Paul Bratslavsky for Strapi

Posted on Apr 4

Epic Next.js 14 Tutorial Part 3: Building Out Our Home Page

#webdev #nextjs #react #strapi

In part 3 of our series, let's finish building out our home page. We will finish up our Hero Section, then move to our Features Section, and finally add our Top Navigation and Footer.

Getting Started with project
Building Out The Hero Section
Building Out The Features Section, TopNavigation and Footer
Building Out the Register and Sign In Page
Building out the the Dashboard page
Get Video Transcript with OpenAI Function
Strapi CRUD permissions
Search & pagination
Backend deployement to Strapi Cloud and frontend deployment to Vercel

Let's refactor our Hero Section to use the Next Image component.

Instead of using it directly, we will create a new component called StrapiImage to add a few additional quality live improvements.

Inside src/app/components, create a new file called StrapiImage.tsx and paste it into the following code.

import Image from "next/image";
import { getStrapiMedia } from "@/lib/utils";

interface StrapiImageProps {
  src: string;
  alt: string;
  height: number;
  width: number;
  className?: string;
}

export function StrapiImage({
  src,
  alt,
  height,
  width,
  className,
}: Readonly<StrapiImageProps>) {
  if (!src) return null;
  const imageUrl = getStrapiMedia(src);
  const imageFallback = `https://placehold.co/${width}x${height}`;

  return (
    <Image
      src={imageUrl ?? imageFallback}
      alt={alt}
      height={height}
      width={width}
      className={className}
    />
  );
}

You will notice that we have a helper function called getStrapiMedia; first, let's add it to our src/lib/utils.ts file and then review what it does.

export function getStrapiURL() {
  return process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL ?? "http://localhost:1337";
}

export function getStrapiMedia(url: string | null) {
  if (url == null) return null;
  if (url.startsWith("data:")) return url;
  if (url.startsWith("http") || url.startsWith("//")) return url;
  return `${getStrapiURL()}${url}`;
}

getStrapiURL():
This function returns the URL of the Strapi API. We are setting our environment name to NEXT_PUBLIC_, which will be available in both the server and client components.

Note: only set public for none private items when using NEXT_PUBLIC_, they will be seen by all. You can learn more in Next.js docs.

getStrapiMedia():
This function is designed to process media URLs from the Strapi CMS. It accepts a URL as a string or null.

If the input url is null, the function returns null, which could be used in cases where an image or media file is optional.

If the input URL starts with "data:", it is returned as-is. This condition checks for data URLs, which are URLs that contain actual data (e.g., base64-encoded images) instead of linking to an external resource.

This is often used to embed small images directly in HTML or CSS to reduce the number of HTTP requests.

If the input URL starts with "http" or "//", it is also returned as-is. This covers absolute URLs, meaning the media is hosted outside the Strapi backend (possibly on another domain or CDN).

If none of the above conditions are met, the function assumes the url is a relative path to a resource on the Strapi backend.

In essence, these functions help manage and resolve media URLs in a Next.js application that uses Strapi as a headless CMS, ensuring that the application can handle local and external media resources effectively.

Now that we have our StrapiImage component let's use it in our Hero Section.

Navigate to src/app/components/custom/HeroSection.tsx and make the following changes.

First, import our newly created component.

import { StrapiImage } from "@/components/custom/StrapiImage";

Second, replace the img tag with the following.

<StrapiImage
  alt="Background"
  className="absolute inset-0 object-cover w-full h-full aspect/16:9"
  src={imageURL}
  height={1080}
  width={1920}
/>

Restart the application, and... you will see the following error.

Clicking on the link in the error will take you here, which explains the steps to fix this.

Inside the root of your project, locate the next.config.mjs file and make the following change.

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  images: {
    remotePatterns: [
      {
        protocol: "http",
        hostname: "localhost",
        port: "1337",
        pathname: "/uploads/**/*",
      },
      {
        protocol: "https",
        hostname: "placehold.co",
      },
    ],
  },
};

export default nextConfig;

Since we have a fall back URL inside our image, we are also referencing it here.

Now, when you restart your application, you should see the following.

Nice, now let's work on our Features Section

Building Out Our Features Section

Modeling Our Features Section Data In Strapi

Looking at our Features Section UI, we can break it down into the following parts.

We have a section that has repeatable components with the following items.

Icon
Heading
Subheading

So, let's jump into our Strapi Admin and create our Features Section Component.

Let's start by navigating to Content-Type Builder under COMPONENTS, clicking on Create new component, and let's call it Features Section and save it under the layout category.

We will create the following fields.

Text -> Short Text - title
Text -> Long Text - description

Finally, let's create a repeatable component called Feature and save it under components

Now, add the following fields.

Text -> Short Text - heading
Text -> Long Text - subHeading
Enum -> with the following options

CLOCK_ICON
CHECK_ICON
CLOUD_ICON

Let's add our newly created Feature Section component to our home page.

