view text/quick_start.txt @ 170:6ebe8ec48a77

Work on the front page. Now we only need the quick_start, the testimonies for ease of use and the projects_using_mercurial - TODO: Check if we can find a nice svn transition guide.

= Quick Start =

This site should get you going in an instant. 

Aside from the practical Quick Start to the right, there are only a few commands you need to start working. 

Even if you stick to these basics, Mercurial is quite powerful. And they are very easy to use, once you see the model behind that: Each repository has the whole history, and history is not necessarily linear. 

A quick overview of the basic commands: 

- hg init: create a new repository
- hg commit: save your changes in the current repository
- hg log: see all changes in your repository
- hg pull: get all changes from another repository int the current one
- hg push: get all changes from your repository into another one
- hg serve: create an instant-webserver. People can see the history there and pull from it
- hg merge: join different lines of history

If you want to see a nice graph of the history, just do "hg serve" in your repository and then direct your browser to 

        http://127.0.0.1:8000

This also helps getting a feeling for what the commands do. 

(you can also do a lot of finegrained stuff by using different command options. Just call "hg help <command>" to see them). 

I hope your experience with Mercurial will be as great as mine!

- Arne Babenhauserheide