Project Summary

In this project, we'll complete the functionality of a social media platform by using axios in a react project. Majority of the application has already been built out for you. Take some time before starting to familarize yourself with the component structure. The platform we'll be building out is a scaled down version of twitter and we'll focus on the functionality for fetching all the DevMountain posts, creating new posts, editing existing posts, and deleting existing posts.

This is a live API, please be respectful and mindful of what you post.

Live Example

Click Me!

Setup

• Fork this repository.
• Clone your fork.
• cd into the project directory.
• Run npm install.
• Run npm start.

API Documentation

Before continuing to step 1, take a minute to browse the API documentation.

https://swaggerhub.com/apis/DevMountain/social_mountain/1.0.0

Step 1

Summary

In this step, we'll use axios to fetch posts from the API and render them on the DOM.

Instructions

• Add axios to the project using npm install axios.
• Open ./src/components/App.js.
• Import axios into the component.
• Use axios and the API documentation to fetch posts in the componentDidMount method.
  • Set the posts array returned from the API onto posts on state.
• Import the Post component.
• Underneathe the Compose component, map over posts on state and render a Post component for each post.
  • Remember that React requires a unique key property when using a map.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening a terminal and cd into the root of the project. We'll need to add axios to our project in order to make API requests. We can do so by running npm install axios.

Now let's open ./src/components/App.js and import axios into the component. Near the top of the file with the other import statements, add the following code:

import axios from 'axios';

Now that we have axios imported, we can go into the componentDidMount method and make a GET request to the API. Using the API documentation we can see that we need to make a GET request to https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts. The API documentation also explains that a GET request returns an array of post objects. We'll need to capture this returned array and set it onto posts on App's state.

componentDidMount() {
  axios.get('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts').then( results => {
    this.setState({ posts: results.data });
  });
}

Now when the App component mounts it will fetch the array of posts. The last thing we'll need to do is map over the posts and render them onto the DOM. We'll need to import the Post component into ./src/components/App.js. Once it has been imported, we can go into the render method and render a Post component for every post in the posts array on state. Remember when using a map in the render method, the element needs a unique key property. In this case, we can use the id of the post.

render() {
  const { posts } = this.state;

  return (
    <div className="App__parent">
      <Header />

      <section className="App__content">

        <Compose />
        
        {
          posts.map( post => (
            <Post key={ post.id } />
          ))
        }

      </section>
    </div>
  );
}

Solution

./src/components/App.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

import './App.css';

import Header from './Header/Header';
import Compose from './Compose/Compose';
import Post from './Post/Post';

class App extends Component {
  constructor() {
    super();

    this.state = {
      posts: []
    };

    this.updatePost = this.updatePost.bind( this );
    this.deletePost = this.deletePost.bind( this );
    this.createPost = this.createPost.bind( this );
  }
  
  componentDidMount() {
    axios.get('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts').then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  updatePost() {
  
  }

  deletePost() {

  }

  createPost() {

  }

  render() {
    const { posts } = this.state;

    return (
      <div className="App__parent">
        <Header />

        <section className="App__content">

          <Compose />
          
          {
            posts.map( post => (
              <Post key={ post.id } />
            ))
          }

        </section>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default App;

Step 2

Summary

In this step, we'll pass props down into the Post component in order to see the text and date for each post.

Instructions

• Open ./src/components/App.js.
• In the render method, update the map to send the following props into Post:
  • text - Should equal the post's text.
  • date - Should equal the post's date.
• Open ./src/components/Post/Post.js.
• Update POST DATE GOES HERE to equal the value of date on props.
• Update POST TEXT GOES HERE to equal the value of text on props.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening ./src/components/App.js. In the render method, we'll need to update the map to include two new props on the Post component. The props we'll need are: text and date. If we take a look at the API documentation we can see that a post object has an id, text, and date property. We can access the properties we need by using post.text and post.date.

{
  posts.map( post => (
    <Post key={ post.id }
          text={ post.text}
          date={ post.date } />
  ))
}

Now that our Post component is receiving the text and date, we can render them in the Post component. Let's open ./src/components/Post/Post.js. I'm going to destructure text and date off of props at the top of the render method for easier referencing.

const { text, date } = this.props;

We can then update POST DATE GOES HERE and POST TEXT GOES HERE to use these destructured values.

