Getting Started

To use Surfgreen, you’ll need a Mac or Unix-based computer 1 onto which you can install Node.js. Surfgreen uses it under the hood, and you’ll interact with it using your computer’s command line.

This guide assumes some familiarity with HTML and CSS. 2 It does not assume any familiarity with programming languages, Node, or any other web deployment practices.

Downloading Surfgreen

First, download the Surfgreen starter, and install Node.js, if you haven’t already. Then, open your command line, and navigate to the folder containing your Surfgreen website. 3

Then, run the command:

npm install

This will download Surfgreen and the other scripts (“packages”) it uses.

Once you’ve done that, you can launch a site locally on your computer by typing:

npm start

These days, it’s common for web projects to be hosted in a Git repository. 4 You’ll find it useful to manage your Surfgreen site this way, especially as we get into publishing your site.

Never used Git before? The simplest way to get started is to use GitHub, which can host your git repository for free. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Sign up for a free GitHub account, and download GitHub Desktop.
  2. Open GitHub Desktop and sign in.
  3. Drag your Surfgreen site folder into GitHub Desktop to create a new repository (“repo”).
  4. Publish your repo to begin managing it through your GitHub account.

You’ve completed the tedious part: installing all of the software. Now, let’s get to the fun part: diving into the basics of Surfgreen.