# GitHub Hygiene Update - (23 Jun 2025)

  
June 23rd, 2025  
  
Today’s been super insightful - I finally set up a clean, structured GitHub flow and discovered a few cool things along the way. Here’s everything I explored, fixed, and learned - in a way that might help you too 🚀

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## 🎯 The Goal

I've always worked on the `main` branch directly. It’s quick, but not the best way to handle updates - especially when you're preparing your repo for open source or GitHub Sponsors.  
So today, I changed that. Here's what went down...

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## 🛠️ Step-by-Step Process

### 1\. **Created a New Branch (No More Direct-to-Main!)**

* Made a small fix and **created a new branch**: `footer-fix`
    
* Committed changes and opened a **Pull Request** (PR)
    
* Merged it smoothly into `main` - ✨ first clean PR flow
    

✅ **Tip**: Avoid pushing directly to `main`. Create a feature/fix branch, commit there, and raise a PR.  
This not only keeps your workflow clean but also unlocks GitHub achievement badges!

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### 2\. 🏅 **Unlocked GitHub Achievements**

Because I used a new branch and successfully merged it via PR, I unlocked:

* `YOLO` - For creating and merging a PR
    
* `Pull Shark` - For merging a pull request 🎉
    

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1750683576443/8a947c49-68c0-4a74-beb7-71c292525c49.png align="center")

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### 3\. 💬 **Enabled Discussions for the First Time**

Since my repository is now open for contributions, I wanted a place where:

* Contributors could ask questions
    
* We could talk about ideas, bugs, or plans
    

So I went to the **Discussions** tab and:

* Created a **General Discussion** section
    
* Started a thread to say hello and invite engagement
    

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1750683066155/eb0a422d-349e-43bb-90b0-1f6b1211c358.png align="center")

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## 🧠 Why This Matters

* Having a **clean** `main` branch avoids messy code and builds a habit of professional collaboration
    
* PR-based workflow helps when **multiple contributors** are involved
    
* GitHub Achievements feel rewarding and track your growth
    
* **Discussions** open up space for genuine community learning and feedback
    

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## 🎯 Next Steps

* Set up labels like `good first issue`
    
* Invite others to check my repo → raise issues or suggestions
    
* Stay consistent with this hygiene to grow authentically
    
* and much more, looking forward to hear from you…
    

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## 🌐 Want to Contribute?

If you find any bugs or design issues on my site, feel free to contribute!  
📍 [Click here to visit the repository](https://github.com/ayushhardeniya/ayushhardeniya.github.io)

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This was a tiny shift, but it taught me a lot about open-source etiquette, discipline, and creating space for others to collaborate.

More soon. Until then - keep learning and building!  
  
~ *Ayush Hardeniya*