Building an Autolink Heading Component for React Navigation
Tags: react
Published: 2023-11-14 10:26:10

## Introduction

In this post, we'll explore how I've created an [Autolink Heading component](https://github.com/FranciscoMoretti/react-autolink-heading) for React Navigation. This component will generate anchor links for section headings automatically. By using this component, you can improve user experience and make navigation within your React applications more efficient. It also contributes to the site SEO performance. Let's explore how to build this component!

## Implementing the Autolink Heading Component

This is how I created the first version of the Autolink Heading component to replicate the behavior of [rehype-autolink-headings](https://github.com/rehypejs/rehype-autolink-headings) for React headings. It's a simple design that get's the job done. However, I'm sure it has a lot of room for improvement.

```tsx
import React, {
  cloneElement,
  isValidElement,
  ReactElement,
  ReactNode,
} from "react";
import { slug } from "github-slugger";

import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";

interface AutoLinkHeadingProps {
  children: ReactNode;
  className: string;
  linkClassName?: string;
  ariaLabel?: string;
  headingId?: string;
}

function isHeadingElement(element: ReactNode): element is ReactElement {
  return (
    isValidElement(element) &&
    typeof element.type === "string" &&
    /^h[1-6]$/.test(element.type)
  );
}

export function AutoLinkHeading({
  children,
  className,
  linkClassName = "",
  ariaLabel = "Link to section",
  headingId = "",
}: AutoLinkHeadingProps): JSX.Element | null {
  const firstChild = React.Children.toArray(children)[0];

  if (!isHeadingElement(firstChild)) {
    console.warn("AutoLinkHeader: The first child is not a heading element.");
    return null;
  }

  const firstGrandChild = React.Children.toArray(firstChild.props.children)[0];

  if (firstGrandChild === undefined) {
    console.warn(
      "AutoLinkHeader: No text content found for the header element."
    );
    return null;
  }

  const headerSlug = headingId ? headingId : slug(firstGrandChild.toString());
  const clonedFirstChild = cloneElement(firstChild, {
    className: cn(firstChild.props.className, className),
    id: headerSlug,
    children: (
      <a
        href={`#${headerSlug}`}
        className={linkClassName}
        aria-label={ariaLabel}
      >
        {firstChild.props.children}
      </a>
    ),
  });
  return clonedFirstChild;
}
```

Here, we've defined the `AutoLinkHeader` component that takes `children`, `className`, `linkClassName`, and `ariaLabel` as props. It checks if the first child is a heading element, and if so, generates a slug based on the text content. It then clones the first child element and adds an anchor link with the generated slug.

I'm using the algorithm from `github-slugger` to create the header link and ID. It's the same one used by GitHub for their section headings and also by [rehype-slug](https://github.com/rehypejs/rehype-slug), the project I used as inspiration for this one.

## How to use AutoLink Heading

To use the `AutoLinkHeader` component, follow the example below:

```tsx
<AutoLinkHeading className="linked_header" linkClassName="link">
  <h2 className="header">All Posts on Next.js</h2>
</AutoLinkHeading>
```

That transforms the `h2` tag in something like this:
![autolink\_headings\_html](https://www.franciscomoretti.com/assets/autolink_headings_html.png)

In the above code snippet, we pass the desired CSS classes to the `className` and `linkClassName` props. The `h2` element is wrapped inside the `AutoLinkHeader` component, and it will automatically generate an anchor link based on the heading's text content.

The result looks like this:
![autolink-headings-example](https://www.franciscomoretti.com/assets/autolink-headings-example.png)

## Benefits of Converting Section Headings to Link Targets

Converting section headings to link targets using the `#` symbol offers several benefits:

1.  **Improved User Experience**: Users can easily navigate to specific sections by clicking on the corresponding links, enhancing their overall experience.
2.  **Enhanced Accessibility**: Anchor links improve accessibility by allowing users with assistive technologies to navigate the page more efficiently.
3.  **Simplified Content Sharing**: Linking to specific sections simplifies content sharing, as users can share direct links to relevant sections.
4.  **SEO Benefits**: Anchor links help search engines understand content structure, improving visibility in search results.

By converting section headings to link targets, you can enhance user experience, accessibility, simplify content sharing, and gain SEO benefits.

Check out the [React AutoLink Heading](https://github.com/FranciscoMoretti/react-autolink-heading) repo.

## Conclusion

Autolink Heading component for React Navigation that automatically generates anchor links for section headings. By converting section headings to link targets, we can improve user experience, accessibility, content sharing, and gain SEO benefits. By implementing this component in your React applications, you can enhance navigation and make it easier for users to find the information they need. Happy coding! 🌟