DEV Community: Tejaswini

My First Pull Request Journey And How I Synced My Fork

Tejaswini — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 16:50:03 +0000

                               _INTRODUCTION_

As part of my journey to become a better developer, I made my first pull request on GiHub. At first, GitHub felt overwhelming-so many new terms like fork, clone, upstream, and pull request. But step by step, I understood how everything works. In this blog, You'll learn:

1.How to fork and clone a repository
2.How to make a change and create a pull request
3.How to check if your PR has conflicts
4.How to sync your fork with the original project (CLI + GitHub button)
5.Troubleshooting the most common errors (with fixes)

If you are a beginner, this guide will help you too!

First let me help you to learn the Super Shot words

FORK : Your copy of someone else's repo on your GitHub.
CLONE : Download the code to your computor.
BRANCH : A safe area to make changes.
COMMIT : A snapshot of your changes with a message.
PULL REQUEST: Asking the original repo to accept your changes.
UPSTREAM : A nickname for the original repo you forked from.

PROCESS

1)Fork the Repository

Open the repository you want to contribute to (I used First Contributions). -Click Fork → this creates your-username/first-contributions under your account.

2)Clone your Fork (to your computer)

Please download gitbash and do this in it.(always use command line(GitBash) because it improves your knowledge and experience).

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/first-contributions.git
cd first-contributions

Replace with your GitHub username.

3)Create a New Branch (recommended)

working on a branch keeps your main clean.

git checkout -b add-tejaswini

Replace add-tejaswini with your branch name.

4)Make Your Change

For First Contributions, I edited Contributors.md and added my name.

5)Stage, Commit, and Push

git add Contributors.md
git commit -m "Add Tejaswini to Contributors list"
git push origin add-tejaswini

6)Create a PULL REQUEST(PR)

Go to your fork on GitHub.
You’ll see a banner: “Compare & pull request.” Click it.
(Or click Pull Requests → New pull request.)
Make sure it compares your branch ➜ original repo’s main.
Give a short title and description and click Create pull request.
Example title: Add Tejaswini to Contributors list
Added my name to Contributors.md as part of first contribution.

7)Check if Your PR has Conflicts
On your PR page, GitHub shows one of these:

"This branch has no conflicts with the base branch."(This means Good)
"This branch has conflicts that must be resolved."(This means it needs some fixes)
You can also see labels like "mergeable"(green) or "conflicting"(red) in the PR list.

8)After Merge: Confirm Everything is OK

When maintainers merge your PR, the PR shows "Merged".
You can also check the repo's Contributors list to see your update live.

9)Keep Your Fork Updated(Sync with original)

Set the original repo as upstream (only once)

git remote add upstream https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions.git
git remote -v   # (optional) verify origin vs upstream

Fetch and merge latest changes.

git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

How I Check If My Fork Is In Sync

git fetch upstream
git log upstream/main..main

-No output → you’re up to date.

-Commits listed → you’re behind(merge properly as I shown).

Troubleshooting(Real Errors I Hit & Fixes)

1) fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent dicrectories):.git
Cause:You are running commands outside the project folder.
Fix:

# Go into the folder you cloned
cd first-contributions
# or clone it first:
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/first-contributions.git
cd first-contributions

2)"This Branch has conflicts that must br resolved"
Cause:Someone changed the same file/lines after you branched.
Fix:

git fetch upstream
git checkout add-tejaswini        # your feature branch
git merge upstream/main           # brings latest changes
# Open the files with conflict markers <<<<<<< ======= >>>>>> and resolve
git add <fixed-files>
git commit                        # completes the merge
git push origin add-tejaswini

3)Accidentally Stuck in nano editor when writing a commit message
-save: Ctrl + o, press Enter
-Exit: Ctrl + X
4)Already have upstream set(adding it again errors)
Just verify:

git remote -v

If it's wrong:

git remote remove upstream
git remote add upstream https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions.git

Good Practices That Helped Me

- Create a new branch for each change (don’t commit to main).


