Using a template

Each of the two companion repositories is a GitHub template repository. Use the green Use this template → Create a new repository button on the template’s GitHub page to spin up your own copy:

  1. Open the template you want — e.g. https://github.com/eweisbrod/project-template.
  2. Click Use this template → Create a new repository. Pick a name and visibility (public or private). This creates a brand-new repository (repo) in your account with the template’s contents but no fork relationship to the original.
  3. Clone your new repo to a local folder on your computer using RStudio (File → New Project → Version Control → Git) or git clone from the command line.
  4. Follow the template’s own README for setup (running its setup.R / setup.py, configuring .env, storing WRDS credentials in keyring).

Important: I recommend that you do not put the local clone inside Dropbox. Git and Dropbox can interact badly unless you are an advanced user. Keep your code on a regular drive (e.g. C:/_git/your-project/) and put your raw and derived data inside Dropbox separately — the templates’ .env configuration is built around exactly that split via RAW_DATA_DIR and DATA_DIR.

If you are not yet ready to spin up your own copy, you can browse the code on each template’s GitHub page and copy/paste the parts that are useful to you, or download a zip from any repo’s “Code” button.