Now, let's add some features data and save.

Navigate to Content Manager, select the Home Page, add the new Features Section block, and fill in your features.

We are already getting our page data; let's navigate to src/app/page.tsx and update our query to populate our feature repeatable component.

Let's update the homePageQuery query with the following changes.

const homePageQuery = qs.stringify({
  populate: {
    blocks: {
      populate: {
        image: {
          fields: ["url", "alternativeText"],
        },
        link: {
          populate: true,
        },
        feature: {
          populate: true,
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

Also, let's update our getStrapiData function to use our new helper method, getStrapiURL. So it will look like the following.

async function getStrapiData(path: string) {
  const baseUrl = getStrapiURL();

  const url = new URL(path, baseUrl);
  url.search = homePageQuery;

  try {
    const response = await fetch(url.href, { cache: "no-store" });
    const data = await response.json();
    const flattenedData = flattenAttributes(data);
    return flattenedData;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
}

Now, let's console log our block and see what the response looks like.

console.dir(blocks, { depth: null });

We should see the following data.

[
  {
    id: 1,
    __component: "layout.hero-section",
    heading: "Epic Next.js Tutorial",
    subHeading: "You are all awesome.",
    image: {
      id: 3,
      url: "/uploads/cat_image_9c74cefe33.jpg",
      alternativeText: null,
    },
    link: { id: 1, url: "/login", text: "Login", isExternal: false },
  },
  {
    id: 1,
    __component: "layout.features-section",
    title: "Features",
    description: "Section",
    feature: [
      {
        id: 1,
        heading: "Save Time",
        subHeading:
          "No need to watch the entire video. Get the summary and save time.",
        icon: "CLOCK_ICON",
      },
      {
        id: 2,
        heading: "Accurate Summaries",
        subHeading:
          "Our AI-powered tool provides accurate summaries of your videos.",
        icon: "CHECK_ICON",
      },
      {
        id: 3,
        heading: "Cloud Based ",
        subHeading: "Access your video summaries from anywhere at any time.",
        icon: "CLOUD_ICON",
      },
    ],
  },
];

Notice that we are getting both our Hero Section and Features Section

Now, let's create a component to display our feature data.

Building Our Features Section Data In Next.js

Let's navigate to src/app/components/custom, create a file called FeaturesSection.tsx, and paste it into the following code.

function getIcon(name: string) {
  switch (name) {
    case "CLOCK_ICON":
      return ClockIcon;
    case "CHECK_ICON":
      return CheckIcon;
    case "CLOUD_ICON":
      return CloudIcon;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

export function FeatureSection() {
  return (
    <div className="">
      <div className="flex-1">
        <section className="container px-4 py-6 mx-auto md:px-6 lg:py-24">
          <div className="grid gap-8 md:grid-cols-3">
            <div className="flex flex-col items-center text-center">
              <ClockIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />
              <h2 className="mb-4 text-2xl font-bold">Save Time</h2>
              <p className="text-gray-500">
                No need to watch the entire video. Get the summary and save
                time.
              </p>
            </div>
            <div className="flex flex-col items-center text-center">
              <CheckIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />
              <h2 className="mb-4 text-2xl font-bold">Accurate Summaries</h2>
              <p className="text-gray-500">
                Our AI-powered tool provides accurate summaries of your videos.
              </p>
            </div>
            <div className="flex flex-col items-center text-center">
              <CloudIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />
              <h2 className="mb-4 text-2xl font-bold">Cloud Based</h2>
              <p className="text-gray-500">
                Access your video summaries from anywhere at any time.
              </p>
            </div>
          </div>
        </section>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

function CheckIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <polyline points="20 6 9 17 4 12" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function ClockIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="10" />
      <polyline points="12 6 12 12 16 14" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function CloudIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="M17.5 19H9a7 7 0 1 1 6.71-9h1.79a4.5 4.5 0 1 1 0 9Z" />
    </svg>
  );
}

We are currently hard-coding our data, which we will update in a moment. But let's navigate to src/app/page.tsx, import our newly created component, and see what we get.

import { FeatureSection } from "@/components/custom/FeaturesSection";

And update the return statement with the following code.

return (
  <main>
    <HeroSection data={blocks[0]} />
    <FeatureSection />
  </main>
);

When we restart our application, we should see the following.

