Fork a repository when you want to create your own copy of someone else's repository. You can use the forked repository to build a completely different project or you can use the forked repository to contribute to the original project by submitting a [[pull request]].
## instructions
1. Login to [Github.com](https://github.com/) (login if required).
2. Navigate to the repository.
3. Click the **Fork** button (this moves around a lot but most recently it was on the top right of the webpage). A *Create new fork* page will load.
4. You may configure the settings if desired, but generally the default settings are fine.
5. Click **Create fork**.
Next, you'll want to [[clone]] the forked repository to work with the files locally.
You may also want to add an [[upstream remote]] to enable [[reverse pull requests]].
You'll also need to create an environment and load the required packages, which you might find in [[requirements.txt]] or [[environment.yml]].