@contentful/f36-components

Forma 36 React Components

A React component library for Contentful, powered by Storybook.

Forma 36 Homepage Forma 36 Storybook

Table of contents

• Forma 36 React Components
  • Table of contents
  • Library Usage
    • Install package from NPM
    • Import desired component into your project
    • Import styles
  • Development
    • Switch to the correct version of Node (using NVM)
    • Install dependencies
    • Run Storybook
    • Example component directory structure
    • Styling
    • Component principles
    • Adding documentation for component
  • Testing
    • Run tests
  • Building
    • Create a build of the library
  • Commits
  • Alpha components

Library Usage

Install package from NPM

yarn add @contentful/forma-36-react-components

Or for NPM

npm i @contentful/forma-36-react-components

Import desired component into your project

import { Input } from '@contentful/forma-36-react-components';

Import styles

import '@contentful/forma-36-react-components/dist/styles.css';

NOTE: If a component is still in alpha state:

import { AlphaComponent } from '@contentful/forma-36-react-components/dist/alpha';

Development

Switch to the correct version of Node (using NVM)

nvm use

Install dependencies

For local development run yarn from the root of this repo to install all dependencies and build all packages.

Run Storybook

Storybook is a UI development environment we are using to power our component library. Using Storybook allows us to work on components in isolation.

yarn storybook

Using Storybook requires you to wrap your component in a story. Look in the src/components directory for an example .stories.js file. Storybook has been configured to automatically include any files with the .stories.js file extension.

Storybook is setup using its own Webpack configuration file located at tools/.storybook/webpack.config.js.

Example component directory structure

A component's directory should resemble the following:

YourComponent
├── index.js                 // A file for exporting your component
├── YourComponent.js         // Your React component
├── YourComponent.css        // Component styles
├── YourComponent.stories.js // Storybook for the component
└── YourComponent.test.js.   // Component tests

Styling

We are using postcss-preset-env for styling our components. Using postcss-preset-env allows us to use the latest CSS syntax without having to wait for browser support. tools/postcss.config.js is used for adding plugins and configuration.

Component principles

We follow a number of principles when creating our components:

1. A component is responsible for only its internal spacing

We follow the principle that a component should only be responsible for its own internal spacing - never external spacing. This means that we're flexible in where our components can be used without having to override margins.

1. Use descriptive PropTypes

We recommend the following naming convention for PropTypes to make them as clear as possible:

• Number - use a prefix or suffix to imply that the prop accepts a number. E.g. numItems, itemCount, itemIndex
• Boolean - use the prefix 'is'/'can'/'has'. E.g. isVisible, canExpand, hasImage
• Array - use a plural noun. E.g. items
• Object - use a noun. E.g. item
• Node - use the suffix 'Node'. E.g. containerNode
• Element - use the suffix 'Element'. E.g. triggerElement
• Event handler functions - use the prefix 'on'. E.g. onOpen, onClick

Adding documentation for component

We would like to make sure that every component contains a README file with recommendations and guidelines. Using yarn add-readme it will generate a template README file for you for the component that you specify. Follow steps in the CLI to create new README. Make sure that your documentation for the component contains following parts:

1. A short summary of the component.
2. Variations/types - try to provide the overview of the components variants.
3. Example of usage - try to add couple of examples, that includes import
4. Content recommendations - notes about best practices when it comes to the content used in the component, like message or title
5. Best practices - try to describe in couple of points when to use the component
6. Accessibility - If possible, we strongly recommend providing accessibility guidelines.

Testing

We are using Jest and Testing Library to test our components.

Tests are kept next to their components and use the .test.js file extension.

Run tests

yarn test

It is recommended to run tests in development with the optional --watch flag.

yarn test --watch

Building

We are using a combination of Webpack and Babel to create builds of our component library. We use Webpack with the tools/webpack.production.config.js config to build a stylesheet including all CSS used for our components using the ExtractTextPlugin. Babel is used for transpiling our React components into CommonJS modules. Babel and Webpack both output the build to the dist directory.

Create a build of the library

yarn build

Commits

This project uses the Angular JS Commit Message Conventions, via semantic-release. See the semantic-release Default Commit Message Format section for more details.

You can commit the changes by running

yarn commit

Alpha components

We provide a number of alpha components which are unsupported and subject to breaking changes without warning. In short - use alpha components at your own risk.

Alpha components are provided outside of the main component library bundle and can be used as follows:

import { MyAlphaComponent } from '@contentful/forma-36-react-components/dist/alpha';