The Skeleton is a ReactJS component designed to provide a “placeholder preview of your content before the data gets loaded to reduce load-time frustration.”
In other words, if your application has data-intensive pages, you can use Skeleton components to take the place of the content until the data loads. This is a significant improvement to the user experience over staring at a spinner or blank screen.
The best way to understand the component is to see an example in action. One common use for the component is in a social media feed that has standardized blocks, but where the content may take a few seconds to load:
You can learn all about the original concept here.
Installing custom components from Backendless Marketplace is super easy. First, in UI Builder, select the Components tab.
There, you will see a button labeled Install Component. This will take you to the library of components available in the Marketplace.
When you click Install Component, you will open a list of available UI Components to install.
Select the component you want and click Install.
When you return to the User Interface tab, you will see a new section added to your toolkit on the right-hand side called Custom Components.
You can then simply drag the component onto your canvas just like any other UI Component.
How the Skeleton Component Works
When added to your app, the Skeleton component offers several basic functions out of the box.
When first adding the component to your page, it will look like just a plain grey box. To get the most out of it, you will need to build a block around it, as we did in the example earlier.
The options available are basic but very useful. You can choose from four different shapes: Text, Circular, Rectangular, and Rounded.
You can also set the height and width to match the standard block that it acts as a placeholder for.
Finally, you can choose whether to have the block use the “wave” animation (as in the example) or remain a solid color.
Available Options and What They Mean
Once you have placed your component, when you select it, you will see all of the available options (properties) for the component in the toolkit area. These are the default settings for the component that you can easily adjust.
Each of the available properties are described in the table below. For more information, such as Theme styles and event handlers, visit the Skeleton GitHub repo.
Property
Type
Default value
Logic
Data Binding
UI Setting
Description
Variant
Select
“text”
NO
YES
Allows select variant of skeleton (“text”, “circular”, “rectangular”, “rounded”).
Height
String
“0px”
Height Logic
YES
YES
Allows determinate height for skeleton.
Width
String
“0px”
Width Logic
YES
YES
Allows to determinate width for skeleton.
Animation
Select
“default”
NO
YES
Allows select animation of skeleton (“default”, “wave”, “none”).
When you click on the Logic icon or tab for the component, you will see the modifiable event handlers, just as you would with a standard component. However, the main logic for the component – the logic that makes it work – is hidden to protect it from accidentally being broken.
Additionally, in the Logic area, you will also find all available data binding properties.
That’s it! Ready to try it for yourself?
The Skeleton component is one of many custom components available now in Backendless Marketplace, completely free!
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