<span className="Post__date">- { date }</span>
<span className="Post__text">{ text }</span>

Solution

./src/components/App.js ( posts map )

{
  posts.map( post => (
    <Post key={ post.id }
          text={ post.text}
          date={ post.date } />
  ))
}

./src/components/Post/Post.js ( render method )

render() {
  const { editing, showMasterMenu } = this.state;
  const { text, date } = this.props;

  return (
    <section className="Post__parent" onClick={ this.hideMasterMenu }>

      <div className="Post__master-controls">
        <MasterControlIcon onClick={ this.toggleMasterMenu } />

        <div className="Post__master-menu" style={ { display: showMasterMenu ? 'flex' : 'none' } }>
          <span onClick={ this.showEdit }>Edit</span>
          <span>Delete</span>
        </div>
      </div>

      <div className="Post__meta-data">
        <div className="Post__profile-picture">
          <ProfileIcon />
        </div>

        <span className="Post__name">DevMountain</span>
        <span className="Post__handle">@DevMountain</span>

        <span className="Post__date">- { date }</span>
      </div>

      <div className="Post__content">
        {
          editing
          ?
            <Edit text=""
                  hideEdit={ this.hideEdit } />
          :
            <span className="Post__text">{ text }</span>
        }
      </div>

      <div className="Post__user-controls">
        <ReplyIcon className="Post__control-icon" />
        <FavoriteIcon className="Post__control-icon" />
        <MessageIcon className="Post__control-icon" />
      </div>

    </section>
  )
}

Step 3

Summary

In this step, we'll create the updatePost method to use axios to update a post's text.

Instructions

• Open ./src/components/App.js.
• In the updatePost method, use axios to send a PUT request to the correct endpoint.
  • Remember that this method will need to work for any post. Hint: function parameters.
  • Use the returned data from the request to update posts on state.
• Pass the updatePost method down as a prop called updatePostFn in the posts map.
• Add a new prop to the map called id that equals the post's id.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening ./src/components/App.js. In the updatePost method, we'll need to use axios to make a PUT request to the API. Using the API documentation, we can see that when editing a post the API is expecting a PUT request at https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts. We can also see that the endpoint uses the request query to determine the post id and uses the request body to determine the post text. Because the id and text of the post will be different every time the method is called we should use an id and text parameter for the method.

updatePost( id, text ) {

}

We can then use these parameters to construct our axios request and use the returned data to update posts on state. When using axios.put() the second argument is the request body.

updatePost( id, text ) {
  axios.put(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`, { text }).then( results => {
    this.setState({ posts: results.data });
  });
}

Now that our method is constructed, all we need to do is pass it down into the component that needs it. In the render method, let's update the map to include a new prop called updatePostFn that equals the updatePost method. We'll also add a new prop called id that equals the post'd id.

{
  posts.map( post => (
    <Post key={ post.id }
          text={ post.text}
          date={ post.date }
          id={ post.id }
          updatePostFn={ this.updatePost } />
  ))
}

Solution

./src/components/App.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

import './App.css';

import Header from './Header/Header';
import Compose from './Compose/Compose';
import Post from './Post/Post';

class App extends Component {
  constructor() {
    super();

    this.state = {
      posts: []
    };

    this.updatePost = this.updatePost.bind( this );
    this.deletePost = this.deletePost.bind( this );
    this.createPost = this.createPost.bind( this );
  }
  
  componentDidMount() {
    axios.get('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts').then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  updatePost( id, text ) {
    axios.put(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`, { text }).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  deletePost() {

  }

  createPost() {

  }

  render() {
    const { posts } = this.state;

    return (
      <div className="App__parent">
        <Header />

        <section className="App__content">

          <Compose />
          
          {
            posts.map( post => (
              <Post key={ post.id }
                    text={ post.text}
                    date={ post.date }
                    id={ post.id }
                    updatePostFn={ this.updatePost } />
            ))
          }

        </section>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default App;

Step 4

Summary

In this step, we'll make the Edit button functional by using the updatePostFn.

