How To Create Breadcrumbs In React.Js

What Are Breadcrumbs and How They Are Important?

Breadcrumbs are typically small pieces of text that show the current location within a website. They can be helpful in orienting users, especially when navigating through websites having several pages. By providing a trail of links, breadcrumbs can help users understand where they are within a website and allow them to navigate back to previous sections easily.

It is important to note that breadcrumbs should not be used as the primary means of navigation on a website. Rather, they should be used in addition to other navigation elements such as a menu or search bar.

How to Create Breadcrumbs in React.js

There are two main ways to create breadcrumbs in React.js: by using the react-router-dom library or by using the use-react-router-breadcrumbs library. But before starting, you have to create a React app.

Method 1: By Using the react-router-dom Library

With the react-router-dom library, you can manually create breadcrumbs for every path in your React application. The library provides a component that can be used to create breadcrumbs.

To use the react-router-dom library, you first need to install it using npm:

Once the library has been installed, you can import it into your React component:

You can then use the component to create breadcrumbs:

Now, you can add some styling to the breadcrumbs and highlight the current page that you are on. For that, you can use the className prop of the component. To get the current pathname, you can use the location object from the react-router-dom library:

Now, create a new CSS file and name it breadcrumbs.css. Add the following CSS rules to the file:

Now, import your CSS file into your React component and add the breadcrumb-arrow class to your components:

There are different types of hooks in React. The react-router-dom library’s useLocation hook gives you access to the location object, which has information about the current URL path.

The component’s className prop adds a CSS class to the breadcrumbs. The className prop takes a string or an array of strings. If it’s a string, it’ll add the string as a single class to the element. If it’s an array of strings, each string in the array will add as a separate class.

The startsWith method checks if the current pathname starts with “/products”. This is because the breadcrumb for the products page should be active not only when the path is “/products” but also when the path is “/products/1”, “/products/2”, etc.

Method 2: By Using the use-react-router-breadcrumbs Library

Another way to create breadcrumbs in React is by using the use-react-router-breadcrumbs library. This library automatically generates breadcrumbs based on the routes defined in your React application.

To use this library, you will first need to install it using npm:

Once the library has been installed, you can import it into your React component:

You can then use the useBreadcrumbs hook to create breadcrumbs:

This will log an array of breadcrumb objects to the console. Each breadcrumb object contains information about the route, such as the name, path, and params.

Now, you can render your breadcrumbs to the screen. You can use the component from the react-router library to create your breadcrumbs:

The Link component is imported from the react-router-dom library. You will use this component to create links to other parts of the application. You can also create protected routes using the Link component.

An array of route objects is created. Each route object contains a path and a breadcrumb property. The path property corresponds to the URL path, and the breadcrumb property corresponds to the name of the breadcrumb.

The useBreadcrumbs hook is used to create the breadcrumbs. This hook accepts an array of routes as a parameter. The routes are used to generate the breadcrumbs.

The map method is used to iterate over the array of breadcrumbs. For each breadcrumb, a component is created. The Link component has a to prop, which corresponds to the URL path of the breadcrumb. The breadcrumb itself is rendered as the content of the component.

Now you can add some styling to the breadcrumbs. Create a new CSS file and name it Breadcrumbs.css. After that, add the following CSS rules to the file:

Now, you can import the CSS file into the React component and add the breadcrumb classes to the components:

Increase User Engagement With Breadcrumbs

With breadcrumbs, you can not only help users understand where they are within your website, but you can also increase user engagement. Breadcrumbs can be used to show the user’s progress through a task, such as a sign-up process or a purchase. By showing the user’s progress, you can encourage them to complete the task.

There are also many other things that you should keep in mind when designing a website such as usability, accessibility, and mobile-friendliness. However, if you keep these things in mind, you can create a website that is both user-friendly and engaging.