Building a Digital IT Logbook app with Strapi and React: A 3-Part series guide

[DevYoma]

What is your article idea?

Building a Digital IT Logbook with React, TypeScript, and Strapi (In 3 Parts)

What is a Digital IT Logbook and Who Uses It?

A web application for Students on their Industrial Training(IT) semester to track their daily work experiences by logging it so as to have a centralized point of data.
Users: Students / professionals enrolled in training programs.

This guide provides a structured approach to developing a Digital IT Logbook application using React, TypeScript, and Strapi. Here’s a breakdown of the development process:

Part 1: Setting Up The React TypeScript Frontend

1. Installing and Configuring the React TypeScript Frontend App with Vite:

• Use Vite: Vite is ideal for modern front-end projects due to its fast build times and flexible configuration.

2. Initial Project Setup and Structure of the Digital Logbook App:

• Project Folder Overview:
  • Organize your folders to enhance maintainability:
  • src/components: For reusable UI components.
  • src/pages: For different page-level components (like Login, profile).
  • src/services: For API calls and business logic.
  • src/interfaces: For TypeScript interfaces and types.
  • src/utils: For utility functions.

3. Set Up Strapi CMS Project:

• Install and Configure Strapi:
  • Set up the content types you’ll need (e.g., User, Log).
  • Configure authentication and permissions in Strapi to secure your API.
  • Testing Authentication API with Postman
  • Use Strapi’s admin interface to define the data model for your logbook entries and user profiles.

PART 2: Designing the User Interface(UI) in React

1. Create Pages and Components for User Authentication and CRUD Operations:

• Authentication UI Pages:
  • Implement login and signup forms
  • Create routes and pages for authentication flows.
• CRUD Operations UI Pages and Component UI:
  • Build pages for creating, viewing, updating, and deleting log entries.
  • Use React's component-based architecture to keep your UI modular and maintainable.

2. Implement Responsive Design and Add Navigation for Seamless User Experience:

• Responsive Design:

  • Use SCSS to ensure your app is responsive.

• Navigation:

  • Implement a navigation bar and possibly a sidebar for easier access to different parts of the app.
  • Use react-router-dom for client-side routing to handle page transitions smoothly.

3. Implement State Management:

• Choose a State Management Solution:
  • Depending on your app’s complexity, you might use Context API
  • Manage global state (like user authentication status) and local state (like form inputs).
  • Ensure state changes trigger appropriate re-renders and data updates.

PART 3: Implement Features

1. User Management: Login, Sign Up, Profile Updates:

• Authentication:
  • Use Strapi’s built-in authentication mechanisms to handle user login and registration.
  • Store JWT tokens securely (e.g., in localStorage or cookies) and manage token expiration and renewal.
• Profile Management:
  • Fetch and display user profile data securely from Strapi.
  • Allow users to update their profiles (IT duration and start date included)

2. CRUD Operations for Logs:

• Creating Logs:
  • Implement a form for users to log their daily activities.
  • Validate input to ensure it aligns with your app’s rules (e.g., no logs on weekends, Cannot enter more than one log today).
• Reading Logs:
  • Fetch and display a list of logs associated with the logged-in user.
  • Provide a detailed view for each log entry.
• Updating and Deleting Logs:
  • Allow users to edit and delete their log entries.
  • Ensure these operations update the state and Strapi database accordingly.

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to

What are the objectives of your article?

Objectives

The primary objective of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to use and implement Strapi functionalities with a React JS frontend, utilizing TypeScript for type safety and better code quality. By the end of this tutorial, readers will learn how to:

1. Set Up a Modern React Application: Use Vite to create a React project configured with TypeScript, ensuring a streamlined and efficient development environment.

2. Integrate Strapi as a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS): Configure and connect Strapi to your React application to manage content and user data effectively.

3. Design and Build a User Interface: Develop a responsive and user-friendly interface for managing digital logbook entries, including pages for user authentication and CRUD operations.

4. Perform CRUD Operations: Implement Create, Read, Update, and Delete functionalities using Strapi's API and React, handling data securely and efficiently.

5. Manage Application State: Utilize state management solutions to maintain and manage user data and application state effectively within your React application.

What is your expertise as a developer or writer?

Intermediate

What type of post is this?

