docs/content/github/working-with-github-pages/about-github-pages.md

title	intro	redirect_from	product	versions
About GitHub Pages	You can use {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} to host a website about yourself, your organization, or your project directly from a {% data variables.product.product_name %} repository.	[/articles/what-are-github-pages/ /articles/what-is-github-pages/ /articles/user-organization-and-project-pages/ /articles/using-a-static-site-generator-other-than-jekyll/ /articles/mime-types-on-github-pages/ /articles/should-i-rename-usernamegithubcom-repositories-to-usernamegithubio/ /articles/about-github-pages]	{% data reusables.gated-features.pages %}	[{free-pro-team *} {enterprise-server *} {github-ae *}]

About {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}

{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} is a static site hosting service that takes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files straight from a repository on {% data variables.product.product_name %}, optionally runs the files through a build process, and publishes a website. You can see examples of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites in the {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} examples collection.

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} You can host your site on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}'s github.io domain or your own custom domain. For more information, see "Using a custom domain with {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}." {% endif %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} {% data reusables.pages.about-private-publishing %} For more information, see "Changing the visibility of your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site." {% endif %}

To get started, see "Creating a {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site."

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} Organization owners can disable the publication of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites from the organization's repositories. For more information, see "Managing the publication of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites for your organization." {% endif %}

Types of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites

There are three types of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites: project, user, and organization. Project sites are connected to a specific project hosted on {% data variables.product.product_name %}, such as a JavaScript library or a recipe collection. User and organization sites are connected to a specific {% data variables.product.product_name %} account.

To publish a user site, you must create a repository owned by your user account that's named {% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}<username>.github.io{% else %}<username>.<hostname>{% endif %}. To publish an organization site, you must create a repository owned by an organization that's named {% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}<organization>.github.io{% else %}<organization>.<hostname>{% endif %}. {% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}Unless you're using a custom domain, user and organization sites are available at http(s)://<username>.github.io or http(s)://<organization>.github.io.{% elsif currentVersion == "github-ae@latest" %}User and organization sites are available at http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<username> or http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<organization>.{% endif %}

The source files for a project site are stored in the same repository as their project. {% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}Unless you're using a custom domain, project sites are available at http(s)://<username>.github.io/<repository> or http(s)://<organization>.github.io/<repository>.{% elsif currentVersion == "github-ae@latest" %}Project sites are available at http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<username>/<repository>/ or http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<organization>/<repository>/.{% endif %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} If you publish your site privately, the URL for your site will be different. For more information, see "Changing the visibility of your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site." {% endif %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} For more information about how custom domains affect the URL for your site, see "About custom domains and {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}." {% endif %}

You can only create one user or organization site for each account on {% data variables.product.product_name %}. Project sites, whether owned by an organization or a user account, are unlimited.

{% if enterpriseServerVersions contains currentVersion %} The URL where your site is available depends on whether subdomain isolation is enabled for {% data variables.product.product_location %}.

Type of site	Subdomain isolation enabled	Subdomain isolation disabled
User	http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<username>	http(s)://<hostname>/pages/<username>
Organization	http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<organization>	http(s)://<hostname>/pages/<organization>
Project site owned by user account	http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<username>/<repository>/	http(s)://<hostname>/pages/<username>/<repository>/
Project site owned by organization account	http(s)://pages.<hostname>/<orgname>/<repository>/	http(s)://<hostname>/pages/<orgname>/<repository>/

For more information, see "[Enabling subdomain isolation](/enterprise/{{ currentVersion }}/admin/installation/enabling-subdomain-isolation)" or contact your site administrator. {% endif %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} {% note %}

Note: Repositories using the legacy <username>.github.com naming scheme will still be published, but visitors will be redirected from http(s)://<username>.github.com to http(s)://<username>.github.io. If both a <username>.github.com and <username>.github.io repository exist, only the <username>.github.io repository will be published.

{% endnote %} {% endif %}

Publishing sources for {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites

The publishing source for your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site is the branch and folder where the source files for your site are stored.

{% data reusables.pages.private_pages_are_public_warning %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@2.22" or currentVersion == "github-ae@latest" %}

If the default publishing source exists in your repository, {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} will automatically publish a site from that source. The default publishing source for user and organization sites is the root of the default branch for the repository. The default publishing source for project sites is the root of the gh-pages branch.

