title: Fork repo for a single folder
body: <p><strong>Original problem:</strong></p>
  
  <p>I am interested in forking and contributing to a public repository. Problem is, I wish to only update and retrieves updates for a single subdirectory in the public repository.</p>
  
  <p><strong>First attempt:</strong></p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Fork the public repository</li>
  <li>Clone the newly forked repository</li>
  <li>Update .gitignore files for the unwanted folders and files</li>
  <li>Untrack and delete unwanted directories and files using git "<em>git rm -r --cache .</em>"</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p><strong>Problem:</strong> When I wish to retrieve updates from the original public repository, the folders and files I have removed from my local repository are still being tracked in the public repository and thus i have to manually weed out all the unwanted content killing my process.</p>
  
  <p><strong>I thought of doing <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/359424/detach-move-subdirectory-into-separate-git-repository">(described here)</a>:</strong></p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Clone public repository</li>
  <li>Create another public repository</li>
  <li>Use <em>git subtree split</em> to push folder to newly created public repository</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p><strong>Problem:</strong> The newly created public repository is no longer a "Fork" of the original repository and lose all the benefits such as visibility from the original repository and the creation of pull requests.</p>