repository name in github desktop sidebar

Question

The github Desktop program has an automatic naming scheme for local repositories, and I can't find a way to change them manually.

Consider this screenshot of the sidebar,

with 4 identical names, it's quite hard to navigate. Those folders are different copies (different branches, actually) of a common repository 'papers', under the 'plasmonics' organisation. Strangely, not all repositories of that organisation appear with the plasmonics/ heading in the sidebar, and I can't tell what triggers a difference. In any case, I'm hoping to find a way to rename those sidebar names manually. Is it possible?

Frankel

Answer 1

You cannot rename those sidebar names, but do check if the issue persists with the new GitHub Desktop application (released in Sept. 2017, two years after your question)

It should be able to display/filter those repos correctly.
For local repos, make sure those copies are done through the git worktree command (Git 2.5 and more, from July 2015). That allows to clone a repo once, but check it out multiple times (one folder per branch).
There is a pending issue (907) for de-duplicating the display of those worktrees.

Sixth