Now, let's pass our data to our component and refactor our Features Section component to consume our data from Strapi.

return (
  <main>
    <HeroSection data={blocks[0]} />
    <FeatureSection data={blocks[1]} />
  </main>
);

And update our Features Component code with the following.

function getIcon(name: string) {
  switch (name) {
    case "CLOCK_ICON":
      return <ClockIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />;
    case "CHECK_ICON":
      return <CheckIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />;
    case "CLOUD_ICON":
      return <CloudIcon className="w-12 h-12 mb-4 text-gray-900" />;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

interface FeatureProps {
  id: number;
  heading: string;
  subHeading: string;
  icon: string;
}

interface FeatureSectionProps {
  id: number;
  __component: string;
  title: string;
  description: string;
  feature: FeatureProps[];
}

export function FeatureSection({
  data,
}: {
  readonly data: FeatureSectionProps;
}) {
  const { feature } = data;
  console.dir(feature, { depth: null });
  return (
    <div className="">
      <div className="flex-1">
        <section className="container px-4 py-6 mx-auto md:px-6 lg:py-24">
          <div className="grid gap-8 md:grid-cols-3">
            {feature.map((feature) => (
              <div
                key={feature.id}
                className="flex flex-col items-center text-center"
              >
                {getIcon(feature.icon)}
                <h2 className="mb-4 text-2xl font-bold">{feature.heading}</h2>
                <p className="text-gray-500">
                  {feature.subHeading}
                </p>
              </div>
            ))}
          </div>
        </section>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

function CheckIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <polyline points="20 6 9 17 4 12" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function ClockIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="10" />
      <polyline points="12 6 12 12 16 14" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function CloudIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="M17.5 19H9a7 7 0 1 1 6.71-9h1.79a4.5 4.5 0 1 1 0 9Z" />
    </svg>
  );
}

Our features component should now be utilizing our Strapi data.

We do have to make one more change in the page.tsx file to make our code dynamically display our blocks based on what we get from our response.

To accomplish this, we will create a new function called blockRenderer and define it in the page.tsx file.

function blockRenderer(block: any) {
  switch (block.__component) {
    case "layout.hero-section":
      return <HeroSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    case "layout.features-section":
      return <FeatureSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

We can refactor the code in our Home component with the following code.

export default async function Home() {
  const strapiData = await getStrapiData("/api/home-page");

  const { blocks } = strapiData;
  if (!blocks) return <p>No sections found</p>;

  return <main>{blocks.map(blockRenderer)}</main>;
}

The completed code in the page.tsx file should look like the following.

import qs from "qs";
import { flattenAttributes, getStrapiURL } from "@/lib/utils";

import { HeroSection } from "@/components/custom/HeroSection";
import { FeatureSection } from "@/components/custom/FeaturesSection";

const homePageQuery = qs.stringify({
  populate: {
    blocks: {
      populate: {
        image: {
          fields: ["url", "alternativeText"],
        },
        link: {
          populate: true,
        },
        feature: {
          populate: true,
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

async function getStrapiData(path: string) {
  const baseUrl = getStrapiURL();

  const url = new URL(path, baseUrl);
  url.search = homePageQuery;

  try {
    const response = await fetch(url.href, { cache: "no-store" });
    const data = await response.json();
    const flattenedData = flattenAttributes(data);
    return flattenedData;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
}

function blockRenderer(block: any) {
  switch (block.__component) {
    case "layout.hero-section":
      return <HeroSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    case "layout.features-section":
      return <FeatureSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

export default async function Home() {
  const strapiData = await getStrapiData("/api/home-page");

  const { blocks } = strapiData;
  if (!blocks) return <p>No sections found</p>;

  return <main>{blocks.map(blockRenderer)}</main>;
}

Let's do one more quick refactor. In src, create a new folder named data with a file called loaders.tsx.

And add the following code.

import qs from "qs";
import { flattenAttributes, getStrapiURL } from "@/lib/utils";

const baseUrl = getStrapiURL();

async function fetchData(url: string) {
  const authToken = null; // we will implement this later getAuthToken() later
  const headers = {
    method: "GET",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Authorization: `Bearer ${authToken}`,
    },
  };

  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, authToken ? headers : {});
    const data = await response.json();
    return flattenAttributes(data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error fetching data:", error);
    throw error; // or return null;
  }
}

We will create a reusable function that will help us construct additional methods to load data.

And finally, let's create a new function, getHomePageData, to load our home page data.

export async function getHomePageData() {
  const url = new URL("/api/home-page", baseUrl);

  url.search = qs.stringify({
    populate: {
      blocks: {
        populate: {
          image: {
            fields: ["url", "alternativeText"],
          },
          link: {
            populate: true,
          },
          feature: {
            populate: true,
          },
        },
      },
    },
  });

  return await fetchData(url.href);
}

And finally, in the pate.tsx file, let's import this new function and delete the previous one.

Our final code should look like the following.

import { getHomePageData } from "@/data/loaders";

import { HeroSection } from "@/components/custom/HeroSection";
import { FeatureSection } from "@/components/custom/FeaturesSection";

function blockRenderer(block: any) {
  switch (block.__component) {
    case "layout.hero-section":
      return <HeroSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    case "layout.features-section":
      return <FeatureSection key={block.id} data={block} />;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

export default async function Home() {
  const strapiData = await getHomePageData();

  const { blocks } = strapiData;
  if (!blocks) return <p>No sections found</p>;

  return <main>{blocks.map(blockRenderer)}</main>;
}

Nice. Let's move on and start working on our Header and Footer

Building Our Header and Footer With Strapi and Next.js

Taking a quick look at our Header and Footer, we see that they are simple enough. In the header, we have two items, logo text and button.

