How to build a Tailwind CSS modal component
Tags: tailwindcss, tutorial, opensource, webdev
Published: 2021-11-30 12:55:23

In this tutorial I would like to show you how you can build a [Tailwind CSS modal](https://flowbite.com/docs/components/modal/) element using Flowbite and make it work with dark mode as well.

Last time I showed you how to build a [responsive navbar](https://dev.to/themesberg/building-a-responsive-navbar-component-in-tailwind-css-1jmh) using Tailwind CSS here on the DEV community and I'm excited to get started with this modal component.

Modals are a very important and interactive element that you can use to show and receive information from your website users.

Here's a preview of what we will build:

![Tailwind CSS modal component](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/60v3ol2wcokknirp15t4.gif)

Let's get started!

## Tailwind CSS modal component

Before getting started, make sure that you have Tailwind CSS and Flowbite installed on your project.

I assume that you already have a working Tailwind CSS project so we'll start by installing Flowbite:

```
npm i flowbite
```

Now require it as a plugin in your `tailwind.config.js` file:

```
module.exports = {

    plugins: [
        require('flowbite/plugin')
    ]

}
```

And now also include the Flowbite JavaScript file either from NPM or as a CDN:

```
<script src="../path/to/flowbite/dist/flowbite.js"></script>
```

Via CDN:

```
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/flowbite@1.2.0/dist/flowbite.min.css" />
```

Awesome! Let's now first add the button that will toggle the modal itself:

```
<!-- Modal toggle -->
<button class="block text-white bg-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-800 focus:ring-4 focus:ring-blue-300 font-medium rounded-lg text-sm px-5 py-2.5 text-center dark:bg-blue-600 dark:hover:bg-blue-700 dark:focus:ring-blue-800" type="button" data-modal-toggle="default-modal">
  Toggle modal
</button>
```

As you can see we added a `data-modal-toggle` data attribute where `default-modal` is the id of the modal element that we will now build.

Let's use one of the [modal component examples](https://flowbite.com/docs/components/modal/) from Flowbite and add it just after the button component:

```
<!-- Main modal -->
<div id="default-modal" aria-hidden="true" class="hidden overflow-x-hidden overflow-y-auto fixed h-modal md:h-full top-4 left-0 right-0 md:inset-0 z-50 justify-center items-center">
    <div class="relative w-full max-w-2xl px-4 h-full md:h-auto">
        <!-- Modal content -->
        <div class="bg-white rounded-lg shadow relative dark:bg-gray-700">
            <!-- Modal header -->
            <div class="flex items-start justify-between p-5 border-b rounded-t dark:border-gray-600">
                <h3 class="text-gray-900 text-xl lg:text-2xl font-semibold dark:text-white">
                    Terms of Service
                </h3>
                <button type="button" class="text-gray-400 bg-transparent hover:bg-gray-200 hover:text-gray-900 rounded-lg text-sm p-1.5 ml-auto inline-flex items-center dark:hover:bg-gray-600 dark:hover:text-white" data-modal-toggle="default-modal">
                    <svg class="w-5 h-5" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 20 20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4.293 4.293a1 1 0 011.414 0L10 8.586l4.293-4.293a1 1 0 111.414 1.414L11.414 10l4.293 4.293a1 1 0 01-1.414 1.414L10 11.414l-4.293 4.293a1 1 0 01-1.414-1.414L8.586 10 4.293 5.707a1 1 0 010-1.414z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg>  
                </button>
            </div>
            <!-- Modal body -->
            <div class="p-6 space-y-6">
                <p class="text-gray-500 text-base leading-relaxed dark:text-gray-400">
                    With less than a month to go before the European Union enacts new consumer privacy laws for its citizens, companies around the world are updating their terms of service agreements to comply.
                </p>
                <p class="text-gray-500 text-base leading-relaxed dark:text-gray-400">
                    The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (G.D.P.R.) goes into effect on May 25 and is meant to ensure a common set of data rights in the European Union. It requires organizations to notify users as soon as possible of high-risk data breaches that could personally affect them.
                </p>
            </div>
            <!-- Modal footer -->
            <div class="flex space-x-2 items-center p-6 border-t border-gray-200 rounded-b dark:border-gray-600">
                <button data-modal-toggle="default-modal" type="button" class="text-white bg-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-800 focus:ring-4 focus:ring-blue-300 font-medium rounded-lg text-sm px-5 py-2.5 text-center dark:bg-blue-600 dark:hover:bg-blue-700 dark:focus:ring-blue-800">I accept</button>
                <button data-modal-toggle="default-modal" type="button" class="text-gray-500 bg-white hover:bg-gray-100 focus:ring-4 focus:ring-gray-300 rounded-lg border border-gray-200 text-sm font-medium px-5 py-2.5 hover:text-gray-900 focus:z-10 dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300 dark:border-gray-500 dark:hover:text-white dark:hover:bg-gray-600">Decline</button>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
```

Great job! Now you have a working and responsive modal that you can use in your Tailwind CSS projects.

This modal component also supports dark mode and you can check out the [Tailwind CSS dark mode switch](https://flowbite.com/docs/customize/dark-mode/) guide from Flowbite to set it up yourself.

![Tailwind CSS dark modal](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5f2dfhxq6bozm0nb0zv2.png)

There are plenty of other modal component variations and sizes from the [Flowbite component library](https://flowbite.com/docs/components/modal/) that you can check out and use for your projects.