Dragging and Dropping Made Fun: Reacting to react-beautiful-dnd functional component example

Welcome to the world of drag and drop! Where moving things around is no longer a boring task, thanks to react-beautiful-dnd. If you’re a web developer who loves functional components and wants to make life easier for users, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll explore the magic of drag and drop with react-beautiful-dnd, and how to use it in a functional component example. We’ll also show you how you can make users forget about their dragging and dropping woes by keeping their experience fun.

Ready to React? Let’s Get Started!

Before diving into the details, let’s first get up to speed with react-beautiful-dnd. It’s a fantastic open-source library that simplifies and enhances the drag and drop experience. The library is compatible with React and React Native and works perfectly with functional components. According to the official react-beautiful-dnd documentation, it’s designed to be:

“Accessible, invisible, and beautiful dragging and dropping for your React lists and tables.”

Now that you’re already excited about the possibilities, let’s take a closer look at the functional component example.

Dragging and Dropping with Functional Components

If you’re one for writing functional components, you’ll appreciate the power of react-beautiful-dnd. It enables you to drag and drop elements efficiently, and it’s easy to use. Here’s a simplified example of a React functional component with react-beautiful-dnd:

import React from 'react';
import { DragDropContext, Droppable, Draggable } from 'react-beautiful-dnd';

const FunctionalComponent = (props) => {
  const [items, setItems] = React.useState(props.initialItems);

  const onDragEnd = (result) => {
    if (!result.destination) return;
    const itemsCopy = Array.from(items);
    const [reorderedItem] = itemsCopy.splice(result.source.index, 1);
    itemsCopy.splice(result.destination.index, 0, reorderedItem);
    setItems(itemsCopy);
  };

  return (
    <DragDropContext onDragEnd={onDragEnd}>
      <Droppable droppableId="items">
        {(provided, snapshot) => (
          <div
            {...provided.droppableProps}
            ref={provided.innerRef}
          >
            {items.map((item, index) => (
              <Draggable
                key={item.id}
                draggableId={item.id.toString()}
                index={index}
              >
                {(provided, snapshot) => (
                  <div
                    {...provided.draggableProps}
                    {...provided.dragHandleProps}
                    ref={provided.innerRef}
                  >
                    {item.content}
                  </div>
                )}
              </Draggable>
            ))}
            {provided.placeholder}
          </div>
        )}
      </Droppable>
    </DragDropContext>
  );
};

export default FunctionalComponent;

If you’re a coding savant, this will likely look familiar to you. Essentially, we’re rendering a list of drag and drop items using Droppable and Draggable components from react-beautiful-dnd. Like most functional components, our FunctionalComponent uses useState to manage our state, and we’re setting the initialItems value in our example.

The onDragEnd function is triggered when the user releases the draggable element after a drag. We use this function to update our state by creating a shallow copy of the items array, then removing the dragged element from its source index and inserting it back into the array at its new index in result.destination. We then update our state with our new array.

Making Drag and Drop Fun

Dragging and dropping can become tedious if users have to work with long lists or complex data. However, it can also become a fun and engaging experience if you focus on adding some delight to the experience. Here are our favorite ways to make drag and drop fun:

1. Add Some Humor!

Nothing lightens the mood like humor. Consider adding playful messages and animations to the drag and drop experience to bring a smile to your users’ faces. You could display a “See ya later!” message when an item is dragged out of a list, or create fun animations to give users feedback.

2. Create a Theme

Adding a theme can create a more engaging experience. For example, you could display different colors or icons as users drag items around the page.

3. Add Sound Effects

Sound effects are an excellent way to inject some life into the user’s interaction. Consider adding a “swoosh” sound when an item is dragged or a “ding” when an item is successfully dropped.

Exploring Metrics of User Engagement

We mentioned making drag and drop fun, but is it helpful? As developers, we love numbers and metrics, so let’s see how users engage with our list using react-beautiful-dnd. Below is a table that shows various metrics to track when using react-beautiful-dnd in a functional component.

If you’re creating an app with drag and drop functionality, keep these metrics in mind as you analyze your app’s performance. You’ll likely find that a fun and engaging drag and drop experience will translate into increased user engagement, ultimately leading to higher retention rates.

Wrap-up

Reacting to react-beautiful-dnd functional component examples is exciting, especially when you focus on creating an excellent user experience. Drag and drop functionality with react-beautiful-dnd is easy to write and maintain, and adding playful interactions only adds value for the user. Remember, as a web developer, it’s crucial to focus on both the development and the user’s experience. Have fun and react away!

References:

• “React Beautiful DnD.” GitHub, Atlassian, https://github.com/atlassian/react-beautiful-dnd.
• Barrie, Nick, and Kavon Farvardin. “How to Make Drag and Drop Fun (Seriously).” Superhuman Blog, Superhuman, 5 Sept. 2019, https://blog.superhuman.com/how-to-make-drag-and-drop-fun-seriously-7feb436d2cdd.