FlowContainer Component
The Flow Container is a layout component that allows you to select from a set of components,
place them on the page, and resize them. The Flow Container is defined by page templates.
These templates are created by a developer and define the spaces available to add content
(components).
Content Editor Details
When an empty Flow Container is on the page you will only see a box bounded by dotted line.
Add a new component
When you activate a Flow Container you will be able to add a new component to the Flow
Container via the Component Library.
By clicking on the component selector button you can scroll through all of the available
components. You can filter the components by:
- Using search facets to filter out components that do not match the selection
(you can undo this by clicking the "select all" checkbox at the top).
- Using the search box field to search across all of the component titles.
You can hover over the infomation icon to see a description of the component.
When you have found the right component, simply click on it, and it will be
added at the end of the activated flowContainer.
Removing a component
When any component in the flowContainer is active it will provide a delete button to the
context menu. Clicking on this icon will remove the component.
Resizing a component
When any component in the flowContainer is active it will appear with a blue
border. You can resize the component by clicking on the right edge of the
border.
?> Note: this can be done at different breakpoints to adjust the size of
the component at that breakpoint and above. Therefore, if you want a component to
be a specific size at a certain breakpoint you will have to resize the editor to
that breakpoint and resize the component again.
The sizes are finite and defined by the creator of that particular flowContainer.
Smaller breakpoints will offer fewer options for resizing.
Reordering a component
When any component in the flowContainer is active it will appear with a blue
double line icon in the top left corner of the component. By clicking and
dragging this icon you can reorder components in the flowContainer.
Replacing a Component
To replace a component, use the swap button from the toolbar. It will replace the component
without losing data (as long as the data is applicable in the replacement component).
You can also replace a component by deleting it and adding a new component in its place
via the add button on the toolbar.
Site Builder Details
Adding components to the FlowContainer
The FlowContainer uses the Design API to collect the components to make available
for placement. This can be passed in using the design
prop, or by using the
higher order component: withDesign
.
design = {
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), asDefaultTout),
ToutVertical: flow(startWith(Tout), asVerticalTout, asDefaultTout),
}
const SiteFlowContainer = withDesign(design)(FlowContainer);
or
<FlowContainer design={design} />
(Note: the last example should only be used if there is no more reuse.
withDesign
can be used over and over).
In either case you can use the startWith
HOC to declare the base component and
then use any other hoc that will add to this specific version.
Meta data HOCs
To add meta data (used by the flowContainer in its component selector) the following
HOCs are available.
-
withName
: can be used to set the name that will appear in the component selector.
{
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), withName('Tout')),
}
There is also an appended version of withTitle
called withAppendTitle
which will
just add to the title that already exists.
-
withDesc
: can be used to set the description that is used in the component selector.
{
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), withDesc('The Tout touts something special on which an visitor can act.')),
}
There is also an append version of withDesc
called withAppendDesc
which will add to
the title that already exists.
-
withTerm
: can be used to add a term to a category that the component selector will
use when giving facets.
{
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), withTerm('Type')('Tout')),
}
-
withFacet
: is similar to withTerm
but it appends the term to the title, and adds
the category and term to the description as well as taking a hoc that will be applyed to the component.
{
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), withFacet('Color')('Red')(asRedTout)),
}
If you are going to use a lot of withFacet
's with the same category you can create a new function that defines the category.
For example:
const withType = withFacet('Type');
{
Tout: flow(startWith(Tout), withType('Tout')(asTout)),
} ```
Also one can use the Design API function to combine designs in diffent variations.
Control Component Widths
The Flow Container controls the width of components by setting different classes on their
wrapper component. The Flow Container uses a set of tailwind width classes by default.
The snapData
prop allows the user to provide a function that can set any set of classes.
This function should take an object with a className property (which is a string of the
current classes) and a width property. It then returns an object with a className property
(an updated version of the className) and a width property (the width to which it should snap).
Both width properties are expressed in percentages (e.g. 50%, 75%).
Helper functions for snapData
There are two helper functions for snapData
.
-
withTailwindClasses
: takes a tailwind configuration and the classes in that
configuration you would like to use. It returns a snapData function using the data from
the tailwind config.
import tailwindConfig from '../tailwind.config';
const snapData = withtailwindClasses(tailwindConfig)('w-full, md:w-full, md:w-1/2, lg:w-full, lg:w-1/2, lg:w-1/3, lg:w-1/4');
-
getSnapFrom
: can be used with withTuple
to create a snapData as well.
Each withTuple
takes a mediaQuery at which it is active, a width to which it
corresponds and a class to used.
const defaultSnapData = getSnapFrom(
withTuple('(min-width: 0px)')(100)('w-full'),
withTuple('(min-width: 576px)')(50)('sm:w-1/2'),
withTuple('(min-width: 576px)')(100)('sm:w-full'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(25)('lg:w-1/4'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(33.33)('lg:w-1/3'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(50)('lg:w-1/2'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(66.66)('lg:w-2/3'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(75)('lg:w-3/4'),
withTuple('(min-width: 992px)')(100)('lg:w-full'),
);
Default Width
One can set the default width classes via the getDefaultWidth
prop. The prop is a function that will
be passed the snapData function. It is expected to return a string of the starting classes
example:
<FlowContainer getDefaultWidth={() => 'w-full lg:w-1/4'} />
Limit Number of Components
maxComponents
will limit the number of components that can be added to the
Flow Container. If the number of components equals the value of maxComponents then
the add button will not be visible. If a component is removed and the number of components
is less than the max value then the add button will reappear.
Architectural Details