@wethegit/react-modal

• Getting set up
• Usage
• Using a URL hash to manage state
• Props
• Styling
• Accessibility

Getting set up

Install

npm install @wethegit/react-modal

CSS

Import this wherever it makes sense to, based on your project structure:

import "@wethegit/react-modal/style.css"

Usage

The useModal hook provides mechanisms for hooking into the modal state. We'll need to pass said state to the <Modal> component, as shown below. This approach allows us to abstract away state management, which becomes especially useful when using a URL hash to manage the modal's state.

The snippet below demonstrates the minimum required setup. No focus management, no animations.

import {
  Modal,
  ModalBackdrop,
  ModalContent,
  useModal
} from "@wethegit/react-modal"

function MyModal() {
  const { isOpen, toggle } = useModal()

  return (
    <>
      <button onClick={toggle}>
        Open the modal window!
      </button>

      {isOpen && (
        <Modal>
          <ModalBackdrop onClick={toggle} />
          <ModalContent>
            <button onClick={toggle}>Close</button>
            <p>Voluptate Lorem ut minim excepteur sit fugiat anim magna aliquip.</p>
          </ModalContent>
        </Modal>
      )}
    </>
  )
}

Using a URL hash to manage the modal state

It's as easy as passing a hash prop to the useModal hook. The hook will then use the URL hash to manage the modal's state. This is useful for when you want to allow your users to share a link to a modal window, or when you want to allow your users to navigate to a modal window via a URL.

import {
  Modal,
  ModalContent,
  ModalBackdrop,
  useModal
} from "@wethegit/react-modal"

function MyModal() {
  const { isOpen, toggle } = useModal({
    hash: "my-modal-hash"
  })

  return (
    <>
      <button onClick={toggle}>
        Open the modal window!
      </button>

      {isOpen && (
        <Modal>
          <ModalBackdrop onClick={toggle} />
          <ModalContent>
            <button onClick={toggle}>Close</button>
            <p>Voluptate Lorem ut minim excepteur sit fugiat anim magna aliquip.</p>
          </ModalContent>
        </Modal>
      )}
    </>
  )
}

Full example

Custom transition, focus management and hash-based state management.

Use your favorite animation library, @wethegit/react-hooks provides a simple one for these cases.

import { useRef } from 'react'
import { useAnimatePresence } from '@wethegit/react-hooks'
import {
  Modal,
  ModalContent,
  ModalBackdrop,
  useModal
} from "@wethegit/react-modal"

function MyModal() {
  const triggerButton = useRef(null)
  const modalRootRef = useRef(null)

  const { isOpen, toggle } = useModal({
    // `triggerRef` allows the focus to shift to whatever triggered the modal
    triggerRef: triggerButton,
    // `hash` will automatically open the modal when hash changes and will also update the hash when the modal opens/closes
    hash: "modal-with-hash",
  })

  const { render, animate } = useAnimatePresence({
    isVisible: isOpen,
    duration: 800
  })

  return (
    <>
      <button ref={triggerButton} onClick={toggle}>
        Open the modal window!
      </button>
      <div ref={modalRootRef}></div>

      {render && modalRootRef.current && (
        <Modal 
          renderTo={modalRootRef.current}
          style={{
          transition: `opacity 800ms ease-in-out`,
          opacity: animate ? 1 : 0
        }}>
          <ModalBackdrop onClick={toggle} />
          <ModalContent>
            <button onClick={toggle}>
              Close
            </button>
            <p>Voluptate Lorem ut minim excepteur sit fugiat anim magna aliquip.</p>
          </ModalContent>
        </Modal>
      )}
    </>
  )
}

Props

<Modal>

prop	type	default value	description
renderTo	HTMLElement	null	If a valid HTMLElement is provided, the modal will be appended to that element. Otherwise will be rendered in place.
className	String	null
children	ReactNode	null

<ModalContent>

A wrapper for the modal's content. This component is optional, but it's recommended to use it for styling purposes.

Any valid <div> props can be passed to this component.

<ModalBackdrop>

A wrapper for the modal's backdrop. This component is optional, but it's recommended to use it for styling purposes.

Any valid <div> props can be passed to this component.

useModal

prop	type	default value	description
hash	String	null	Optional. If provided, the hook will use the URL hash to manage the modal's state. This is useful for when you want to allow your users to share a link to a modal window, or when you want to allow your users to navigate to a modal window via a URL.
triggerRef	RefObject	null	Optional. If provided, the hook will shift the user's focus to this element when the modal closes.

Styling

The component comes with minimal and sensible defaults.

You can override these as you see fit and as your setup allows.

Accessibility

This component was built with focus accessibility best-practices at top-of-mind, and provides enough flexibility to allow you to create an accessible modal window.

Focus loop

There are hidden elements at the start and end of the modal component, which, on focus, shift the user's focus to either the end or start of the content, respectively.

Focus on close

The triggerRef prop of the useModal hook ensures that—on close of a modal—your user's focus is shifted back to where it was before opening the modal.