Listen to Episode 35: Profile, Sponsors, and Wikis - a conversational audio overview of this chapter. Listen before reading to preview the concepts, or after to reinforce what you learned.
This appendix covers three community-facing GitHub features: your profile README (how the world sees you), GitHub Sponsors (financially supporting the people whose work you depend on), and GitHub Wikis (community-editable documentation inside a repository).
GitHub has a hidden feature: if you create a repository named exactly your-username/your-username (e.g., janesmith/janesmith), the README in that repo appears on your GitHub profile page.
This is your profile README. It's a custom introduction visible to anyone who visits your profile.
- Create a new repository
- Name it exactly
your-username(match your GitHub username exactly, case-sensitive) - Make it public
- Initialize with a README
- Edit the README with whatever you want to show on your profile
- Introduction: Who you are, what you work on
- Current focus: What projects or technologies you're learning
- Skills: Languages, frameworks, tools (optional)
- How to reach you: Email, LinkedIn, personal site
- Fun facts: Hobbies, interests (optional-keeps it human)
# Hi, I'm Jane Smith
I'm an accessibility advocate and open source contributor focused on making the web more inclusive.
## Current focus
- Contributing to NVDA documentation
- Building accessible React components
- Learning TypeScript
## Skills
- JavaScript, Python, HTML/CSS
- Screen reader testing (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver)
- Git, GitHub, GitHub Actions
## Get in touch
- Email: jane@example.com
- LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/janesmith](https://linkedin.com/in/janesmith)
## Fun fact
I've been using screen readers for 8 years and believe accessible design is better design for everyone.Keep it concise - visitors skim, not read
Update occasionally - a README from 2019 looks stale
Be authentic - people connect with real humans, not buzzwords
Include links - make it easy to learn more or get in touch
Avoid excessive badges - 50 skill badges is visual clutter and screen reader noise
Skip auto-generated stats - "commits per day" widgets are often inaccessible
Don't overthink it - a simple paragraph is better than nothing
- Use headings (
##) for structure - Provide alt text for any images:
 - Avoid ASCII art - screen readers read it character by character (annoying)
- Test your README with a screen reader before publishing
- Highlight your best work on your profile
- Navigate to your profile → Select "Customize your pins"
- Choose which repos appear first
- Shows your GitHub activity over the past year
- Green squares indicate days with commits, PRs, issues, etc.
- Cannot be customized but reflects consistent contribution
- Set a temporary status message (e.g., "On vacation until March 15")
- Navigate to your profile → Select the smile icon → Set status
GitHub Sponsors lets you financially support developers and projects you depend on. It's like Patreon for open source.
- Developers/projects create a Sponsors profile
- You choose a monthly sponsorship tier ($5, $10, $25/month, etc.)
- Your payment goes directly to the developer (GitHub takes no fees)
- Sustainability: Many open source maintainers volunteer their time. Sponsorships help them keep projects alive.
- Gratitude: If a project saved you hours of work, sponsorship is a way to say thanks.
- Priority support: Some maintainers offer sponsor-only Discord access, early releases, or prioritized bug fixes.
- Navigate to a user or repository's GitHub page
- Look for the "Sponsor" button (heart icon)
- Choose a tier or custom amount
- Select payment method (credit card or PayPal)
- GitHub sends a receipt; your sponsorship appears on your profile (optionally publicly)
- The Sponsor button appears near the profile photo or repo name
- Press
Bto cycle through buttons on the page until you hear "Sponsor"
Yes! If you maintain an open source project or contribute regularly:
- Navigate to github.com/sponsors
- Select "Join the waitlist" or "Set up sponsors"
- Connect a payment method (Stripe or bank account)
- Create sponsor tiers with descriptions
- Promote your Sponsors page to your audience
Many accessibility advocates successfully use Sponsors to fund their work improving assistive technology and inclusive design.
Every repository can have a wiki - a space for documentation separate from the code. It's lightweight and Markdown-based.
- Multi-page documentation (tutorials, guides, FAQs)
- Community-editable docs (wikis can be editable by anyone)
- Knowledge that doesn't belong in README (too long, too specific)
- Your project already uses GitHub Pages or external docs
- Documentation needs to be version-controlled with code (wikis are separate Git repos)
- You want full control (wikis are less customizable than Pages)
- Navigate to the repository
- Select the "Wiki" tab
- If no wiki exists, you'll see "Create the first page"
- Go to the Wiki tab
- Select "New page"
- Add a title and content (Markdown)
- Select "Save"
Wiki pages automatically appear in a sidebar for navigation.
- GitHub's wiki editor is the same as the issue/PR comment editor
- All Markdown features work (headings, lists, links, code blocks)
- Use proper heading hierarchy (
##,###) for screen reader navigation - Link between wiki pages:
[[Page Title]] - Screen reader caveat: Wiki pages are a separate Git repository. Any changes pushed directly to the wiki's git remote are not tracked by the main repository's branch protection - meaning no PR review process applies. Treat wikis as community-editable supplementary docs, not your primary critical documentation source.
Return to: Resources | Appendix S - Organizations and Templates | Appendix G - GitHub Discussions | Appendix T - Contributing to Open Source | Appendix A - Glossary