Simplified Global Phone Number Input with React
Getting Started with React and react-phone-number-input
When building a form that accepts phone numbers from users worldwide, it’s essential to consider the complexities of international calling codes and formatting. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to create a user-friendly phone number input field using React and the react-phone-number-input package.
Setting Up the Project
To begin, let’s create a new React project and install the required packages, including react-phone-number-input and styled-components for styling. We’ll also obtain a free API key from Google to utilize the Google Maps API later in the project.
Designing the Form
Next, we’ll define a basic form with an input field, a select button, and labels. We’ll use styled-components to create two components, StyledPage for the container and StyledForm for the form, and add styles to both components.
Adding Custom Form Inputs
We’ll utilize two custom inputs from the react-phone-number-input package: Input for the phone number and CountrySelect, a custom select element that we’ll define using two functions from the package, getCountries and getCountryCallingCode. We’ll also import a locale file that converts callingCodes to country names in English.
Detecting the User’s Location
To automatically detect the user’s location, we’ll use the browser’s Navigator API and the Google Maps Geocoding API. We’ll create a new function called lookupCountry.js to handle the data fetching and processing, returning a country code to our original callback function.
Connecting the Form Inputs
Finally, we’ll connect the state to the component, passing the values to the elements as props. We’ll use the country prop to control the formatting and masking of the phone number provided via a country calling code.
Putting it All Together
When the user loads the page, they’ll be prompted to grant permission for the app to access their location. If they grant permission, the app will detect their location, look up the correct country code, and apply it to the form inputs on display.
Simplifying Global Phone Number Input
react-phone-number-input greatly simplifies the process of collecting global phone numbers in your form. By following this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a user-friendly phone number input field that adapts to different countries and calling codes.