# Student Initial Setup

1. We will use Slack for most communication and discussion. Please join the course workspace (uwgda2021.slack.com) with your UW email address. See Canvas announcement for invitation link.
    * If you are unfamiliar with Slack, see intro material here: https://slack.com/help/articles/218080037-Getting-started-for-new-members
    * I recommend that you use the standalone desktop app rather than the web interface
1. Please create a free Github account if you do not have one already: https://github.com/join
    * Send me a direct slack message with your github username (do this as soon as possible)
    * I will add you to our Github organization (https://github.com/UW-GDA)
    * I will distribute materials/assignments using Github Classroom, which will be linked to your Github account.
    * If all of this is new, don’t worry, we will walk through basic workflows during the first lecture/lab, and you will become more familiar in the coming weeks.
    * I recommend you apply for the free edu account upgrade (https://education.github.com/discount_requests/new), which will allow you to create unlimited number of private repos with unlimited collaborators.
1. ~~Sign up for a ReviewNB account: https://www.reviewnb.com/~~ (Note Jan 5, 2021: ReviewNB was enabled for the UW-GDA organization, so individual activation should not be necessary)
    * This is what we will use for interactive, inline discussion on notebooks that you submit
    * Sign up for the free/educational plan and link to your Github account
1. If you have not already done so, please sign up for an institutional Google account using your UW email address.  I will use Google Docs for some material and Google Drive for some data distribution, and I will only enable access for UW Google accounts (not personal accounts).
1. **Optional**: Install/upgrade QGIS on your computer
    * [QGIS Notes](../qgis_notes.md)