In the footer, we have logo text, text, and social icons.

Let's first start by taking a look at how we have represented this data in Strapi.

Modeling Our Header and Footer Data in Strapi

We are going to store the data for our' Header' and' Footer' using a single type.'

Navigating to Content-Type Builder under SINGLE TYPE and clicking on Create new single type.

We are going to call it Global. Go ahead and add the following fields.

Text -> Short Text - title
Text -> Long Text - description

Now, let's create the Header component. To start with, it will have two links: logo text and a call to action button.

In Strapi, inside the global page, let's add the following component.

Click on add another field to this single type.
Select the Component field type
Display Name will be Header
Select Category will be Layout
Click on Configure the component button
In the Name field, we will enter header
Finally, click on the Add the first field to component button

Now, let's create our first header field to store our logo text. Since it will be a link, we can reuse a previously created Link component.

Select the Component field type
Click on Use an existing component
Click on the Select component button
Inside the Select a component field, select Link component
In the Name field, we will enter logoText
Select Single component and click the Finish button

Select Add another field to this component
Select the Component field type
Click on Use an existing component
- Click on the Select a component button
In the Name field, we will enter ctaButton
Inside the Select a component field, select Link component
Select Single component and click the Finish button
Select Single component and click the Finish button

The final Header component should look like the following.

Now that we are getting the hang of modeling content think about how we can represent our footer.

logoText
text
socialLink

We can create the Footer the same way we made our Header.

Can you do it on your own?

Our Footer will have the following fields.

Our footer has the following three items.
If you get stuck at any point, you can always ask in the comments or join us at Strapi Open Office hours on Discord 12:30 pm CST Monday - Friday.

Let's add some data to our Global single type.

Now, let's give the proper permissions so we can access the data from our Strapi API.

Navigate to Setting -> USERS AND PERMISSION PLUGIN -> Roles -> Public -> Global and check the find checkbox. We now should be able to make a GET request to /api/global and see our data.

Since we have already learned about Strapi's Populate, we can jump straight into our frontend code and implement the function to fetch our Global data.

Fetching Our Global Header and Footer Data

Let's navigate to src/data/loaders.ts and create a new function called getGlobalData; it should look like the following.

export async function getGlobalData() {
  const url = new URL("/api/global", baseUrl);

  url.search = qs.stringify({
    populate: [
      "header.logoText",
      "header.ctaButton",
      "footer.logoText",
      "footer.socialLink",
    ],
  });

  return await fetchData(url.href);
}

One thing to notice here is that we are using array notation in populate, which is a great way to populate items that don't have many nested items.

If you need more help with Populate and Filtering in Strapi, check out this post.

Now that we have our getGlobalData function let's use it.

Since our Header and Footer will live int the layout.tsx file, let's call our function there.

Since we can load data within our React Server Component, we can call the function there directly.

First, let's import our function.

import { getGlobalData } from "@/data/loaders";

Then, update the RootLayout with the following code.

export default async function RootLayout({
  children,
}: Readonly<{
  children: React.ReactNode,
}>) {
  const globalData = await getGlobalData();
  console.dir(globalData, { depth: null });
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body className={inter.className}>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

The complete code should look like the following.

import type { Metadata } from "next";
import { Inter } from "next/font/google";
import "./globals.css";

const inter = Inter({ subsets: ["latin"] });

import { getGlobalData } from "@/data/loaders";

export const metadata: Metadata = {
  title: "Create Next App",
  description: "Generated by create next app",
};

export default async function RootLayout({
  children,
}: Readonly<{
  children: React.ReactNode,
}>) {
  const globalData = await getGlobalData();
  console.dir(globalData, { depth: null });
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body className={inter.className}>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Nice. Now restart your Next.js application, and we should see the following output in the terminal console.

{
  id: 1,
  title: 'Global Page',
  description: 'Setting for our header and footer',
  createdAt: '2024-03-14T00:22:37.634Z',
  updatedAt: '2024-03-14T00:25:34.628Z',
  publishedAt: '2024-03-14T00:25:34.622Z',
  header: {
    id: 1,
    ctaButton: { id: 3, url: '/login', text: 'Login', isExternal: false },
    logoText: { id: 2, url: '/', text: 'Summarize AI', isExternal: false }
  },
  footer: {
    id: 1,
    text: 'Made by Paul with Love.',
    socialLink: [
      {
        id: 5,
        url: 'www.youtube.com',
        text: 'YouTube',
        isExternal: true
      },
      {
        id: 6,
        url: 'www.linkedin.com',
        text: 'LinkedIn',
        isExternal: true
      },
      {
        id: 7,
        url: 'www.twitter.com',
        text: 'Twitter',
        isExternal: true
      }
    ],
    logoText: { id: 4, url: '/', text: 'Summarize AI', isExternal: false }
  },
  meta: {}
}

That is amazing.

