Simplify Complex Forms with React Stepzilla
The Challenge of User Data Collection
When it comes to building web applications, collecting detailed user data without overwhelming the user interface is a common hurdle. With the increasing popularity of Single-Page Applications (SPAs), breaking down forms into smaller, manageable steps has become a crucial aspect of enhancing user experience.
Introducing React Stepzilla
React Stepzilla is a powerful multi-step wizard component designed to simplify sequential data collection. This component allows you to render different types of React components, such as data forms and HTML-to-text, making it an ideal solution for complex forms.
Getting Started
To follow along with this tutorial, you’ll need:
- Familiarity with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript ES6
- Node.js installed on your system
- A web browser installed on your system (e.g., Chrome)
- A code editor installed on your development machine (e.g., VS Code)
- A basic understanding of React
Installing Stepzilla
Let’s initialize a new React app and install Stepzilla by running the following command:
npx create-react-app my-app
cd my-app
npm install react-stepzilla
Creating a Multi-Step Component
Next, we’ll create a multi-step form with three steps: About, Terms, and ConsentForm components. In the root directory of your project, create a new folder called components and inside it, create a new file called multiStep.js.
Populating the Steps
Add the following code to About.js, Terms.js, and ConsentForm.js to populate the three steps.
Styling the Multi-Step Form
To enhance our UI, let’s add some custom styling to our project. Since Stepzilla uses Bootstrap for styling, we’ll place the Bootstrap CDN at the header section of index.html in the public folder of our project.
Adding Custom Styles
Replace the code in App.css with the following code to add custom styles for multi-step navigation, buttons, ol list color, padding, and margins.
Validating Steps
The Stepzilla package comes with built-in support for step validation using the isValidated utility function. Let’s add basic validation to our ConsentForm component by updating Terms.js with the following code.
The Result
With React Stepzilla, we’ve created a multi-step form that simplifies complex data collection, enhancing our user experience and reducing load times.
Taking it Further
React Stepzilla is a highly customizable component that can be tailored to suit your individual project’s needs. By simplifying complex forms, we can drastically improve our UX and provide a seamless user experience.
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