git add all except ignoring files in .gitignore file

git add .

This will add all paths and ignore matches from .gitignore

I think you mean git add . which will add all of the files to the repo that AREN'T specified in the .gitignore - you can see these changes by typing git status

The . in bash usually means this directory and all other directories recursively, so if you do this from the bottom level of your repo, you should add all of the files.

My usual git flow is to create the .gitignore file and add the project files to the repo. I'll test the .gitignore file by typing git status after importing the files - if I see the files that I've added (for example only .php or .html, NOT .mp3 or .mov), then you can git add . to add all, and git commit -m "initial commit" to commit them and you should be set.

Try git add . (which means "add all files in the current directory and below")