Instructions

• Open ./src/components/Post/Post.js.
• Locate the <div> element with the class of Post__content.
  • In this div we either render the Edit component or the post's text.
• Add a new prop to the Edit component called updatePostFn that equals updatePostFn off of props.
• Add a new prop to the Edit component called id that equals id off of props.
• Update the text prop to equal text off of props.
• Open ./src/components/Post/Edit/Edit.js.
• Update the updatePost method to:
  • Call updatePostFn off of props with the correct id and text arguments.
  • Call hideEdit off of props after updatePostFn.
    • hideEdit is reponsible for toggling the Edit component off after pressing the update button.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening ./src/components/Post/Post.js. In the render method, there is a div with the class of Post__content that either renders a post's text or an Edit component. The Edit component is responsible for capturing a user's new text to assign to a post. In order for the Edit component to function, we'll need to pass the updatePostFn prop from Post.js as a prop into Edit.js. We'll also need to pass down the post's text and id so they can be used as the arguments for the updatePostFn. You'll notice that a prop called hideEdit already exists, that method is responsible for hiding the Edit component after updating a post's text.

<div className="Post__content">
  {
    editing
    ?
      <Edit text={ text }
            id={ id }
            hideEdit={ this.hideEdit }
            updatePostFn={ updatePostFn } />
    :
      <span className="Post__text">{ text }</span>
  }
</div>

Now that we're passing down all the necessary props into the Edit component, let's open ./src/components/Post/Edit/Edit.js and get the Edit button functional. We'll need to update the updatePost method. This method gets called when a user clicks on update. The component keeps track of the new text value on its state. Knowing this, we can call updatePostFn with id off of props and text off of state. After we call updatePostFn we should also call hideEdit off of props to hide the Edit component.

updatePost() {
  const { text } = this.state;
  const { id, updatePostFn, hideEdit } = this.props;

  updatePostFn( id, text );
  hideEdit();
}

Solution

./src/components/Post/Post.js ( Post__content )

<div className="Post__content">
  {
    editing
    ?
      <Edit text={ text }
            id={ id } // Remember to destructure id off of props or use this.props.id
            hideEdit={ this.hideEdit }
            updatePostFn={ updatePostFn } />
    :
      <span className="Post__text">{ text }</span>
  }
</div>

./src/components/Post/Edit/Edit.js ( updatePost method )

updatePost() {
  const { text } = this.state;
  const { id, updatePostFn, hideEdit } = this.props;

  updatePostFn( id, text );
  hideEdit();
}

Step 5

Summary

In this step, we'll create the deletePost method to use axios to delete a post and also make the Delete button functional.

Instructions

• Open ./src/components/App.js.
• In the deletePost method, use axios to send a DELETE request to the correct endpoint.
  • Remember that this method will need to work for any post. Hint: function parameters.
  • Use the returned data from the request to update posts on state.
• Pass the deletePost method down as a prop called deletePostFn in the posts map.
• Open ./src/components/Post/Post.js.
• Update the delete span element to use an onClick event that calls deletePostFn off of props.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening ./src/components/App.js. We'll need to update the deletePost method to make a DELETE request using axios. If we take a look at the API documentation we can see that the API expects a DELETE request at https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts. We can also see that the endpoint uses the request query to determine the id of the post to delete. Because the id of the post will be different every time we should use an id parameter for this method.

deletePost( id ) {

}

We can then use the parameter to construct our axios request and use the returned data to update posts on state.

deletePost( id ) {
  axios.delete(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`).then( results => {
    this.setState({ posts: results.data });
  });
}

Now that our method is constructed, let's pass it down in the Post component in our map.

{
  posts.map( post => (
    <Post key={ post.id }
          id={ post.id }
          text={ post.text}
          date={ post.date }
          updatePostFn={ this.updatePost }
          deletePostFn={ this.deletePost } />
  ))
}

We can then call this method and pass in the post's id using an onClick event on the Delete span.

<span onClick={ () => deletePostFn( id ) }>Delete</span>

Solution

./src/components/App.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

import './App.css';

import Header from './Header/Header';
import Compose from './Compose/Compose';
import Post from './Post/Post';

class App extends Component {
  constructor() {
    super();

    this.state = {
      posts: []
    };

    this.updatePost = this.updatePost.bind( this );
    this.deletePost = this.deletePost.bind( this );
    this.createPost = this.createPost.bind( this );
  }
  
  componentDidMount() {
    axios.get('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts').then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  updatePost( id, text ) {
    axios.put(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`, { text }).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  deletePost( id ) {
    axios.delete(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  createPost() {