Tutorial

Terms & Conditions

• [X] I have read the Write for the Community program guidelines.

[Theodore-Kelechukwu-Onyejiaku]

Hi @DevYoma ,

Could you please list out some unique features of the app we will be building? Please note that we are interested in Next.js articles and not React.js.

[DevYoma]

Hello @Theodore-Kelechukwu-Onyejiaku

Oh, I can build it in NEXT JS then

Here are the features

1. User Authentication (Login, Sign Up)
2. Profile Management
3. Daily Log Entry Form
4. Log List View (in Chronological order)
5. CRUD Operations for Daily Logs

[DevYoma]

@Theodore-Kelechukwu-Onyejiaku here is the updated Table of content for the proposed article from the features above

Building a Digital IT Logbook with Next.js, TypeScript, and Strapi 5 (In 3 Parts)

What is a Digital IT Logbook and Who Uses It?

A web application for students on their Industrial Training (IT) semester to track their daily work experiences by logging them, providing a centralized point of data.
Users: Students/professionals enrolled in training programs.

This guide provides a structured approach to developing a Digital IT Logbook application using Next.js, TypeScript, and Strapi. Here’s a breakdown of the development process:

Part 1: Setting Up The Next.js TypeScript Frontend

1. Installing and Configuring the Next.js TypeScript Frontend App:

• Use Next.js: Leverage Next.js for its powerful features like server-side rendering, static site generation, and built-in routing.

2. Set Up Strapi CMS Project:

• Install and Configure Strapi:
  • Set up the content types you’ll need (e.g., User, Log).
  • Configure authentication and permissions in Strapi to secure your API.
  • Test the Authentication API with Postman.
  • Use Strapi’s admin interface to define the data model for your logbook entries and user profiles.

Part 2: Implementing CRUD Operations

1. Create Pages and Components for CRUD Operations:

• CRUD Operations UI Pages and Components:
  • Build pages for creating, viewing, updating, and deleting log entries.
  • Use a component-based architecture to keep your UI modular and maintainable.
  • Fetch and display a list of logs associated with the logged-in user.
  • Provide a detailed view for each log entry.

2. Implement State Management with Context API:

• State Management:
  • Use the Context API to manage global state (like user authentication status) and local state (like form inputs).
  • Ensure state changes trigger appropriate re-renders and data updates.

3. Add Navigation for Seamless User Experience:

• Navigation:
  • Implement a navigation bar and possibly a sidebar for easier access to different parts of the app.
  • Use Next.js' Link component for client-side navigation to handle page transitions smoothly.

Part 3: Implementing User Management

1. User Management: Login, Sign Up, Profile Updates:

• Authentication:
  • Use Strapi’s built-in authentication mechanisms to handle user login and registration.
  • Store JWT tokens securely (e.g., in localStorage or cookies) and manage token expiration and renewal.
• Profile Management:
  • Fetch and display user profile data securely from Strapi.
  • Allow users to update their profiles (IT duration and start date included).

---

What are the objectives of your article?

Objectives

The primary objective of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to use and implement Strapi functionalities with a Next.js frontend, utilizing TypeScript for type safety and better code quality. By the end of this tutorial, readers will learn how to:

1. Set Up a Modern Application with Next.js: Use Next.js to create a project configured with TypeScript, ensuring a streamlined and efficient development environment.

2. Integrate Strapi as a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS): Configure and connect Strapi to your Next.js application to manage content and user data effectively.

3. Design and Build a User Interface: Develop a responsive and user-friendly interface for managing digital logbook entries, including pages for user authentication and CRUD operations.

4. Perform CRUD Operations: Implement Create, Read, Update, and Delete functionalities using Strapi's API and Next.js, handling data securely and efficiently.

5. Manage Application State with Context API: Utilize Context API to maintain and manage user data and application state effectively within your Next.js application.

[DevYoma]

@Theodore-Kelechukwu-Onyejiaku what do you think about this proposal 🙏

Thank you

[Theodore-Kelechukwu-Onyejiaku]

Hi @DevYoma ,

Thanks for your article suggestion. However, this is not generic and with a little or no search volume which is not good for SEO. Please don't hesitate to come up with another one, especially related to using any Strapi 5 internals. Thank you!