Viewing an Instructor's GitHub Course Notes with Docsify-This

Get started

First, go to your instructor's repository and open the specific file you want to view – usually README.md, not just the repository's front page. Copy that page's URL (on GitHub, it would look something like https://github.com/username/repo/blob/main/README.md), and paste it into this pre-configured Docsify-This page, then click the Publish as a Web Page button. It only works with public repositories, not private ones.

Before publishing, you can further adjust the page's style – font, colors, layout, and more – by clicking Show More Page Appearance Options » in the Web Page Builder.

A course page viewed on GitHub, with no sidebar or search — An example page, from a course repo built for this guide.

The same page displayed with Docsify-This, showing a sidebar outline generated from its headings and a search box — The exact same file, displayed with Docsify-This.

What you get with Docsify-This

Less clutter. Just the content, in a cleaner layout.
A sidebar and search. Jump to headings, or search the page you're on.
Works everywhere. Phone-friendly layout, with dark mode if you want it.
Cleaner formatting. Proper code and tables, and images you can tap to zoom in on.

If page links are not working

Many course notes are organized into folders, one per week or topic, with pages linking to each other (for example, a README.md linking out to unit-1/lesson-1.md, unit-2/lesson-1.md, and so on) – and that's usually the cause. Links from the pre-configured page above already handle this. If you used a different link and hit a "file not found" page, turn on Links Within a Site (enabled by default with the above pre-configured page – under Advanced Web Page Builder Options), or add &relative-paths=true to the end of the link yourself.

Naming a multi-page site

If the repository has multiple pages, set a site name under Website name displayed in Sidebar (under Advanced Web Page Builder Options) – it appears at the top of the sidebar as a link to the course home page, and as your browser tab title, making it easy to tell which course you're viewing.

Keep the page for later

Bookmark it, or share it with classmates – any updates to the repository will show up automatically the next time it loads.

A real course example, with no changes made

Want to see this on an existing course? CMPT 383, Fall 2026, taught by Toby Donaldson (School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University), and as displayed by Docsify-This.

Questions?

See Docsify‑This for the main project page, or get in touch.

Are you an instructor?

A few small additions to your repository make Docsify-This even more useful for your students – like a _sidebar.md for real site-wide navigation. See a live example, or read the full instructor guide for this and other tips on structuring a course notes repo for the best student experience.