Publish your first website

You've built a website locally. Now it's time to share it with the world!

Let's deploy your website so anyone with an internet connection can see your work.

Members only

4 minutes read

The problem

If you've followed the previous lessons, you should have a project folder on your computer with an index.html file — your first webpage.

You've also pushed this folder to GitHub, so your code is safely stored online. But if you share the GitHub link with someone, they'll see... raw HTML code. Not a website.

That's because GitHub shows the source code, not the rendered result. Only a web browser can transform HTML into a real webpage.

The solution: GitHub Pages

GitHub has a built-in feature called GitHub Pages that turns any repository into a live website. It's free, fast, and perfect for hosting static sites like the ones we're building.

Your repository must be public for GitHub Pages to work on the free plan.

Let me walk you through the whole process — from a GitHub repository to a live website:

From a GitHub repo to a live website with GitHub Pages.

Enable GitHub Pages

Go to your GitHub repository (e.g., github.com/your-username/your-project)

Click Settings in the top menu

In the left sidebar, click Pages

Under "Source", select Deploy from a branch

Choose the main branch and / (root) folder

Click Save and wait a minute or two

Your site is now live at:

https://your-username.github.io/your-repo-name

That's it. Your website is now online.

One project, two URLs

You now have two ways to share your work:

GitHub Repository

Where people can see your source code, explore your files, and contribute to your project.

github.com/username/repo

Live Website

Where people can see the final result — your actual webpage, rendered in the browser.

username.github.io/repo

Both are valuable. Link them together: add your live site URL to your repo's README, and add a "View source on GitHub" link to your website.

Updating your site

Every time you push changes to your main branch, GitHub Pages automatically rebuilds and deploys your site. No extra steps needed.

This makes it incredibly easy to iterate: edit locally, push to GitHub, and your live site updates within seconds.

Build your portfolio

GitHub Pages is perfect for building a portfolio of dataviz projects. Each project gets its own repo and its own URL.

Recruiters will look at your GitHub if you're applying for a technical role. Having live demos of your work is a huge advantage over just listing skills on a resume.

Built something cool? Share it on Discord! I'd love to see your work and offer feedback.

Oh no! 😱

This lesson is not ready yet.

But we're working hard on it, releasing 1-2 lessons per week. If you're a student, check the discord channel for announcements! ( logo above. )

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