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Lab 21 c: Skeleton Screens

This lab is optional and should only be done if time permits

Objectives​

  • Display a skeleton screen while the data is loading

Steps​

  1. Open a command-prompt or terminal and run one of the following commands to install react-content-loader.

    npm​

    npm i react-content-loader --save

    OR

    Yarn​

    yarn add react-content-loader

  2. Add a delay to your API call so it is easier to see the loader.

    src\projects\projectAPI.ts​

    const projectAPI = {
      ...
      get(page = 1, limit = 20) {
        return fetch(`${url}?_page=${page}&_limit=${limit}&_sort=name`)
    +      .then(delay(2000))
          .then(checkStatus)
          .then(parseJSON)
          .catch((error: TypeError) => {
            console.log('log client error ' + error);
            throw new Error(
              'There was an error retrieving the projects. Please try again.'
            );
          });
      },
      ...
    }

  3. Create a ProjectCardSkeleton component using the ContentLoader component from the react-content-loader library .

    src\projects\ProjectCardSkeleton.js​

    import React from 'react';
    import ContentLoader from 'react-content-loader';

    const ProjectCardSkeleton = (props) => (
      <ContentLoader
        viewBox="0 0 330 404"
        height={404}
        width={330}
        speed={3}
        backgroundColor="#e0e0e0"
        foregroundColor="#c7c7c7"
        {...props}
      >
        <rect x="6" y="3" rx="10" ry="10" width="330" height="192" />
        <rect x="20" y="210" rx="0" ry="0" width="239" height="32" />
        <rect x="20" y="250" rx="0" ry="0" width="200" height="20" />
        <rect x="20" y="280" rx="0" ry="0" width="150" height="20" />
        <rect x="20" y="310" rx="0" ry="0" width="72" height="42" />
      </ContentLoader>
    );

    export default ProjectCardSkeleton;

Use the Create React Content Loader (skeletonreact.com) site to create your own skeleton. Note that if you scroll down there are lots of examples.

  1. Create the ProjectListSkeleton component by listing multiple ProjectCardSkeleton components.

    src\projects\ProjectListSkeleton.js​

    import React from 'react';
    import ProjectCardSkeleton from './ProjectCardSkeleton';

    const ProjectListSkeleton = () => {
      const numberOfItems = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12];
      const items = numberOfItems.map((item) => (
        <ProjectCardSkeleton key={item} />
      ));
      return <div className="row">{items}</div>;
    };

    export default ProjectListSkeleton;

  2. Use the ProjectsPage component's loading state to determine when to display the ProjectListSkeleton. Also, remove the current loading spinner.

    src\projects\ProjectsPage.js​

    ...
    + import ProjectListSkeleton from './ProjectListSkeleton';

    function ProjectsPage() {
    ...
      return (
        <Fragment>
          <h1>Projects</h1>
          ...

    +   {loading && <ProjectListSkeleton />}
        <ProjectList projects={projects}></ProjectList>
        ...

    - {loading && (
    -   <div className="center-page">
    -     <span className="spinner primary"></span>
    -     <p>Loading...</p>
    -   </div>
    - )}
      </Fragment>

      );
    }
    export default ProjectsPage;

  3. Verify the application displays the skeleton screen as shown below.

    a. image

    b.image

  4. Remove the delay from the API call.

    src\projects\projectAPI.ts​

    const projectAPI = {
      ...
      get(page = 1, limit = 20) {
        return fetch(`${url}?_page=${page}&_limit=${limit}&_sort=name`)
    -      .then(delay(2000))
          .then(checkStatus)
          .then(parseJSON)
          .catch((error: TypeError) => {
            console.log('log client error ' + error);
            throw new Error(
              'There was an error retrieving the projects. Please try again.'
            );
          });
      },
      ...
    }

Reference​