Building Our Header In Next.js

Alright, let's build out our Header component for our top navigation.

Just as a reminder, our logo has two items. A logo and button , so let's first create our Logo component.

Navigate to src/app/components/custom, create a file called Logo.tsx, and add the following code.

import Link from "next/link";

function MountainIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="m8 3 4 8 5-5 5 15H2L8 3z" />
    </svg>
  );
}

interface LogoProps {
  text?: string;
  dark?: boolean;
}

export function Logo({
  text = "Logo Text",
  dark = false,
}: Readonly<LogoProps>) {
  return (
    <Link className="flex items-center gap-2" href="/">
      <MountainIcon className={"h-6 w-6  text-pink-500"} />
      <span
        className={`text-lg font-semibold ${
          dark ? "text-white" : "text-slate-900"
        }`}
      >
        {text}
      </span>
    </Link>
  );
}

It is a simple component that expects text as a prop to display the name of our site and a dark prop to allow us to make the text white on dark backgrounds.

Next, let's create our actual Header component. Navigate to src/app/components/custom, create a file called Header.tsx, and add the following code.

import Link from "next/link";
import { Logo } from "@/components/custom/Logo";
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";

interface HeaderProps {
  data: {
    logoText: {
      id: number;
      text: string;
      url: string;
    }
    ctaButton: {
      id: number;
      text: string;
      url: string;
    };
  }
}

export async function Header({ data }: Readonly<HeaderProps>) {
  const { logoText, ctaButton } = data;
  return (
    <div className="flex items-center justify-between px-4 py-3 bg-white shadow-md dark:bg-gray-800">
      <Logo text={logoText.text}/>
      <div className="flex items-center gap-4">
        <Link href={ctaButton.url}><Button>{ctaButton.text}</Button></Link>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

The component expects our header props, which we already get from our getGlobalData function found in the layout.tsx file.

So let's navigate to src/app/layout.tsx file and make the following updates.

First, let's import our Header component.

import { Header } from "@/components/custom/Header";

Next, make the following change in the return statement.

return (
  <html lang="en">
    <body className={inter.className}>
      <Header data={globalData.header} /> // add our header and pass in the data
      <div>{children}</div>
    </body>
  </html>
);

Restart your project, and you should now see our awesome top navigation.

Building Our Footer In Next.js

Now, let's go ahead and build out our footer.

Our footer will display the following items.

Navigate to src/app/components/custom, create a file called Footer.tsx, and add the following code.

import Link from "next/link";
import { Logo } from "@/components/custom/Logo";

interface SocialLink {
  id: number;
  text: string;
  url: string;
}

interface FooterProps {
  data: {
    logoText: {
      id: number,
      text: string,
      url: string,
    },
    text: string,
    socialLink: SocialLink[],
  };
}

function selectSocialIcon(url: string) {
  if (url.includes("youtube")) return <YoutubeIcon className="h-6 w-6" />;
  if (url.includes("twitter")) return <TwitterIcon className="h-6 w-6" />;
  if (url.includes("github")) return <GithubIcon className="h-6 w-6" />;
  return null;
}

export function Footer({ data }: Readonly<FooterProps>) {
  const { logoText, socialLink, text } = data;
  return (
    <div className="dark bg-gray-900 text-white py-8">
      <div className="container mx-auto px-4 md:px-6 flex flex-col md:flex-row items-center justify-between">
        <Logo dark text={logoText.text} />
        <p className="mt-4 md:mt-0 text-sm text-gray-300">{text}</p>
        <div className="flex items-center space-x-4">
          {socialLink.map((link) => {
            return (
              <Link className="text-white hover:text-gray-300" href={link.url}>
                {selectSocialIcon(link.url)}
                <span className="sr-only">Visit us at {link.text}</span>
              </Link>
            );
          })}
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

function GithubIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="M15 22v-4a4.8 4.8 0 0 0-1-3.5c3 0 6-2 6-5.5.08-1.25-.27-2.48-1-3.5.28-1.15.28-2.35 0-3.5 0 0-1 0-3 1.5-2.64-.5-5.36-.5-8 0C6 2 5 2 5 2c-.3 1.15-.3 2.35 0 3.5A5.403 5.403 0 0 0 4 9c0 3.5 3 5.5 6 5.5-.39.49-.68 1.05-.85 1.65-.17.6-.22 1.23-.15 1.85v4" />
      <path d="M9 18c-4.51 2-5-2-7-2" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function TwitterIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="M22 4s-.7 2.1-2 3.4c1.6 10-9.4 17.3-18 11.6 2.2.1 4.4-.6 6-2C3 15.5.5 9.6 3 5c2.2 2.6 5.6 4.1 9 4-.9-4.2 4-6.6 7-3.8 1.1 0 3-1.2 3-1.2z" />
    </svg>
  );
}

