How to Fix React Router URL Doesn’t Work When Refreshing or Writing
Tags: react, programming, beginners
Published: 2022-07-05 12:38:09

New tools can regularly be released with different frameworks and libraries. Because of that, web developers find it challenging to choose the right one for the project. React is the most popular front-end development framework in the web development landscape.

React Router is an important application programming interface in the react app. Current code can be created with react-router 3 and utilize dynamic routing. Bosc Tech has wide team of React developers, who are proficient in providing technical solution to you problems. Hire React developer from Bosc Tech to build dynamic web applications as per your requirements.

React Router is important for developing a single-page web application with navigation without the page refreshing when a user navigates. API utilizes component structure to call components that show the relevant information. Check out the guide on force react components to rerender without calling the set state to learn more about component rerendering.

Whether the router URL does not work when refreshing the browser and entering manually shows that you failed to configure the path on the server. You must point the entire URL to the index.html file with the help of .htaccess. Professional support is essential to fix issues quickly and load the app.

##Things to focus on fixing the problem

Whether you need a URL to perform well on the client and server sides, it is necessary to set up a route for the client and server sides. Developers have different choices to overcome the problem.

A solution may also range from bypassing an issue through a catch-all route that proceeds bootstrap HTML to an isomorphic approach. Client and server-side manage the same javascript code.

The leading cause of the issue is that you focus on client-side routing completing without setting up anything to deal with server-side routing.

In that scenario, you must consider the important idea of overcoming issues.

It is necessary to set up client and server-side routing.

After that, redirect all server requests to /index.html that download a necessary resource and let the Router access it.

##Hash history

If you ever see a URL with #, it is important. The main thought is to add # to the end of the URL. Anything after # is never sent to the server. If the URL is like http://test.com/#/about, the server takes only before # and sends the index page.

The Router will access the #/about the path and display the required page. React Router brings a hash router component that you utilize for hash-based routing. You can understand what causes a problem like

- Poor URLs
- Server-side rendering is not promising with such an approach.
- Search Engine Optimization can concern that a website comprises a single page with hardly any content.

##Catch-all

It is the best approach if you already have a server on the app. This solution’s main idea is to redirect all of the server requests to /index.html. It delivers an outcome like Hash History, and any request made to the server will react with the index page.

It is necessary to fetch any JS resources if needed. React Router will take over and load the proper view. code may also differ based on the type of server you use. You must keep a clean URL and enhance the user experience. Poor SEO and complex URLs to set up are significant causes of the issue.

**App.js**

```javascript
import {
    BrowserRouter as Router
} from 'react-router-dom'
const App = () {
    render() {
        return ( 
// Your routes here
 )
    }
}
```

**server.js**

```
const path = require("path");
app.get("/*", function (req, res) {
    res.sendFile(
        path.join(__dirname, "path/to/your/index.html"),
        function (err) {
            if (err) {
                res.status(500).send(err);
            }
        }
    );
});
```
**Example for Apache web server**

```javascript
.htaccess
RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^ index\.html$ - [L]
RewriteCond % {
    REQUEST_FILENAME
}!-f
RewriteCond % {
    REQUEST_FILENAME
}!-d
RewriteRule. / index.html[L]
Nginx.conf
location / {
    if (!-e $request_filename) {
        rewrite ^ (.*) $ / index.html
        break;
    }
}
```
##Hybrid

Regarding the hybrid approach, you expand the catch-all scenario by including the specific script for one route. You can build some simple PHP scripts to return the most important pages of your site with content. It is more accessible for Googlebot to at least view what is present on a page. You can understand issues like

- More complex URL to set up
- Only good SEO for routes that bring special treatment
- Duplicating code for representing content on a server and client

**Isomorphic**

You need to understand Node JS as a server and run the same JS code on client and server ends. Defining routes in a single react-router config is necessary and doesn’t require a duplicate rendering code.

The server sends the same markup that would end up with whether a page transition occurs on the client. It is optimal in terms of SEO, and developers try to understand the consequences of problems.

- The server must run JS. If you fail to use node JS, you can face a severe problem.
- Difficult environmental issues
- Abrupt learning curve

##Utilize the best hosting service

Blessed developers don’t have to worry about managing a server; they have an alternative option to using a hosting service. With it, you can discover a lot of different variations. You need to identify an ideal service that supports client-side routers.

Configuring a single-page app is necessary to rewrite all URLs to /index.html. With client-side routing, you must build a/_redirects file with the command like /*/index.html 200. It will redirect requests to .index.HTML.

##Webpack / Development

The solution is suitable for everyone who faces trouble in development using webpack-dev-server. You must understand how the webpack dev server redirects all server requests to /index.html. You must integrate important properties in the webpack config and set up public path and historyApiFallback.

```javascript
public path: '/',
    historyApiFallback: true,
```

a public path permits you to identify a base path for all the applications’ assets. HistoryAPIFallback will send 404s to /index.html.

It is essential to define the route on the react-router-dom. React applications can know them quickly. Developers redirect all permalinks and paths to index.HTML.file. In such a way, the server will load the app and decide which things to display based on the route in the browser address bar.

**Conclusion**
You correctly understand fixing react-router that does not work by following simple measures. Hire react experts to start today and gain peace of mind when handling the project with a front-end framework.