Hacking The Github Stats

updated 28 May 2023

The GitHub Stats is an external service to display your ranking based on commits, PRs, issues etc. You just simply need the URL and change the details, include it in your GitHub profile and you're done.

If you don't have any idea how it works, it is an external web app that uses GitHub data (through its API) to generate your rank. You don't need to install anything, you just simply get the URL of the app, change the details so that it's referring to your account and you're done.

https://github-readme-stats.vercel.app/api?username=[yourusername]

make sure you include your private repos, &count_private=true.

Now, in order for you to display this in your profile, if ever you don't have one, make sure you create one. Create a repository with the same name as your username. It is a special repository that will appear in your profile.

so mine is: xdvrx1/xdvrx1

Make sure that you initialize it with the README.md, if not, you should create one also.

Add description about you and this, of course, you must change the details:

<p align="left"> <img src="https://github-readme-stats.vercel.app/api?username=[yourusername]&theme=tokyonight&show_icons=true&hide_border=true&count_private=true&include_all_commits=true" /> </p>

It's now embedded in your GitHub Profile! You can still change the settings. Refer to the details here.

App Stat Computation Breakdown

The breakdown of the components:

  const COMMITS_OFFSET = 1.65;
  const CONTRIBS_OFFSET = 1.65;
  const ISSUES_OFFSET = 1;
  const STARS_OFFSET = 0.75;
  const PRS_OFFSET = 0.5;
  const FOLLOWERS_OFFSET = 0.45;
  const REPO_OFFSET = 1;

this is directly from the code of the app itself, so you want to focus on commits and contrib.

Rationale

This is not to cheat an app or to fake something. Much more, this should not be interpreted as spam.

But remember, the stats of GitHub can be misleading even if a software developer is good enough.

If you only use GitHub to code and code, you would not have a good standing. GitHub encourages non-code use, always remember that. It's just like it can be used as Google Docs. That's the point.

If you really feel that you deserve that rank, then go for it.

Commits

Make sure that you turn on private commits in the API, as was instructed above, so that you can simply create a diary, for example. It will generate a lot of commits.

Another option is to simply create a tutorial website, even if it is not tech-related. Don't you know that the markdown is really for blogging back then? (Don't get me wrong, blogging is still relevant today.) It simplifies everything, even a tutorial website. Markdown is the default markup language of GitHub, particularly for the README file.

Or, if you are a writer writing stories, do that in GitHub. Others were already using GitHub for laws articles, to-do lists, music compositions, itineraries etc.

You can check this out if you are not familiar with GitHub Pages.

Contributed To

The Contributed To component as part of the computation is when you create pull requests and are merged to the main branch.

It's not always about submitting proposed changes in a code base, even simply changing something at the README file of others will do. What I did was a pull request to add a Page View on a README file. If you click the README file of others, then click the edit button, it will automatically create a fork. Then, edit the file and create a pull request.

Your Stars

Take note, this is not the stars on GitHub when you leave a star to an external repo. This is the star that you received from your original repos.

Followers

You don't need to be famous to have followers. All you need is the initiative to follow others too. It's just like building a linkedin network.

The simple rule is trying to reach out: follow others that will follow you back and for those who followed you, follow them back. The chances are high if you follow those who are willing to follow others too. My example is myself, I am not even a famous, but I already have more than 1k followers (as of this writing). And even though the weight is just .45, you still need an audience for your projects. That's really a good reason to pursue this.

When I started doing these things, I was shocked when I visited my Google Analytics for my site. The web traffic was good.

And now, I realized one more thing: even if others don't follow back, just continue following more and more. Remember, others are paying for their page to be promoted on other sites, the act of following others is just like an advertisement also: others will know your content. The only difference is that you don't pay following others but with the same advertisement effect.

Just don't overdo it much on GitHub, because it will appear on the dashboard of your followers and if you follow, say, more than 200 without a gap, their dashboard will be clogged with that and all the other necessary information for them will be removed automatically. They will be annoyed by that, for sure.

More Of My Topics

https://github.com/jdevstatic/basic-electronics

https://github.com/jdevstatic/programming-core-concepts

https://github.com/jdevstatic/github-pages-tutorial

https://github.com/jdevstatic/java

https://github.com/jdevstatic/lightweight-web-server

https://github.com/jdevstatic/java-coding-problems

https://github.com/jdevstatic/PureBasic-FileExplorer

https://github.com/jdevstatic/PureBasic-Scrabble