Creating a GitHub Account
Table of contents
- Why GitHub?
- Creating the account
- Profile configuration
- Securing the account
- GitHub plans
- First exploration
1 - Why GitHub?
GitHub is the most popular code collaboration platform in the world:
Impressive statistics
- 100+ million developers
- 400+ million repositories
- 90% of Fortune 100 companies use it
- Acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion
Benefits of GitHub
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Free | Unlimited public and private repositories |
| Collaboration | Pull requests, issues, discussions |
| CI/CD | Built-in GitHub Actions |
| Portfolio | Show your projects to recruiters |
| Community | Contribute to open source |
💡 Career tip: An active GitHub profile has become a major asset for tech recruiters!
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2 - Creating the account
Step 1: Go to GitHub
Head to https://github.com
Step 2: Click on "Sign up"
The button is at the top right of the page.
Step 3: Fill in the information
| Field | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Use a reliable professional or personal email | |
| Password | At least 15 characters, or 8 with a number and a lowercase letter |
| Username | Choose a professional name (e.g., prenom-nom or prenomnom) |
⚠️ Important: Your username will be your public identity. Avoid fanciful nicknames if you want to use it professionally.
Step 4: Email verification
- GitHub sends a verification code to your email
- Enter the code you received
- Your account is created!
Step 5: Initial personalization
GitHub asks a few questions to personalize your experience:
- Team size: "Just me" for personal use
- Features: Select according to your needs
- Plan: "Continue for free" to get started
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3 - Profile configuration
3.1 Access the profile settings
- Click your avatar at the top right
- Select "Settings"
3.2 Essential information to complete
Public profile
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | Jean Dupont |
| Bio | DevOps Engineer |
| Company | @nom-entreprise |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Website | https://mon-portfolio.com |
Profile picture
- Upload a professional photo
- Recommended size: 500x500 pixels minimum
- Format: JPG, PNG or GIF
3.3 Create a profile README (Bonus)
Create a repository with the same name as your username to get a custom README on your profile:
- Create a new repository named exactly like your username
- Check "Add a README file"
- Customize the README.md
Example content:
# Bonjour, je suis Jean 👋
## 🚀 À propos de moi
- 🔭 Je travaille actuellement sur des projets DevOps
- 🌱 J'apprends Kubernetes et Terraform
- 💬 N'hésitez pas à me contacter !
## 🛠️ Technologies
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4 - Securing the account
4.1 Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)
It's MANDATORY since 2024!
- Go to Settings → Password and authentication
- Click Enable two-factor authentication
- Choose your method:
- Authentication app (recommended): Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password
- SMS (less secure)
4.2 Setup with an authentication app
- Download an app (e.g., Google Authenticator)
- Scan the QR code displayed by GitHub
- Enter the generated 6-digit code
- IMPORTANT: Save your recovery codes!
4.3 Recovery codes
GitHub generates recovery codes. Keep them safe:
- Print them and keep them in a safe place
- Or store them in a password manager
- They are your only option if you lose access to your 2FA
4.4 SSH keys (later configuration)
We will configure SSH keys in the next chapter to secure your Git connections.
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5 - GitHub plans
Plan comparison
| Feature | Free | Pro | Team | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public repositories | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Private repositories | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Collaborators (private) | ✅ Unlimited | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| GitHub Actions | 2000 min/month | 3000 min | 3000 min | 50000 min |
| Packages storage | 500 MB | 2 GB | 2 GB | 50 GB |
| Support | Community | Premium | ||
| Price | Free | $4/month | $4/user/month | On request |
Recommendation
To get started and for most use cases:
💡 The Free plan is more than enough!
You can always upgrade later if you need advanced features.
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6 - First exploration
6.1 Navigating GitHub
Familiarize yourself with the interface:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Repositories | Your projects |
| Stars | Projects you have starred |
| Followers/Following | Your network |
| Explore | Discover popular projects |
6.2 Explore popular projects
Visit some famous projects for inspiration:
- facebook/react - UI library
- microsoft/vscode - Code editor
- torvalds/linux - Linux kernel
- kubernetes/kubernetes - Orchestration
6.3 GitHub vocabulary to know
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Repository (Repo) | A project/folder containing your code |
| Fork | A copy of a repo in your account |
| Clone | Download a repo to your machine |
| Commit | Record changes |
| Push | Send your commits to GitHub |
| Pull | Retrieve changes from GitHub |
| Pull Request (PR) | Propose changes |
| Issue | Report a bug or request a feature |
| Branch | A parallel version of the code |
| Merge | Merge branches |
Next step
Now that your account is created, let's move on to configuring Git on your local machine!