1. Version Control
for freelancers + small teams
@liamdempsey

2. Shout + Cheer!

3. About You
• Freelance designer
• Freelance developer working with
designers
• Part of a small web team looking to
improve systems
• People who already think version
control is a good idea – but don’t
know where to start

4. About Liam
• Designer who codes
• Run LBDesign a small, multi-national
marketing and design consultancy
• Co-founder and organizer of the
Philly ‘burbs WordPress Meetup
• Co-founder and co-editor of
chickenmonkeydog

5. What We’ll Cover
• Key concepts for getting started
• VC work flow for a solo freelancer
• VC work flow for a small team
• VC work flow for working with
outside freelancers or agencies

6. What We Won’t Cover
• Why version control is important
• If version control is better via an app
or the command line
• My pizza crust recipe

7. This is My Approach
• There are bound to be others
• It’s not perfect – no approach is
• My approach is customized to the
size and complexity of sites that
LBDesign creates
• This process constantly evolves

8. Version Control Is Like Math

9. Not All Math Is Complex

10. Let’s Get on the Road!
Photo by randomthoughtsfromkelly.blogspot.com

11. Overcome the Fear
Photo by Caitriana Nicholson

12. Basic Version Control Terms
REPO: A collection of files managed with
version control
BRANCH: A unique copy of the file(s) in
the repo with its own history of edits
COMMIT: A “Save As” or a dedicated save
within version control
PULL: Grab changes that are not in your
current repo
PUSH: Send your changes to a shared
repo

13. Getting Started: Working Solo
• Document your work flow
• Be consistent in your approach
• Focus on implementation of your
work flow

14. Working Together
• Talk with your colleague about
version control preferences
• Document your agreed work flow
• Don’t forget to pull and push!
• Commit often and with purpose

15. Working with Outside Help
• Recurring theme: Talk about version
control preferences
• Document that agreed work flow

16. SOLO FREELANCER
First Build

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First Build
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APPROVAL
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First Build
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APPROVAL
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First Build
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26. SOLO FREELANCER
Post Launch Edits

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Post Launch Edits
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28. Post Launch Edits
SOLO FREELANCER

29. Post Launch Edits
SOLO FREELANCER

30. Post Launch Edits
CLIENT
APPROVAL
SOLO FREELANCER

31. Post Launch Edits
SOLO FREELANCER

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CLIENT
APPROVAL
SOLO FREELANCER

33. Post Launch Edits
SOLO FREELANCER

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SOLO FREELANCER

35. Post Launch Edits
SOLO FREELANCER

36. INTERNAL TEAM
First Build

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Post Launch Edits

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56. EXTERNAL TEAM
First Build + Edits

57. EXTERNAL TEAM
• The same process as for small internal
teams
• DIFFERENCE: One of permissions
• Do you give full access?
• Allow a fork and ask for pull
requests?
First Build + Edits

58. The Takeaways?
• Don’t be scared
• Develop with a work flow
• Implement your process
• Evaluate your work flow
• Evolve your version control practices

59. Questions?
@liamdempsey
@LBDesign
http://lbdesign.tv