How to version project schedules, to-dos, wikis etc. in Git?

Question

In almost all of my projects I have few files that are "project wide" in the sense that their contents should be shared across all branches. These files usually include project schedules, to-do lists, wikis, and the like. Currently I have them included .gitignore so that they are not versioned but remain the same no matter what branch I have checked out. However I'd really love to have them versioned in a way that is "orthogonal" to the versioning of the source code. Is this possible with git without too much pain?

Answer 1

Can't you just have one universal/project wide branch, then a bunch of project branches?

Answer 2

You could have those files (wiki, todo and so forth) in their dedicated Git repository, and then add them to a development repository through the subtree merge strategy (as described in this question).

That way, they get included in any development, and they also get updated by those sub-projects.

Any modification in a branch doen by a sub-project can then be merged back in a "main" branch in the original "wiki" Git repository, and all sub-projects can merge their own development branch with that main "wiki" branch in order to update this content included through a subtree merge.

Not exactly an "orthogonal" versionning, but still a practical solution.

Answer 3

I usually prefer to use a separate tool for scheduling, issue tracking, wiki docs etc. For example, Trac provides such features and integrates nicely with a git backend. Source control is used only for, well, source control.

If you want to use a source control tool for storing project management data, consider having separate projects in the source control for "management" and "implementation".