Lab Setup Instructions

Overview

Each week, you’ll complete lab assignments and add them to your portfolio website. This document explains the one-time setup process and the weekly workflow you’ll follow all semester.

One-Time Setup (Week 1 Only)

Step 0: Clone the Course Repository

You can also do this in GitHub Desktop, which will probably be easier at first, but slower in the long run. Following is the bash code.

Very Important: To follow the steps using the bash code, you need to install Git first and finish the git client setup

First, clone the course repository (you only need to do this once):

  1. Open Terminal/Command Prompt

  2. Navigate to where you want to store course materials:

    cd ~/Desktop  # or wherever you keep school folders

  3. Clone the course repository:

    git clone https://github.com/[YOUR GITHUB USERNAME]/CPLN-5920-SP26.git

Important: This creates a separate folder from your portfolio repository.

Step 1: Create Labs Folder Structure

In your portfolio repository, create this folder structure:

your-portfolio/
├── _quarto.yml           # You'll edit this
├── index.qmd            # Your home page  
├── labs/                # CREATE THIS FOLDER
│   └── lab_0/           # CREATE THIS FOLDER
│       ├── lab_0_template.qmd    # You'll copy this file here
│       └── data/        # CREATE THIS FOLDER (copy data folder)
└── ... (other files)

In RStudio: 1. In the Files pane, click “New Folder” 2. Name it labs 3. Inside labs, create another folder called lab_0 4. Inside lab_0, create a folder called data

Step 2: Edit Your Navigation Menu

Open your _quarto.yml file and modify the navbar section to add a Labs menu:

Replace this section:

navbar:
  left:
    - href: index.qmd
      text: Home

With this:

navbar:
  left:
    - href: index.qmd
      text: Home
    - text: Labs
      menu:
        - href: labs/lab_0/
          text: "Lab 0: dplyr Basics"

Important: Make sure the indentation matches exactly! YAML is sensitive to spacing.

Step 3: Test Your Setup

  1. Save your _quarto.yml file
  2. In RStudio, go to Build → Render Website
  3. Check that you now see a “Labs” dropdown in your navigation menu

Weekly Workflow (Every Lab)

Step 1: Get the Lab Template

  1. Go to the course repository
  2. Navigate to labs/lab_X/ (where X is the lab number)
  3. Download or copy the lab template files

Step 2: Set Up Your Lab Folder

  1. In your portfolio, create a new folder: labs/lab_X/
  2. Copy the template .qmd file into this folder
  3. Copy any data files into labs/lab_X/data/

Step 3: Customize the Template

  1. Open the lab .qmd file
  2. Update the author field with your name
  3. Complete all the exercises
  4. Fill in all the “[YOUR ANSWER]” sections

Step 4: Update Your Navigation

Add the new lab to your _quarto.yml file:

navbar:
  left:
    - href: index.qmd
      text: Home
    - text: Labs
      menu:
        - href: labs/lab_0/
          text: "Lab 0: dplyr Basics"
        - href: labs/lab_1/           # ADD NEW LABS HERE
          text: "Lab 1: [Lab Title]"

Step 5: Render and Deploy

  1. Build your site: Build → Render Website

  2. Check locally: Make sure everything looks good

  3. Commit your changes: (You can use GitHub Desktop here as well)

    git add .
git commit -m "Complete Lab X: [brief description]"

  4. Push to GitHub:

    git push origin main

  5. Set up the GitHub page in the repo settings

  6. Check your live site: Your portfolio should update automatically

Troubleshooting

“Website won’t render”

  • Check if any error messages/warnings appear in the RStudio console
  • Check your _quarto.yml indentation
  • Make sure all required packages are installed
  • Make sure all file paths are correct
  • Look for typos in file names

“New lab doesn’t appear in menu”

  • Verify you added it to _quarto.yml
  • Check that the href: path matches your folder structure
  • Make sure you rendered the website after making changes

“Code doesn’t work”

  • Check that data files are in the right location
  • Verify you’re using relative paths: "data/filename.csv"
  • Make sure you’re working within your R project

“GitHub Pages isn’t updating”

  • Confirm you committed and pushed all changes
  • Check that GitHub Actions completed successfully (green checkmark)
  • Wait a few minutes - updates can take time

Tips for Success

  1. Work incrementally: Complete one exercise at a time, render frequently
  2. Use descriptive commit messages: “Complete filtering exercises for Lab 0”
  3. Keep files organized: Don’t put data files in wrong folders
  4. Test locally first: Always render and check before pushing
  5. Ask for help: Use office hours or discussion board if stuck

Example Portfolio Structure (After Several Labs)

your-portfolio/
├── _quarto.yml
├── index.qmd
├── labs/
│   ├── lab_0/
│   │   ├── index.qmd
│   │   └── data/
│   │       └── car_sales_data.csv
│   ├── lab_1/
│   │   ├── index.qmd
│   │   └── data/
│   │       └── census_data.csv
│   └── lab_2/
│       ├── index.qmd
│       └── data/
│           └── housing_data.csv
└── docs/                    # Generated by Quarto
    ├── index.html
    ├── weekly-notes/
    ├── labs/
    └── ...

By the end of the semester, you’ll have a professional portfolio showcasing all your data analysis work!

Questions?

  • Technical issues: Post on Canvas discussion board
  • Conceptual questions: Come to office hours
  • GitHub problems: Include error messages in your questions