Unlock the Power of React Portals
Modal windows are a great way to grab user attention and collect user information. However, building them in React can be a complex task, involving intricate CSS code and DOM hierarchy tracking. Luckily, React introduced React Portals, a concept that allows developers to render elements outside the React hierarchy tree without compromising the parent-child relationship between components.
What Are React Portals?
React Portals are an advanced concept that enables developers to render elements outside the React hierarchy tree. This means that you can render modals or pop-up windows without affecting the parent-child relationship between components. Typically, React components are located within the DOM, making it tricky to render modal windows. With React Portals, you can solve this problem and create more engaging user experiences.
Common Use Cases for React Portals
React Portals are perfect for situations where you want to render elements on top of each other. Some common examples include:
- Profile cards: Provide quick information about the user’s profile without clicking on their page.
- Loading screens: Show a loading screen when a task is running in the background, preventing users from interacting with the app.
- Cookie alerts: Offer users options to choose what cookies they want to allow in their web browser.
The CSS/HTML Solution
One way to solve the overflow problem is by removing the overflow styling. However, this approach has its limitations. It can become fragile if someone accidentally adds overflow: hidden to the parent again or introduces another parent wrapper around it.
React Portal in Action
To solve the tooltip/dropdown cut-off problem, you can append the tooltip/dropdown directly to the body of the document, set position: fixed style, and provide screenX and screenY coordinates where the tooltip/dropdown should appear. This approach allows you to reuse code without spending developer time on testing and trying.
Building a React Portal Wrapper
To create a reusable React Portal wrapper component, you need to follow these steps:
- Add an extra mount point in a DOM outside of react-root.
- Build a reusable React Portal wrapper component using createPortal in React.
- Pass button coordinates to the tooltip for positioning using React Hooks.
Using React Hooks with React Portal
React Hooks are great for writing reusable code. You can create a custom Hook that allows you to render your modal relatively easily. This approach brings cleaner, more readable, and robust code to the table.
Creating a Custom React Hook
You can define a usePortal Hook that allows users to display a Portal element at a given HTML selector. This Hook can be used to build a Portal element that can be rendered at a specific location in the DOM.
By using React Portals and React Hooks, you can create more engaging user experiences and solve complex problems with ease. Whether you’re building modal windows, tooltips, or loading screens, React Portals provide a powerful solution that can help you achieve your goals.