GitHub Pages has long been a popular way for developers to host static websites directly from a repository. Over time, the way repositories manage and publish these sites has evolved considerably. This article examines the historical use of the gh-pages branch, how it was traditionally managed, the changes that have taken place, and the reasoning behind the shift toward current best practices.
In the early days of GitHub Pages, using a dedicated branch—commonly named gh-pages—was the standard method to host a static website. The main motivations for this approach were:
- Separation of Concerns: Developers could maintain the source code in the primary branch (e.g.,
masteror latermain) while the rendered static website resided in a separate branch. This separation made it easier to manage website content independently from application code. - Simplified Publishing: By push
