+The suggested setup for git is a set of repositories setup like a
+shallow, single level tree, with a bare repository (meaning that it
+does not have a working tree checked out) at the root, and various
+working clones (with working directories) as leaf nodes. The root
+(bare) repository is meant to be pushed to and pulled from the various
+working clones. The image below displays the relationship between the
+root repository and the clone repositories (this is not a directory
+layout):
+
+
+
+One of the leaf node clone repositories is special; it has working
+directory which is used to compile the wiki from, and is also used by the
+[[cgi]] to commit changes made via the web interface. It is special
+since the `post-commit` hook for the bare root repository is used to
+trigger an update of this repository, and then an ikiwiki refresh
+updates the published wiki itself.
+
+The other (optional) leaf node repositories are meant for you to work
+on, and commit to, changes should then be pushed to the bare root
+repository. In theory, you could work on the same leaf node repository
+that ikiwiki uses to compile the wiki from, and the [[cgi]] commits
+to, as long as you ensure that permissions and ownership don't hinder
+the working of the [[cgi]]. This can be done, for example, by using
+ACL's, in practice, it is easier to just setup separate clones for
+yourself.
+
+So, to reiterate, when using Git, you probably want to set up three
+repositories:
+
+* The root repository. This should be a bare repository (meaning that
+ it does not have a working tree checked out), which the other
+ repositories will push to/pull from. It is a bare repository, since
+ there are problems pushing to a repository that has a working
+ directory. This is called _repository_ in [[ikiwiki-makerepo]]'s
+ manual page. Nominally, this bare repository has a `post-commit` hook
+ that either is or calls ikiwiki's git wrapper, which changes to the
+ working directory for ikiwiki, does a _git pull_, and refreshes ikiwiki
+ to regenerate the wiki with any new content. The [[setup]] page describes
+ how to do this.
+
+* The second repository is a clone of the bare root repository, and
+ has a working tree which is used as ikiwiki's srcdir for compiling
+ the wiki. **Never** push to this repository. When running as a
+ [[cgi]], the changes are committed to this repository, and pushed to
+ the master repository above. This is called _srcdir_ in
+ [[ikiwiki-makerepo]]'s manual page.
+
+* The other (third, fourth, fifth, sixth -- however many pleases you)
+ repositories are also clones of the bare root repository above --
+ and these have a working directory for you to work on. Use either
+ the `git` transport (if available), or `ssh`. These repositories may
+ be on remote machines, your laptop, whereever you find convenient to
+ hack on your wiki. you can commit local changes to the version on
+ the laptop, perhaps while offline. Any new content should be pushed to the
+ bare master repository when you are ready to publish it, and then
+ the post-commit hook of the bare repository will ensure that the
+ ikiwiki's source directory is updated, and the ikiwiki refreshed
+ with the new content.
+
+Using three or more of repositories isn't the most obvious set up, but
+it works the best for typical ikiwiki use. [[ikiwiki-makerepo]] can
+automate setting this up for the common case where there is no
+pre-existing wiki. [[tips/Laptop_wiki_with_git]] describes a different
+way to set up ikiwiki and git.