function YoutubeIcon(props: any) {
  return (
    <svg
      {...props}
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
    >
      <path d="M2.5 17a24.12 24.12 0 0 1 0-10 2 2 0 0 1 1.4-1.4 49.56 49.56 0 0 1 16.2 0A2 2 0 0 1 21.5 7a24.12 24.12 0 0 1 0 10 2 2 0 0 1-1.4 1.4 49.55 49.55 0 0 1-16.2 0A2 2 0 0 1 2.5 17" />
      <path d="m10 15 5-3-5-3z" />
    </svg>
  );
}

The code is responsible for rendering our Footer data.

selectSocialIcon(url: string): A function that determines which social media icon to display based on the URL provided. It supports YouTube, Twitter, and GitHub, returning the corresponding icon component or null if the URL does not match these platforms.

note: When adding social links, I only included Twitter, Github, and YouTube. If you have additional links, you will need to add more icons to represent them.

Here is what my response looks like with my social links.

[
  { id: 5, url: "www.youtube.com", text: "YouTube", isExternal: true },
  {
    id: 6,
    url: "www.github.com",
    text: "Github",
    isExternal: true,
  },
  {
    id: 7,
    url: "www.twitter.com",
    text: "Twitter",
    isExternal: true,
  },
];

Now that we have completed our footer, let's add it to the layout.tsx file in the root of our app folder.

First, let's import our Footer component.

import { Footer } from "@/components/custom/Footer";

Next, make the following change in the return statement.

return (
  <html lang="en">
    <body className={inter.className}>
      <Header data={globalData.header} />
      <div>{children}</div>
      <Footer data={globalData.footer} />
    </body>
  </html>
);

Now, if you restart the Next.js application, you should see the following changes.

Yay, we are now getting our data from our Strapi API.

If you don't see the changes, it is because Next.js is caching our old data. When we refactored our app and moved our data loading function to our loaders.ts file, we did not implement the { cache: "no-store" } flag as we did in the previous article.

Let's revisit Next.js Data Caching

Next.js caching is a big topic, so make sure to read the docs here

In the current state of our app, Next.js is caching our data.

You will get the following output if we run yarn build.

 ✓ Generating static pages (5/5)
 ✓ Collecting build traces
 ✓ Finalizing page optimization

Route (app)                              Size     First Load JS
┌ ○ /                                    5.2 kB         96.3 kB
└ ○ /_not-found                          885 B          85.2 kB
+ First Load JS shared by all            84.3 kB
  ├ chunks/69-3c42ded033075db6.js        29 kB
  ├ chunks/fd9d1056-c7082c319cc53ced.js  53.4 kB
  └ other shared chunks (total)          1.86 kB


○  (Static)  prerendered as static content

✨  Done in 10.65s.

Our content is statically generated, so to update our app with the changes, we would have to rebuild our site.

There are two ways we can handle this in development while we are working with our app.

We can keep everything as is and use command-shift-r to reload the cache, which I was reminded of when chatting with Lee Robinson. I always forget about this. You can follow him on Twitter.

Or we can opt out of caching. As I mentioned before, for static pages, in the future, we will have a hook that will be fired from our Strapi app and revalidate new content, but for now, I will show you another way you can opt out of caching.

Outside of the previous method discussed, we can use the noStore function; you can read more about it here.

So, let's navigate to our src/data/loaders.ts file and make the following changes.

First, let's import the noStore function.

import { unstable_noStore as noStore } from 'next/cache';

Now, let's use it inside the getGlobalData that is responsible for our social links.

export async function getGlobalData() {
  noStore();
  const url = new URL("/api/global", baseUrl);

  url.search = qs.stringify({
    populate: [
      "header.logoText",
      "header.ctaButton",
      "footer.logoText",
      "footer.socialLink",
    ],
  });

  return await fetchData(url.href);
}

Now run the yarn build command, and you will see the following output.

Route (app)                              Size     First Load JS
┌ λ /                                    5.2 kB         96.3 kB
└ λ /_not-found                          885 B          85.2 kB
+ First Load JS shared by all            84.3 kB
  ├ chunks/69-3c42ded033075db6.js        29 kB
  ├ chunks/fd9d1056-c7082c319cc53ced.js  53.4 kB
  └ other shared chunks (total)          1.86 kB


λ  (Dynamic)  server-rendered on demand using Node.js

✨  Done in 10.48s.

Notice that our / route now has the λ symbol, which demonstrates that it is now server-rendered on demand.

This is due to using noStore please note Even though noStore is defined at the component level, the entire route becomes dynamic.

