 2 of 13

Fill in the form

The form comes in two numbered sections. Set these eight things and ignore anything not listed here.

1 General
Owner	Leave it as your own username.
Repository name	Type `personal-site` — the same name as your folder. A green tick reading personal-site is available means the name is free. Ignore the invented name GitHub suggests underneath.
Description	Leave it empty, or write one line: My personal site with Ask my site.

2 Configuration
Choose visibility	Open the dropdown and pick Private.
Start with a template	Leave as No template.
Add README	Leave the switch Off.
Add .gitignore	Leave as No .gitignore.
Add license	Leave as No license.

Then create it

Read those last three settings once more, then click the green Create repository button at the bottom right of the form. There is no "are you sure" — the repository exists the moment you click.

Confirm all four before continuing

The name is personal-site, it says the name is available, and the owner is my own username

Choose visibility says Private

Add README is Off, and the dropdowns read No .gitignore and No license

Look again before you tick this one — it is the mistake that breaks part three.

I clicked Create repository

Part one · in your browser · Step 3 of 13

Where you are now,
and what you see

GitHub has taken you to your new repository. Check you are in the right place, then read the screen — because it alarms almost everyone the first time.

The page you should be on
Address	`github.com/your-username/personal-site`
At the top	Your repository name, with a Private label beside it.
Headline	Quick setup — if you’ve done this kind of thing before
Below that	A box holding a web address ending in `.git`, and several blocks of commands beginning `git init` and `git remote add origin`.

If part one went wrong

The repository name is already taken: You already have one called personal-site. Either open that one and use it, or name this personal-site-2 and remember which you chose.
I turned on the README, a .gitignore or a license: Start over: Settings → General → scroll to the very bottom → delete the repository, then redo step 2. It is empty, so nothing is lost.
I chose Public by mistake: Fix it now, before any files go up: Settings → General → bottom → Change visibility.
The Owner dropdown shows a class or organisation: Set it back to your own username unless your instructor told you otherwise.

Confirm both before continuing

My repository exists, and the page says Quick setup

There is a Private label next to its name

In step 2 you set the dropdown to Private. This is different: it confirms the repository GitHub actually made is private. Settings and outcomes are not always the same thing, and this is the one worth checking twice.

Open the newrepository form

Fill in the form

Where you are now,and what you see

Open the new
repository form

Where you are now,
and what you see