Use clear commit messages:
feat: add my name to Contributors list
 docs: improve README steps

Keep your fork synced before starting new work.
Prefer Git Bash/terminal—companies value CLI skills.

MY OUTCOME

My PR titled "Add Tejaswini to Contributors list" was merged.
Then I synced my fork so it stays up to date for future contributions.
If you haven't made your first PR yet, try the First Contributions repo, its perfect for beginners. Keep going , you have got this.

How I Created My First Portfolio Website Using GitHub Pages

Tejaswini — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:40:50 +0000

                             _INTRODUCTION_

AS a CSE student aspiring to become a Software Engineer , I wanted to showcase my projects online for free. That's when I discovered GitHub pages- a simple way to host a websites directly from a GitHub repository.

In this post, I'll walk you through how I built my first portfolio website in just a few steps.

STEP 1: Create a GitHub Repository
- Log in to "GitHub".
- Click new repository.
- Name it as yourusername.github.io
- Make it public and click Create repository.

STEP 2: Add your HTML File
- On your computer, create a file named index.html.
- Add basic HTML code:
<!DOCTYPE html>

MUNUKUNTLA TEJASWINI - Portfolio
 body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333; line-height: 1.6; } header { background: #222; color: white; text-align: center; padding: 2rem; } header h1 { margin: 0; font-size: 2.5rem; } header p { font-size: 1.2rem; color: #bbb; } section { padding: 2rem; max-width: 900px; margin: auto; } h2 { color: #222; border-bottom: 2px solid #ddd; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; } .skills, .projects { display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(200px, 1fr)); gap: 1rem; } .card { background: white; padding: 1rem; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); } a { color: #007acc; text-decoration: none; } a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } footer { text-align: center; padding: 1rem; background: #222; color: white; margin-top: 2rem; } 

MUNUKUNTLA TEJASWINI

Aspiring Software Engineer | Java & Web Development

<section>
    <h2>About Me</h2>
    <p>Hello! I am a Computer Science student passionate about coding and problem-solving.
       I enjoy building web applications and working on Java projects.
       I’m currently preparing for placements and improving my GitHub profile.</p>
</section>

<section>
    <h2>Skills</h2>
    <div class="skills">
        <div class="card">Java</div>
        <div class="card">HTML & CSS</div>
        <div class=”card”>PHP</div>
        <div class=”card”>MySQL</div>
        <div class="card">JavaScript</div>
        <div class="card">Git & GitHub</div>
    </div>
</section>

<section>
    <h2>Projects</h2>
    <div class="projects">
        <div class="card">
            <h3>Circle Parameter Finder</h3>
            <p>A simple Java program to calculate circumference and area of a circle.</p>
            <a href="#">View on GitHub</a>
        </div>
        <div class="card">
            <h3>Portfolio Website</h3>
            <p>This personal website, built with HTML & CSS, hosted on GitHub Pages.</p>
            <a href="#">View on GitHub</a>
        </div>
    </div>
</section>

<section>
    <h2>Contact</h2>
    <p>Email: <a href="malito:tejut2225@gmail.com">tejut2225@gmail.com</a></p>
</section>

<footer>
    <p>© 2025 MUNUKUNTLA TEJASWINI</p>
</footer>

      - Upload this file to your GitHub repository.

STEP 3: Enable GitHub Pages
- Go to your repository Settings.
- Scroll to pages.
- Under "Source", select main branch and save.

STEP 4: Share Your Link
After enabling Pages, GitHub will give you a link like- https://github.com/tejut2225/tejaswini.github.io.git
You can share this link in your resume , LinkedIn , and GitHub profile bio

OBSERVATIONS

GitHub pages is beginner friendly and free.
You only need an index.html file to get started.
Small projects like this help build confidence for larger ones.

Tech stack
-Built with HTML5 , CSS3 , and basic JavaScript

I plan to improve my portfolio by adding CSS styling , JavaScript interactivity and more and showcasing my coding projects. My goal is to contribute to open-source projects and prepare for roles like Associate Software Engineer at rt Camp. This is just the beginning of my web development journey. I'd love feedback on my portfolio - let me know what you think...