2  Getting Started

Installing your tools and setting up the template

2.1 Overview

Before you can build or edit your website, you need to set up a few free tools on your computer. This chapter walks you through every installation step and gets the website template running on your machine for the first time.

By the end of this chapter, you will have:

  • R installed on your computer
  • RStudio installed and open
  • Quarto installed
  • The website template downloaded and running in your browser
Note

These installations only need to be done once. Once your environment is set up, you won’t need to repeat these steps.

2.2 Step 1: Install R

R is a free programming language that powers the tools behind your website. Even if you never write R code yourself, it needs to be installed for Quarto and RStudio to work properly.

  1. Go to the official R download page: https://cran.r-project.org
  2. Under “Download and Install R”, click the link that matches your operating system:
    • Windows → click “Download R for Windows” → then “base” → then the download link at the top
    • Mac → click “Download R for macOS” → choose the version that matches your Mac
    • Linux → select your distribution and follow the instructions
  3. Open the downloaded file and follow the installer prompts. The default settings are fine — you don’t need to change anything.
Tip

Not sure which version to download? If you’re on a newer Mac (2020 or later), you likely have an Apple Silicon chip — look for the file labeled arm64. If you’re on an older Mac or a Windows PC, the standard download is the right choice.

2.3 Step 2: Install RStudio

RStudio is a free application that gives you a visual, beginner-friendly environment for working with R and Quarto. Think of it as the workspace where everything comes together.

Important

You must install R before installing RStudio. RStudio requires R to be present on your computer in order to run.

  1. Go to the RStudio download page: https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop
  2. Click “Download RStudio Desktop” — the free version is all you need.
  3. Choose the installer for your operating system, download it, and run it.
  4. Follow the installer prompts. Again, the default settings are fine.
  5. Once installed, open RStudio. You should see a window divided into several panels.
Tip

What am I looking at? When RStudio opens for the first time, you’ll see a few panels: the Console (where R runs commands), the Environment (where your data and variables live), and the Files panel (where you browse your project files). Don’t worry about mastering these right away — you’ll get familiar with them as you go.

2.4 Step 3: Install Quarto

Quarto is the tool that actually builds your website. It reads your content files and turns them into the web pages visitors will see. You’ll install it directly from inside RStudio using the R Console — no need to visit any external websites or run a separate installer.

Note

The Console is the tab in the bottom-left panel of RStudio where you type and run R commands. It usually has a > symbol waiting for your input. This is different from the Terminal tab next to it — the Console is for R code, while the Terminal is for system-level commands.

  1. Open RStudio
  2. Click on the Console tab in the bottom-left panel
  3. Click next to the > symbol and type the following command, then press Enter:
install.packages("quarto")
  1. R will download and install the Quarto package. You may see a lot of text scroll by — that’s normal. Wait until you see the > prompt appear again, which means it’s done.
  2. Once installed, load the package by typing the following and pressing Enter:
library(quarto)
  1. To confirm everything installed correctly, run:
quarto_path()

If a file path is printed in the Console (for example, /usr/local/bin/quarto), Quarto is installed and ready to go.

Tip

Seeing a warning that says the package was built under a different version of R? That’s usually fine and won’t affect anything in this tutorial. As long as the > prompt returns without an error message in red, you’re good to continue.

Important

If you see a red error message saying Quarto was not found or the path is empty, it may mean Quarto’s command-line tools are not installed on your system yet. In that case, visit https://quarto.org/docs/get-started, download the installer for your operating system, and run it. Then return to this step and run quarto_path() again to confirm.

2.5 Step 4: Create a Free GitHub Account

GitHub is a free platform where people store and share code and projects. You’ll use it to download the website template and later to publish your site online.

If you already have a GitHub account, you can skip to Step 5.

  1. Go to https://github.com and click “Sign up”
  2. Follow the prompts to create a free account.
  3. Verify your email address when prompted.
Tip

Choose a professional username if you can — your GitHub profile may be visible to collaborators or employers in the future.

2.6 Step 5: Download the Website Template

You’ll download the template directly from GitHub as a ZIP file — no special tools or commands needed for this step, just your web browser.

  1. Go to the template repository in your browser: https://github.com/vmahan1998/Personal_Website_Template
  2. Click the green “Code” button near the top-right of the page
  3. In the dropdown that appears, click “Download ZIP”
  4. Your browser will download a file called Personal_Website_Template-main.zip
  5. Once downloaded, unzip the file:
    • Windows: Right-click the ZIP file → select “Extract All” → choose a destination (Desktop or Documents is fine) → click “Extract”
    • Mac: Double-click the ZIP file — it will automatically unzip into a folder in the same location
  6. You should now have a folder called Personal_Website_Template-main containing all the website files
Tip

Move the unzipped folder somewhere easy to find and remember — you’ll be opening and editing files inside it throughout this tutorial. Avoid leaving it in your Downloads folder where it can get buried.

Note

What’s inside the folder? Don’t worry if the contents look unfamiliar right now. The next chapter will walk you through what each file and folder does. For now, you just need the folder in place and ready to open.

2.7 Step 6: Open the Project in RStudio

Now you’ll open the template as a project in RStudio. Opening it as a project (rather than just opening individual files) is important — it tells RStudio where all your files live so that everything works correctly together.

  1. Open RStudio
  2. Go to File → Open Project
  3. Navigate to the Personal_Website_Template-main folder you just unzipped
  4. Inside the folder, find the file ending in .Rproj and click on it
  5. Click “Open”

RStudio will reload and you’ll see all the template files appear in the Files panel in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Note

The .Rproj file is what tells RStudio to treat this folder as a self-contained project. It sets up your working environment automatically so all the files and folder paths work correctly without any extra configuration on your part.