Setting up the GitHub integration with your Guide theme

What's my plan?

Quick Look: Guide Admin > Customize design icon > Add theme > Add from GitHub

The GitHub integration enables you to develop and maintain a theme collaboratively in GitHub, then preview or publish it in Guide. To set up the integration, make sure your theme is stored in GitHub, then set up the integration in Guide.

Note: The GitHub integration with Help Center does not support GitHub Enterprise Server, but it does support GitHub Enterprise Cloud. If you use GitHub Enterprise Server you can alternatively use the Guide theming API.

You must be a Guide admin to set up the GitHub integration in Guide.

This article covers the following topics:

• Preparing your theme in GitHub
• Setting up the integration

Preparing your theme in GitHub

You need to ensure that your theme is in GitHub before you set up the integration in Guide. If you're new to Git and GitHub check out this tutorial. If your theme is already in GitHub, and it meets the following requirements, see Setting up the integration in Guide.

The integration has the following requirements for your GitHub repo:

• The manifest file must be at the root of the GitHub repo

  The file manifest.json should be placed at the root of your GitHub repository for Guide to be able to add your theme. You can still include extra files, such as tooling, which are ignored when importing to Guide.

• The GitHub repo can have only one theme

  You should only manage one theme in each repository. You can use the branch option during theme import to try out variations of your theme.

To get your theme into a GitHub repo

• If you do not currently have a theme, fork the Copenhagen theme repo and start building your theme. This enables you to easily port improvements from the Copenhagen theme to your theme in the future.
• If your theme is in Guide, download your theme from Guide, then create a GitHub repo (if you don't already have one), and push your theme to the GitHub repo.
• If your theme is not in Guide or GitHub, create a GitHub repo (if you don't already have one), and push your theme to the GitHub repo.

After you've prepared your theme in GitHub, you are ready to set up the integration in Guide.

Setting up the integration

To set up the GitHub integration you need to make sure your theme is stored in GitHub, then fetch your theme from GitHub to Guide. This one-time fetch establishes the connection between your theme and GitHub.

After you set up the integration, you will work on the theme in GitHub, then update the theme in Guide when you're ready. In Guide you can then preview or publish the theme live.

To set up the GitHub integration with your Guide theme

1. In GitHub, ensure that you have prepared your theme.
2. In Guide, click the Customize design icon () in the sidebar.

   The Themes page opens.

3. Click Add theme in the upper-right corner.
4. Click Add from GitHub.

   

5. Enter the URL for the repo and, optionally, enter a branch name if you want to fetch from a branch other than the default branch, then click Import.
6. Log in to GitHub if prompted, then click Authorize Zendesk.

The theme thumbnail appears on the Themes page when the import is complete. If you have problems, see Troubleshooting the GitHub integration for Guide themes.

After you've established the connection between your theme in Guide and GitHub, you will manage your theme in GitHub and update the theme in Guide as needed.