If you haven’t used Git and Github before, you should read and work through the github for collaboration instructions through the Your turn!! section right before the Adding collaborators section. If you are not able to get things working fairly quickly (~ 1 hour, not including installation times), then contact me so I can help you.
If you have used Git and Github before but NOT with R Studio, then you can probably start at Step 5 in the Install Git section. If you have used them in R Studio before, try going right to the Create your first repo and use it with R Studio section and ensure that everything still works.
For this class, you should plan to always start a new assignment/project by creating a github repo. And, in R Studio you should open the .Rproj file when you want to work with files within the project (see a short video of what I mean here). Your R project is a folder on your computer and is very much connected with the repo on github.
At first, I want you to get used to using GitHub regularly for your own files. You should be comfortable with creating a repository on GitHub, cloning it in R Studio, and then consistently following the save –> commit –> push pattern. For a deeper understanding of some of this, see Jenny Bryan’s fantastic Happy Git with R resource.
There are some beginning instructions in the github for collaboration documentation starting at the Adding collaborators section. For a slightly more in-depth coverage, including creating branches, read my blog post that covers that or see a more detailed presentation I did for R Ladies Tunis here. We will also practice some of these skills together throughout the course.
It is VERY important to remember that communication is a key component to using GitHub successfully for collaboration. Don’t forget that part!