If we reorder our social links in our Strapi Admin panel now, our changes will reflect on our Next.js frontend.

note: you don't need to use noStore I just wanted to show you that it exists, and you can continue to refresh the site with command-shift-r.

In future posts we will take look how to use revalidatePath to revalidate our cache.

How To Populate Our Metadata Dynamically In Next.js

We have a title and description on our Global page in Strapi.

Let's use it as our metadata information in our app.

Let's look at the src/app/layout.tsx file. We will see the following.

export const metadata: Metadata = {
  title: "Create Next App",
  description: "Generated by create next app",
};

This is one way to set metadata in Next.js, but as you notice, it is hardcoded. Let's look at how we can add metadata dynamically.

To dynamically populate our metadata, we must fetch it using our metadata function.

We already have our getGlobalData, but that function returns not just the title and description but also the rest of our data to populate our Header and Footer.

Let's create a new function called getGlobalPageMetadata, which only returns the title and description fields.

Let's navigate to src/data/loaders.ts and add the following code.

export async function getGlobalPageMetadata() {
  const url = new URL("/api/global", baseUrl);

  url.search = qs.stringify({
    fields: ["title", "description"],
  });

  return await fetchData(url.href);
}

In the function above, we ask Strapi to return only the title and description, which are the only data we need for our metadata.

The response will look like the following.

{
  id: 1,
  title: 'Global Page',
  description: 'Setting for our header and footer',
  meta: {}
}

Let's implement dynamic metadata inside our layout.tsx file.

Let's update our current metadata function with the following.

First, let's import the following.

import type { Metadata } from "next";
import { getGlobalData, getGlobalPageMetadata } from "@/data/loaders";

Then, add the following code.

export async function generateMetadata(): Promise<Metadata> {
  const metadata = await getGlobalPageMetadata();

  return {
    title: metadata?.title,
    description: metadata.description,
  };
}

Now, our metadata is dynamically set from our Strapi Api.

The completed code should look like the following:

import type { Metadata } from "next";
import { Inter } from "next/font/google";
import "./globals.css";

const inter = Inter({ subsets: ["latin"] });

import { getGlobalData, getGlobalPageMetadata } from "@/data/loaders";

import { Header } from "@/components/custom/Header";
import { Footer } from "@/components/custom/Footer";

export async function generateMetadata(): Promise<Metadata> {
  const metadata = await getGlobalPageMetadata();
  return {
    title: metadata?.title,
    description: metadata.description,
  };
}

export default async function RootLayout({
  children,
}: Readonly<{
  children: React.ReactNode,
}>) {
  const globalData = await getGlobalData();

  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body className={inter.className}>
        <Header data={globalData.header} />
        <div>{children}</div>
        <Footer data={globalData.footer} />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

Nice job.

How To Create A Not Found Page In Next.js

Our landing page looks great, but we have a small problem. We have not yet implemented the login page, so when we click our link, we get the default not found page.

But why, if we wanted to make it prettier, how can we accomplish this?

Well, we can create the not-found.js page. You can learn more about it here in the Next.js docs.

Navigate to src/app, create a file called not-found.tsx, and add the following code.

import Link from "next/link";

export default function NotFoundRoot() {
  return (
    <div className="flex flex-col items-center justify-center min-h-screen bg-gray-100 dark:bg-gray-900">
      <div className="space-y-4">
        <BugIcon className="h-24 w-24 text-pink-500 dark:text-pink-400" />
        <h1 className="text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900 dark:text-gray-100">
          Oops!
        </h1>
        <p className="text-lg text-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300">
          This page has left the building.
        </p>
        <Link
          href="/"
          className="inline-flex h-10 items-center justify-center rounded-md bg-gray-900 px-8 text-sm font-medium text-gray-50 shadow transition-colors hover:bg-gray-900/90 focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-gray-950 disabled:pointer-events-none disabled:opacity-50 dark:bg-gray-50 dark:text-gray-900 dark:hover:bg-gray-50/90 dark:focus-visible:ring-gray-300"
        >
          Go back home
        </Link>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

function BugIcon({ className }: { className?: string }) {
  return (
    <svg
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
      className={className}
    >
      <path d="m8 2 1.88 1.88" />
      <path d="M14.12 3.88 16 2" />
      <path d="M9 7.13v-1a3.003 3.003 0 1 1 6 0v1" />
      <path d="M12 20c-3.3 0-6-2.7-6-6v-3a4 4 0 0 1 4-4h4a4 4 0 0 1 4 4v3c0 3.3-2.7 6-6 6" />
      <path d="M12 20v-9" />
      <path d="M6.53 9C4.6 8.8 3 7.1 3 5" />
      <path d="M6 13H2" />
      <path d="M3 21c0-2.1 1.7-3.9 3.8-4" />
      <path d="M20.97 5c0 2.1-1.6 3.8-3.5 4" />
      <path d="M22 13h-4" />
      <path d="M17.2 17c2.1.1 3.8 1.9 3.8 4" />
    </svg>
  );
}

Now restart your app and navigate to our login page. You will be treated to this nicer page. It can be better, but you get the point.