If you want to keep the source files for your site in a different location, you can change the publishing source for your site. You can publish your site from any branch in the repository, either from the root of the repository on that branch, /, or from the /docs folder on that branch. For more information, see "Configuring a publishing source for your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site."

If you choose the /docs folder of any branch as your publishing source, {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} will read everything to publish your site{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}, including the CNAME file,{% endif %} from the /docs folder.{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} For example, when you edit your custom domain through the {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} settings, the custom domain will write to /docs/CNAME. For more information about CNAME files, see "Managing a custom domain for your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site."{% endif %}

{% else %}

The default publishing source for user and organization sites is the master branch. If the repository for your user or organization site has a master branch, your site will publish automatically from that branch. You cannot choose a different publishing source for user or organization sites.

The default publishing source for a project site is the gh-pages branch. If the repository for your project site has a gh-pages branch, your site will publish automatically from that branch.

Project sites can also be published from the master branch or a /docs folder on the master branch. To publish your site from one of these sources, you must configure a different publishing source. For more information, see "Configuring a publishing source for your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site."

If you choose the /docs folder of the master branch as your publishing source, {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} will read everything to publish your site{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}, including the CNAME file,{% endif %} from the /docs folder.{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} For example, when you edit your custom domain through the {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} settings, the custom domain will write to /docs/CNAME. For more information about CNAME files, see "Managing a custom domain for your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} site."{% endif %}

You cannot publish your project site from any other branch, even if the default branch is not master or gh-pages.

{% endif %}

Static site generators

{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} publishes any static files that you push to your repository. You can create your own static files or use a static site generator to build your site for you. You can also customize your own build process locally or on another server. We recommend Jekyll, a static site generator with built-in support for {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} and a simplified build process. For more information, see "About {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} and Jekyll."

{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} will use Jekyll to build your site by default. If you want to use a static site generator other than Jekyll, disable the Jekyll build process by creating an empty file called .nojekyll in the root of your publishing source, then follow your static site generator's instructions to build your site locally.

{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} does not support server-side languages such as PHP, Ruby, or Python.

Guidelines for using {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}

• {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites created after June 15, 2016 and using github.io domains are served over HTTPS. If you created your site before June 15, 2016, you can enable HTTPS support for traffic to your site. For more information, see "Securing your {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} with HTTPS."
• {% data reusables.pages.no_sensitive_data_pages %}
• Your use of {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} is subject to the GitHub Terms of Service, including the prohibition on reselling.

Usage limits

{% endif %} {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites are subject to the following usage limits:

• {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} source repositories have a recommended limit of 1GB.{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %} For more information, see "What is my disk quota?"{% endif %}
• Published {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites may be no larger than 1 GB. {% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" %}
• {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites have a soft bandwidth limit of 100GB per month.
• {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites have a soft limit of 10 builds per hour.

If your site exceeds these usage quotas, we may not be able to serve your site, or you may receive a polite email from {% data variables.contact.contact_support %} suggesting strategies for reducing your site's impact on our servers, including putting a third-party content distribution network (CDN) in front of your site, making use of other {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} features such as releases, or moving to a different hosting service that might better fit your needs.

Prohibited uses

{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} is not intended for or allowed to be used as a free web hosting service to run your online business, e-commerce site, or any other website that is primarily directed at either facilitating commercial transactions or providing commercial software as a service (SaaS).

Additionally, {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} sites must refrain from:

• Content or activity that is illegal or otherwise prohibited by our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines
• Violent or threatening content or activity
• Excessive automated bulk activity (for example, spamming)
• Activity that compromises GitHub users or GitHub services
• Get-rich-quick schemes
• Sexually obscene content
• Content that misrepresents your identity or site purpose

If you have questions about whether your use or intended use falls into these categories, please contact {% data variables.contact.contact_support %}. {% endif %}

MIME types on {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}

A MIME type is a header that a server sends to a browser, providing information about the nature and format of the files the browser requested. {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} supports more than 750 MIME types across thousands of file extensions. The list of supported MIME types is generated from the mime-db project.

While you can't specify custom MIME types on a per-file or per-repository basis, you can add or modify MIME types for use on {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}. For more information, see the mime-db contributing guidelines.

Further reading

• {% data variables.product.prodname_pages %} on {% data variables.product.prodname_learning %}
• "{% data variables.product.prodname_pages %}"