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Using gitlab/github.

I created boilerplates for all my projects so I've:

wordpress-boilerplate html5-boilerplate laravel-boilerplate ror-boilerplate

I'm debating myself if/when starting a new project I should fork boilerplate and thus save the relationship, or simply export boilerplates and push them to projects own repo.

What is your take on this?

I feel forking is not necessary since I wouldn't be pushing anything back to boilerplates.

Sometimes I think about such unimportant things :(

  • Do what works for you and your team. It doesn't matter so much, so long as you're consistent. That said, forking the repo might cause some problems if you're trying to merge changes in to an existing project which has deviated by some way. – Andy Hunt Feb 16 '15 at 10:17
  • If the point of the project is to be a boilerplate, conceptually it would probably be best if you were to fork a boilerplate only when you want to make an improved boilerplate. Otherwise cloning is probably the better pick imho. I may be mistaken, but cloning an existing repository may not even be copying the files, but simply be handled as a branch internally. – Neil Feb 16 '15 at 13:01
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    We settle a bit in the middle and don't fork the boilerplate but rather treat it as an upstream dependency and pull in updates from time to time. We also keep the boilerplate in it's own long-running branch so we can merge it into the main projects. – Wyatt Barnett Mar 25 '15 at 01:44

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If you're building a one-off application, I'd recommend cloning the boilerplate, renaming, and building from there.

If you're going to be doing that a lot, and especially if you find yourself starting from the same boilerplate each time but adding certain features repeatedly, then fork the boilerplate, add improvements to your fork, and start new app development projects from your fork of the boilerplate.

The latter has been my approach working with the Roots theming framework for WordPress projects, for instance. I've got my own fork of Roots to which I've added some handy features of my own, and I start new theming projects from my fork.

simmer
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  • Sorry, just realized I misunderstood your question. I see you're talking about your own boilerplate packages. Neil and AndyBursh have it right. – simmer Feb 23 '15 at 01:30