Wouldn't it be nice to show a loaded spinner when navigation pages are displayed? Yes, it would. Let's see how we can do that.

How To Create A Loading Page In Next.js

There are many ways to handle the loading state in Next.js; we will start with the simplest one.

This creates a file called loading.tsx. You can read about other ways here.

Navigate to src/app, create a file called loading.tsx, and add the following code.

export default function Loading() {
  return (
    <div className="fixed inset-0 flex items-center justify-center bg-gray-200 bg-opacity-50">
      <div className="animate-spin h-12 w-12 border-t-4 border-pink-600 rounded-full" />
    </div>
  );
}

That is all we need to do. Now, let's restart our application and see the amazing loader in action. If you find my loader too boring, feel free to add your own design flair to your application.

Finally, let's take a look at how we can handle errors in our application.

How To Handle Errors In Next.js

Now, let's examine how to handle errors in Next.js to prevent our app from crashing completely.

Right now, if I go to the src/data/loaders.ts and add the following, I can throw an error inside the getHomePageData function.

throw new Error("Test error");

The complete function will look like the following.

export async function getHomePageData() {
  throw new Error("Test error");

  const url = new URL("/api/home-page", baseUrl);

  url.search = qs.stringify({
    populate: {
      blocks: {
        populate: {
          image: {
            fields: ["url", "alternativeText"],
          },
          link: {
            populate: true,
          },
          feature: {
            populate: true,
          },
        },
      },
    },
  });

  return await fetchData(url.href);
}

Our app will break with an ugly error.

We can fix this by creating an error.ts file to break our app gracefully. You can read more about Next.js errors here

Let's create a file called error.tsx inside our app folder and paste it into the following code.

"use client";
import { useEffect } from "react";
import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";

export default function Error({
  error,
}: {
  error: Error & { digest?: string },
}) {
  useEffect(() => {
    console.error(error);
  }, [error]);

  return (
    <div className="flex flex-col items-center justify-center min-h-screen bg-gray-100 dark:bg-gray-900">
      <div className="space-y-4">
        <BugIcon className="h-24 w-24 text-pink-500 dark:text-pink-400" />
        <h1 className="text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900 dark:text-gray-100">
          Oops! Something went wrong.
        </h1>
        <p className="text-lg text-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300">
          This is an error page. Please try again later.
        </p>
        <p className="text-pink-800 italic">{error.message}</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

function BugIcon({ className }: { className?: string }) {
  return (
    <svg
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="24"
      height="24"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none"
      stroke="currentColor"
      strokeWidth="2"
      strokeLinecap="round"
      strokeLinejoin="round"
      className={cn(className)}
    >
      <path d="m8 2 1.88 1.88" />
      <path d="M14.12 3.88 16 2" />
      <path d="M9 7.13v-1a3.003 3.003 0 1 1 6 0v1" />
      <path d="M12 20c-3.3 0-6-2.7-6-6v-3a4 4 0 0 1 4-4h4a4 4 0 0 1 4 4v3c0 3.3-2.7 6-6 6" />
      <path d="M12 20v-9" />
      <path d="M6.53 9C4.6 8.8 3 7.1 3 5" />
      <path d="M6 13H2" />
      <path d="M3 21c0-2.1 1.7-3.9 3.8-4" />
      <path d="M20.97 5c0 2.1-1.6 3.8-3.5 4" />
      <path d="M22 13h-4" />
      <path d="M17.2 17c2.1.1 3.8 1.9 3.8 4" />
    </svg>
  );
}

Now, when our app crashes, it does not look as scary.

Let's see if we can fix this.

Excellent, we covered a lot in this post. Let's do a quick recap of what we covered.

Conclusion

In Part 3 of the Epic Next.js 14 Tutorial series, we focused on completing the home page design of a real-life project. The tutorial covered several key areas:

Refactoring the Hero Section: we refactored the Hero Section to use the Next.js Image component for optimized image handling. This included creating a custom StrapiImage component for additional quality-of-life improvements.

Building the Features Section: This Section involved modeling the Features Section data in Strapi, creating corresponding components in Next.js, and implementing functionality to display features dynamically from the Strapi CMS.

Displaying Dynamic Meta Data: We examined how to get our metadata from Strapi and display it on our layout.tsx page.

Top Header and Footer: We created our Header and Footer, leveraging Strapi to manage and fetch global data like logo texts and social links.

We finished by covering how to handle loading, not found, and errors pages.

I can't wait to see the next post, where we cover how to create our Sign In and Sign Up pages. This will include form validation with Zod, handling form submission with server actions, creating and storing http only cookies, and protecting our routes with Next.js middleware.

I am so excited. Thanks for checking out this post. I look forward to seeing you in the next one.

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