Merge pull request #143 from gvwilson/tell-people-to-change-default-branch

Telling people to change the default branch before cloning

README.md

@@ -53,12 +53,35 @@ template for creating websites for workshops.
     When the process is done,
     you can click "Continue to repository" to visit your newly-created repository.
 
-**Note:**
-some people have had intermittent errors during the import process,
-possibly because of the network timing out.
-If you experience a problem, please re-try;
-if the problem persists,
-please [get in touch](#getting-and-giving-help).
+    > **Note:**
+    > some people have had intermittent errors during the import process,
+    > possibly because of the network timing out.
+    > If you experience a problem, please re-try;
+    > if the problem persists,
+    > please [get in touch](#getting-and-giving-help).
+
+8.  You must now make `gh-pages` the default branch in your new repository.
+    (If you do not, anyone who clones the repository may get a message
+    "warning: remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref, unable to checkout"
+    because Git is looking for a branch called `master` which doesn't exist.)
+    To do this:
+
+    1.  Go to "Settings" in the controls on the right hand side:
+
+        ![](http://software-carpentry.org/img/workshop-template/settings.png)
+
+    2.  Change the default branch to `gh-pages`:
+
+        ![](http://software-carpentry.org/img/workshop-template/changing-default-branch.png)
+
+    This step is not strictly necessary, but if it is omitted, people
+    must remember to clone your repository using:
+
+    ~~~
+    git clone -b gh-pages https://github.com/your_username/YYYY-MM-DD-site
+    ~~~
+
+    where the `-b gh-pages` argument tells Git which branch you want to use.
 
 ## Customizing Your Website