How can I have my project settings saved every time I clone my repository?

Before I continue, I have read https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/sharing-your-ide-settings.html. It hasn't helped me because, being the new user that I am, I do not quite understand it.

First of all, I have my .idea/ directory in my .gitignore since it seems to update quite often to my understanding. If I am incorrect, please let me know.

I would like to have IntelliJ save settings that I seem to have to put in every time I clone the directory again. Bonus points if it can be applied to others working on the same repository.

Here is a list of things I want saved: The Project SDK in all of the places mentioned in this SO article: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25878045/errorjava-invalid-source-release-8-in-intellij-what-does-it-mean, the project compiler output directory relative to the module's location, the source and resource folders relative to the module's location, the libraries used, mostly relative to the module's location and one relative to the user's home directory, the SDK location relative to the user's home directory, the run configuration, the location of the build file for the ant build relative to the module location, etc.

Let me know if any other information is needed.