Often interesting new R packages are only available on GitHub. This post shows how to install an R package from GitHub, in each of R, R Studio, and Displayr.
As an example, this post illustrates how to install the flipPlots package to create Sankey diagrams (click here for some example code).
How to install R packages from GitHub?
Step 1: Install the devtools package
To install a R package, start by installing the devtools package. The best way to do this is from CRAN, by typing:
[sourcecode language="r"]
install.packages("devtools")
[/sourcecode]
Step 2: Install the package of interest from GitHub
Install the package of interest from GitHub using the following code, where you need to remember to list both the author and the name of the package (in GitHub jargon, the package is the repo, which is short for repository). In this example, we are installing the flipPlots package created by Displayr.
[sourcecode language="r"]
library(devtools)
install_github("Displayr/flipPlots")
[/sourcecode]
Step 3: Load the package
[sourcecode language="r"]
library(flipPlots)
[/sourcecode]
Installing GitHub packages into RStudio
Although RStudio does have various tools for installing packages, the most straightforward approach is to follow the steps described in the previous section, entering the code into the Console in RStudio.
Installing GitHub packages into Displayr
Many GitHub packages, such as flipPlots, are already installed in Displayr, so we've done the work for you! If you need any additional packages installed, please reach out to [email protected].
Ready to install your R package of choice from GitHub in Displayr? Get started below.
