Lecture 10: Publishing Your CV with GitHub Pages

Last class I asked you to convert your CV to a markdown document. Now let’s turn it into a live website—for free, in about five minutes.

What is GitHub Pages?

GitHub Pages is a free static-site hosting service built into every GitHub repository. You push markdown (or HTML), and GitHub renders it into a website automatically.

  • Free for public repositories
  • No server setup — GitHub handles everything
  • Automatic rendering — markdown → HTML via Jekyll
  • URL pattern: https://USERNAME.github.io/REPONAME

How does it compare?

Feature GitHub Pages Google Sites WordPress
Cost Free Free Free (limited) / Paid
Custom domain Yes Yes Paid only
Markdown support Native No Plugin
Version control Git built-in No No
Setup time ~5 min ~10 min ~30 min
Customization Full (HTML/CSS/Jekyll) Drag-and-drop Themes + plugins

The Plan

Here’s what we’ll do today:

  1. Create a new repo called cv on GitHub (web UI)
  2. Open a Codespace
  3. Download/create index.md with CV content
  4. git add, git commit, git push
  5. Enable GitHub Pages (web UI: Settings → Pages)
  6. View the live site
  7. (Optional) Add a Jekyll theme for polish

Create the Repository

We’ll use the GitHub web interface to create a new repo.

Step-by-step

1. Go to github.com and click the “+” button in the top-right corner, then select “New repository”

2. Fill in the details:

  • Repository name: cv
  • Visibility: Public
  • Check “Add a README file”

3. Click “Create repository”

Tip

The repo must be public for free GitHub Pages hosting. Private repos require GitHub Pro.

Open a Codespace

1. On your new cv repo page, click “Code” → “Codespaces” → “+”

2. Wait for the Codespace to spin up (30–60 seconds)

3. Open the terminal at the bottom of the VS Code interface

This is the same Codespace workflow from Lecture 9—a full development environment in your browser.

Add the CV Content

In the Codespace terminal, download Miffy’s CV as index.md:

curl -o index.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nekrut/bda/main/data/Miffy_Academic_CV.md

Or: open the VS Code editor in Codespace and paste your own CV into a new file called index.md.

Important

The file must be named index.md — GitHub Pages serves it as the homepage. If you name it anything else (like cv.md or resume.md), visitors will see the README instead.

Preview what you downloaded:

head -20 index.md
# Miffy B. Pluis, PhD

**Professor of Burrow Architecture & Lapine Behavioral Sciences**
Department of Meadow Studies, University of Utrecht-den-Haag
Snuffie Lane 1955, 3500 AA Utrecht, The Netherlands

Email: m.b.pluis@uu-meadow.nl | ORCID: 0000-0002-EARS-0001

---

## Education

**PhD in Theoretical Carrot Biochemistry**, Wageningen University, 2008
Dissertation: *"Orange Is the New Green: Carotenoid Bioavailability in Subterranean Root Systems and Its Implications for Lagomorph Nutrition"*
Advisor: Prof. Boris Bear

**MSc in Meadow Ecology & Floral Arrangement** (cum laude), Utrecht University, 2004
Thesis: *"Spatial Distribution of Wildflowers in Dutch Polders: A Sensory Perspective"*

Commit and Push

Now let’s track the file with Git and push it to GitHub:

git add index.md
git commit -m "Add CV"
git push
Note

Since the Codespace was opened from the cv repo, git push targets the right remote automatically. No need to set upstream or configure anything.

If you refresh your repo page on GitHub, you should see index.md alongside the README.md.

Enable GitHub Pages

Back in the GitHub web interface:

1. Go to your cv repository page

2. Click Settings (gear icon in the top menu bar)

3. In the left sidebar, click Pages

4. Under “Source”, select Deploy from a branch

5. Select the main branch and / (root) folder

6. Click Save

Warning

Deployment takes 1–2 minutes. If you see a 404, wait and refresh. You can watch the build progress under the Actions tab of your repo.

View Your Site

Once deployed, your CV is live at:

https://USERNAME.github.io/cv/

Replace USERNAME with your GitHub username. GitHub Pages takes your raw markdown and renders it into a clean HTML page—no extra work required.

Add a Jekyll Theme (optional)

The default rendering is clean but plain. Jekyll—GitHub Pages’ built-in static site generator—supports themes that change the look with zero code.

Back in the Codespace terminal:

echo 'theme: jekyll-theme-minimal' > _config.yml
git add _config.yml
git commit -m "Add Jekyll theme"
git push

Wait 1–2 minutes and refresh your site to see the themed version.

Built-in themes

Theme Style Good for
minimal Clean, left sidebar CVs, personal pages
cayman Green-blue gradient header Project landing pages
slate Dark header, gray body Technical docs
architect Blueprint/technical feel Engineering portfolios
tactile Linen texture, warm Creative portfolios

To try a different theme, just change the value in _config.yml:

echo 'theme: jekyll-theme-cayman' > _config.yml
git add _config.yml
git commit -m "Switch to Cayman theme"
git push

Customize the title

You can add a title and description to _config.yml:

theme: jekyll-theme-minimal
title: "Miffy B. Pluis, PhD"
description: "Professor of Burrow Architecture & Lapine Behavioral Sciences"

These appear in the sidebar (for minimal) or header (for other themes).

Markdown Formatting Reference

Your CV is a markdown file, so everything you see on the rendered site is controlled by markdown syntax. Here’s a quick reference for the formatting you’ll use most.

Text styling

**bold text**
*italic text*
~~strikethrough~~
`inline code`

Renders as: bold text, italic text, strikethrough, inline code

Headings

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

Use # for your name, ## for major sections (Education, Experience), ### for subsections.

Lists

- Unordered item
- Another item
  - Nested item

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Horizontal rules

---

A line with just --- creates a horizontal divider—useful for separating CV sections.

Blockquotes

> This is a blockquote.

Tables

| Year | Role | Institution |
|------|------|-------------|
| 2020 | Professor | Utrecht |
| 2014 | Assoc. Prof. | ETH |

Pipes (|) define columns, dashes (---) separate the header row.

Putting it together

A typical CV section in markdown:

## Education

**PhD in Theoretical Carrot Biochemistry**, Wageningen University, 2008
Dissertation: *"Orange Is the New Green"*
Advisor: Prof. Boris Bear

**MSc in Meadow Ecology** (cum laude), Utrecht University, 2004

---
Tip

Look at Miffy’s CV (index.md) for a complete working example of all these elements in action.

Custom Domains (brief mention)

If you want a URL like miffypluis.org instead of username.github.io/cv:

  1. Buy a domain (~$10–15/year from Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.)
  2. Add a CNAME file to your repo containing your domain name
  3. Configure DNS records to point to GitHub’s servers

This is entirely optional—username.github.io/cv works great on its own.

Summary

Commands used today

Command What it does
curl -o index.md URL Download a file from the web
git add index.md Stage the file for commit
git commit -m "Add CV" Save a snapshot with a message
git push Upload commits to GitHub

Key takeaways

  • GitHub Pages = free website hosting from any public repo
  • index.md = the homepage — name matters
  • Jekyll themes = visual polish with zero code
  • The whole workflow: create repo → add content → push → enable Pages → done

Homework

1. Publish your CV

Format your CV the way you like and send me a linjk using this form.

2. Install AI agents

  • Install Claude Code — follow the quickstart guide for your OS
  • Install Gemini CLI — follow the README instructions