Doesn't work: "There is no repository description file. Please, create one to remove this message."

[ellson]

I added and committed a "description" file to the top directiory of the repo, but the message didn't go away.

BTW The word "description" in the message should be quoted to give the user a better clue what filename is expected.

[sstok]

The description file must be placed inside the .git directory :)

There is a difference in an readme.md and description file.

[ellson]

I think I must be missing something. I'm using bare repos, managed by gitolite, so on the server there is only a testing.git. which is I think the equivalent of .git on a clone?

I've committed and pushed a "description" file to the repo, and gitlist can see it in its file listing, but it still asks for it in the repository list page.

[gfoster]

That's not how you get a description file into it. You log on to the
server and edit /.git/description

-- Gary F.

On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 7:34 AM, ellson notifications@github.com wrote:

I think I must be missing something. I'm using bare repos, managed by
gitolite, so on the server there is only a testing.git. which is I think
the equivalent of .git on a clone?

I've committed and pushed a "description" file to the repo, and gitlist
can see it in its file listing, but it still asks for it in the repository
list page.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/178#issuecomment-8820803.

[ellson]

You're suggesting: testing.git/.git/decription ?

I'm still missing something, Why am I creating a new .git/ directory for this?

[ellson]

OK, so I don't have to create a .git/directory. It sees: testing.git/desciption

But now I have an unmanaged file in my repo! A file that (because I'm using gitolite) only root can modify.

Please can we use a file that is in the repo?

[ellson]

How do I format the "description" text? I tried "html" and "md" formatting but netier worked. Text just gets wrapped around into a single paragraph.

[DannyvdSluijs]

@ellson I do think you need to look into the inner workings of git itself, as the description file and its inner workings are related to git, and not to gitlist. A feature request is already submitted, to parse any readme.md.

[klaussilveira]

Your description should be a simple, plain-text, one-line description of your repository. Nothing more. Also, this has nothing to do with GitList, but Git instead.

[ellson]

Your description should be a simple, plain-text, one-line description of your repository. Nothing more.

OK

Also, this has nothing to do with GitList, but Git instead.

According to this thread:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6866838/what-should-be-in-the-git-description-file
it was put there for gitweb. It isn't used by git itself.

I think leave as is ... but gitlist should support an alternative of the readme.md from the repo proper. And it shouldn't complain as long as one or the other is present. If both are present I'd suggest using readme.md and ignore description, since description is there for gitweb.

Also, if one is present, but empty, could you drop the box entirely so that the list of projects is more compact?

[klaussilveira]

Why would you want to parse Markdown or HTML for a simple, one-line description?

[ellson]

Why does it have to be one line? I wanted to add the "git clone" command on a line of its own.

Perhaps this could be on the repo main page instead .... Can I add a multiline formatted header to the main repo page, from a file in the repo?

[klaussilveira]

If you want detailed, formatted descriptions for your repo, specially on the main page, it should go into the README.md file, inside the repo contents.

[ellson]

OK thanks.

But it still isn't the ideal place to put the "git clone ...." URL, because it doesn't really apply in trees that have already been cloned (except maybe as a reference to the origin repo).

Really, the instruction should be there with the "tar" and "zip" buttons - something like gitweb does?

Can the "git clone..." links be automatically generated, if we provide the prefix URL in config.ini ?

[ianchanning]

@ellson I'm very late to this - but this is a Gitolite issue rather than a Gitlist issue. I'm using Gitolite v2 an in the other tips documentation it explains that to add in a description you specify testing = "a short description" anywhere in the gitolite.conf file. This should create the description file once you commit and push the gitolite.conf file for the testing.git repo. For Gitolite v3 have a look at this Stack Overflow question.

[tobya]

This is all very confusing. My suggestion here would be to show the description if the .git/description file exists and to show nothing if not. The repo name should be sufficient unless someone goes to the trouble of creating the correct file.

[ellson]

+1 on the suggestion in the previous comment from tobya.

[caseydunham]

+1 on tobya last comment.

[klaussilveira]

But that's the current behavior.

[caseydunham]

I think we were referring to the default text being shown on the repository listing. Don't show anything if there is no description file.