  }

  render() {
    const { posts } = this.state;

    return (
      <div className="App__parent">
        <Header />

        <section className="App__content">

          <Compose />
          
          {
            posts.map( post => (
              <Post key={ post.id }
                    id={ post.id }
                    text={ post.text}
                    date={ post.date }
                    updatePostFn={ this.updatePost }
                    deletePostFn={ this.deletePost } />
            ))
          }

        </section>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default App;

./src/components/Post/Post.js ( Post__master-menu )

<div className="Post__master-menu" style={ { display: showMasterMenu ? 'flex' : 'none' } }>
  <span onClick={ this.showEdit }>Edit</span>
  <span onClick={ () => deletePostFn( id ) }>Delete</span> { /* Remember to destructure deletePostFn off of props or use this.props.deletePostFn */ }
</div>

Step 6

Summary

In this step, we'll create the createPost method to use axios to create a new post and also make the Compose button functional.

Instructions

• Open ./src/components/App.js.
• In the createPost method, use axios to send a POST request to the correct endpoint.
  • Remember that this method will need to work for any post. Hint: function parameters.
  • Use the returned data from the request to update posts on state.
• Pass the createPost method down as prop called createPostFn on the Compose component.
• Open ./src/components/Compose/Compose.js.
• Update the createPost method to:
  • Call the createPostFn off of props with the correct text argument.
  • Use setState to reset the value of text on state to an empty string.

Detailed Instructions

Let's begin by opening ./src/components/App.js. We'll need to update the createPost method to make a POST request using axios. If we take a look at the API documentation we can see that the API expects a POST request at https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts. We can also see that the endpoint uses the request body to determine the text of the post to create. Because the text of the post will be different every time, we should use a text parameter for this method.

createPost( text ) {

}

We can then use the parameter to construct our axios request and use the returned data to update posts on state.

createPost( text ) {
  axios.post('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts', { text }).then( results => {
    this.setState({ posts: results.data });
  });
}

Now that our method is constructed, let's pass it down in the Compose component.

<Compose createPostFn={ this.createPost } />

We can then update the createPost method in ./src/components/Compose/Compose.js to call createPostFn off of props with the value of text on state. After calling createPostFn we should also reset the value of text on state using setState.

createPost() {
  const { text } = this.state;
  const { createPostFn } = this.props;

  createPostFn( text );
  this.setState({ text: '' });
}

Solution

./src/components/App.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

import './App.css';

import Header from './Header/Header';
import Compose from './Compose/Compose';
import Post from './Post/Post';

class App extends Component {
  constructor() {
    super();

    this.state = {
      posts: []
    };

    this.updatePost = this.updatePost.bind( this );
    this.deletePost = this.deletePost.bind( this );
    this.createPost = this.createPost.bind( this );
  }
  
  componentDidMount() {
    axios.get('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts').then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  updatePost( id, text ) {
    axios.put(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`, { text }).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  deletePost( id ) {
    axios.delete(`https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts?id=${ id }`).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  createPost( text ) {
    axios.post('https://practiceapi.devmountain.com/api/posts', { text }).then( results => {
      this.setState({ posts: results.data });
    });
  }

  render() {
    const { posts } = this.state;

    return (
      <div className="App__parent">
        <Header />

        <section className="App__content">

          <Compose createPostFn={ this.createPost } />
          
          {
            posts.map( post => (
              <Post key={ post.id }
                    id={ post.id }
                    text={ post.text}
                    date={ post.date }
                    updatePostFn={ this.updatePost }
                    deletePostFn={ this.deletePost } />
            ))
          }

        </section>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default App;

./src/components/Compose/Compose.js ( createPost method )

createPost() {
  const { text } = this.state;
  const { createPostFn } = this.props;

  createPostFn( text );
  this.setState({ text: '' });
}

Black Diamond

Update the project to allow the Search bar to find posts that contain a certain string. Example: If a user searchs for blue, the Feed of posts should only display posts that contain the word blue. To filter by multiple words be sure to use the encodeURI JavaScript function.

Resources

Axios

• Axios Docs

Props

• React Props

Contributions

If you see a problem or a typo, please fork, make the necessary changes, and create a pull request so we can review your changes and merge them into the master repo and branch.

Copyright

© DevMountain LLC, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from DevMountain, LLC is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to DevMountain with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.