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GitHub has a Project Pages feature that pulls from the gh-pages branch of a repository. It's explained here: http://pages.github.com/

I want the gh-pages branch to be an exact mirror of the Master branch. One way I found (here on Stack Overflow) is to run:


This causes each instance of git push to push the Master branch of the repository into the gh-pages branch.

The trouble that I have with this solution is that I'm using the GitHub Mac App, which doesn't use a strict git push. According to http://mac.github.com/help.html it does a git pull --rebase. Additionally, even when I select Push from the Repository menu, my git config line isn't adhered to.

So, I'm wondering if there is a way that fits well with the GitHub Mac App to get the gh-pages branch be an exact mirror of the Master branch.

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Why not have gh-pages be the master branch? No need to have two. Just set gh-pages as the default –  random Jan 22 '13 at 2:04
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up vote 4 down vote accepted

I ran through a bunch of my own tests. It doesn't seem like you need to go through the exact process they've laid out at http://pages.github.com/ in order to create the gh-pages branch. You can simply create a new branch named gh-pages from within the GitHub Mac App.



  1. Go to the Branches view of your repository
  3. Click the Publish button to push it to GitHub

Take these steps to sync your changes from the Master branch into the gh-pages branch:

  1. Make changes in your Master branch
  2. In the Changes view, enter the commit summary & click the Commit & Sync button to push to the Master branch
  3. Switch to Branches view
  4. Click the Merge View button to display the Merge view
  6. Click the Merge Branches button
  7. Use the bottom left menu to checkout the gh-pages branch
  8. Click the Branch in Sync button to force a synchronization
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