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Publish dashboard to GitHub Pages

publish_dashboard.Rd

This function automates the process of publishing a dashboard to GitHub Pages. It handles git initialization, .gitignore setup, GitHub repository creation, and GitHub Pages configuration using usethis functions.

Usage

publish_dashboard(
  message = "Initial commit",
  restart = FALSE,
  organisation = NULL,
  private = NULL,
  protocol = c("https", "ssh"),
  branch = usethis::git_default_branch(),
  path = "/docs",
  ask = TRUE,
  ...
)

Arguments

message

Initial commit message (default: "Initial commit")

restart

Whether to restart RStudio after git initialization (default: FALSE)

organisation

GitHub organisation name (optional, for org repositories)

private

Whether to create a private repository. When NULL (default) and ask = TRUE, you will be prompted interactively. Set to TRUE or FALSE to skip the prompt.

protocol

Transfer protocol: "https" or "ssh" (default: "https")

branch

Branch to deploy from (default: uses git default branch)

path

Path containing the site files (default: "/docs")

ask

Whether to use the interactive confirmation workflow (default: TRUE). When TRUE, guides you through file review and confirmation steps. Set to FALSE to skip all prompts (not recommended for first-time use).

...

Additional arguments passed to usethis::use_github()

Value

Invisibly returns TRUE if published successfully, FALSE if cancelled

Details

When ask = TRUE (the default), the function guides you through a 3-step interactive confirmation process:

  1. File Review: Shows you the files that will be published and opens a folder so you can verify nothing unintended is included

  2. Repository Privacy: Asks whether to create a private or public repository

  3. Confirm Publish: Final confirmation before publishing to GitHub

What Gets Published

Typically, you only need to publish:

  • The docs/ folder (auto-generated HTML, CSS, JS files)

  • Optionally, your R scripts (just for reproducibility)

By default, common data file extensions (.csv, .rds, .xlsx, .sav, .dta) are automatically excluded via .gitignore. Use usethis::use_git_ignore() to exclude additional files you don't want to publish.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# After generating a dashboard, navigate to the dashboard directory
# and publish it (interactive mode):
setwd("my_dashboard")
publish_dashboard()

# Publish to an organization
publish_dashboard(organisation = "my-org")

# Create a private repository (skip privacy prompt)
publish_dashboard(private = TRUE)

# Skip all prompts (use with caution)
publish_dashboard(ask = FALSE, private = FALSE)
} # }