#Simple Static React Firebase

This repo is minimal boilerplate for static react & es6 site with firebase authentication and cloud database, and a router. If you don't need all that, check out Simple Static React - https://github.com/jon-biz/simple-static-react

The intention is to provide a basic boilerplate setup that doesnt inundate the new user with complexity, and stays out of the way of the more comfortable who just want an ES6/React environment with persistent user data, to bang out an idea.

You get:

• ES6/React (with sourcemaps)
• CSS modules
• Google/Facebook/Twitter/Github/Email user login
• Firebase database
• hash based, client side routing
• watchfile'd development builds

That's it.

Now, this isn't as simple as I'd like, but federated authentication and wiring up a realtime db isn't either. Additionally, Firebase's authentication system requires a static page and doesn't play nicely with single page apps. So, we redirect back and forth to auth.html during login.

##Set up

Clone the repo locally and run npm install.

git clone https://github.com/Jon-Biz/simple-static-react-firebase
cd simple-static-react-firebase
npm i

Add your firebase project info to the head of both public/auth.html and src/data.js, replacing this code:

const config = {
  apiKey: "apiKey",
  authDomain: "projectId.firebaseapp.com",
  databaseURL: "https://databaseName.firebaseio.com",
  storageBucket: "bucket.appspot.com",
};

Configure whichever login providers you want to use, and remove the remaining references in public/auth.html:

  // Leave the lines as is for the providers you want to offer your users.
  firebase.auth.GoogleAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
  firebase.auth.FacebookAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
  firebase.auth.TwitterAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
  firebase.auth.GithubAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID,
  firebase.auth.EmailAuthProvider.PROVIDER_ID

You're done. Time to begin the real work on your amazing idea!

##Usage

###Development

Run the npm script dev to develop.

npm run dev

A webpack server will now be running on 4000, serving the contents of the public directory. The entry files are in src - index.js and style.css.

NOTE: this is using webpack-dev-server, not actually overwriting the files in public. For that, you will need to run the build script.

###Production

Run the npm script 'build' to update style.css and index.js in the public directory. Upload this directory to your web server.

npm run build

###Wiring up firebase components

The data module has two endpoints for wiring up components. One, setupListener takes an url string and callback, and returns a cancel callback. It sets up a listener to your firebase db.

The other, getRef, is a convenience method that takes a reference string and the component's parents reference string (handed down via props), and returns a concatenated version. If you don't pass it a parent, it concatenates the root node for your firebase app. This is created after login and can, as it does in this example, include the user's id in the ref.

    const fbref = this.props.data.getRef({fbref:'ROOT_DATA_NODE_FOR_THIS_APP'})
    this.setState({fbref})

    ...

    <ExampleComponent fbref={this.state.fbref} data={this.props.data}/>

This makes wiring up a components as simple as setting up a listener and tear down as simple as:

  componentWillMount() {
    const fbref = this.props.data.getRef({fbref:'THIS_COMPONENTS_FIREBASE_REF', parentRef:this.props.fbref})
    this.cancelListener = this.props.data.setListener({ref:fbref, callback:(data) => this.setState({data})})
    this.setState({fbref})
  }

  componentWillUnmount() { if (this.cancelListener) this.cancelListener() }

Architecture

The architecture is as follows:

/src/index.js

• loads route.js and hands it the contents of data.js, along with route hash. If the route hash changes, it triggers a rerenders with the new hash.

/src/router.js

• delivers routes based on the passed in hash prop.
• dynamically checks the data passed in, and matches any events

/src/data.js

• listens for login changes and serves up data

_Note: As is, this uses a traditional 'top down' React style data management - ie - passing down state via props from the top, rather than passing down Firebase database references.

/src/containers

• contains the route containers

/src/containers/HelloWorld.js

• Hello World page

/src/containers/HelloAgainWorld.js

• Hello Again, World page

/src/containers/helloWorld.css /src/containers/helloAgainWorld.css

• css stylesheets

/public/

• output directory. Put your assets in here next to the compiled js and css.