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Shopify Tutorial PHP: Update Product’s Collection with Collect API

5th October 2020

So you are developing a Shopify app where merchants can easily customize their product’s title, description, and even the prices. However, you forgot one thing and that is the collections.

How do you actually update the product’s collections?

In this Shopify tutorial, we’ll learn how to update the product’s collections using Collect REST API and PHP.

Video Tutorial

If you prefer to learn through a video tutorial, you may watch the following video.

Getting started

To get started, we’ll assume that you have followed our Shopify app tutorial series and you are using the same repository/client that we are using here.

Now, for this tutorial, we’ll only need the following three files.

index.php
ajax.php
product.php

In our product.php, we should have the following code:


<div class="card-columns">
<?php
$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products.json", array(), 'GET');
$products = json_decode($products['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

foreach ($products as $product) {
	foreach ($product as $key => $value) {
		$images = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $value['id'] . "/images.json", array(), 'GET');
		$images  = json_decode($images['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
		?>

			<div class="card" product-id="<?php echo $value['id']; ?>">
				<img class="card-img-top" src="<?php echo $images['images'][0]['src']; ?>" alt="Card image cap">
				<div class="card-body">
					<h5 class="card-title"><?php echo $value['title']; ?></h5>
				</div>
			</div>

		<?php
	}
}
?>
</div>

<!-- Modal -->
<div class="modal fade" id="productsModal" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="productsModalLabel" aria-hidden="true">
  <div class="modal-dialog" role="document">
    <div class="modal-content">
      <div class="modal-header">
        <h5 class="modal-title" id="exampleModalLabel">Modal title</h5>
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close">
          <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
        </button>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-body">
        <form action="ajax.php" id="productForm">
        	<div class="form-group">
        		<label for="productName">Product Title</label>
        		<input type="text" class="form-control" id="productName" name="productName">
        	</div>
        	<div class="form-group">
        		<label for="productDescription">Product Description</label>
        		<textarea class="form-control" id="productDescription" name="productDescription" rows="7"></textarea>
        	</div>
        	<div class="form-group">
        		<select class="custom-select" id="productCollection" name="productCollection" multiple>
              <?php
                $custom_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/custom_collections.json", array(), 'GET');
                $custom_collections = json_decode($custom_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

                foreach ($custom_collections as $custom_collection) {
                  foreach ($custom_collection as $key => $value) {
                    ?>
                      <option value="<?php echo $value['id']; ?>"><?php echo $value['title']; ?></option>
                    <?php
                  }
                }

                $smart_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/smart_collections.json", array(), 'GET');
                $smart_collections = json_decode($smart_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

                foreach ($smart_collections as $smart_collection) {
                  foreach ($smart_collection as $key => $value) {
                    ?>
                      <option value="<?php echo $value['id']; ?>"><?php echo $value['title']; ?></option>
                    <?php
                  }
                }
              ?>
        		</select>
        	</div>
        </form>
      </div>
      <div class="modal-footer">
        <button type="button" class="btn btn-secondary" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>
        <button type="button" class="btn btn-primary" id="SaveProduct" product-id=''>Save changes</button>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In our index.php, we should have the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css">
    <title>WeeklyHow Shopify App</title>
  </head>
  <body>

	<div class="container">
		<?php
		include_once("inc/functions.php");
		include_once("inc/mysql_connect.php");
		include_once("header.php");
		include_once("products.php");
		?>
	</div>
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.3/umd/popper.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>

    <script>
      var shop = '<?php echo $shop_url; ?>';

      $('div[product-id]').on('click', function (e) {
        $.ajax({
          method: 'POST',
          data: {
            url: shop,
            id: $(this).attr('product-id'),
            type: 'GET'
          },
          url:'ajax.php',
          dataType: 'json',
          success:function(json){
            console.log(json);

            $('#productName').val(json['title']);
            $('#productDescription').val(json['description']);

            $('#productCollection option').each(function(i) {
              var optionCollection = $(this).val();

              json['collections'].forEach(function(productCollection) {
                if(productCollection['id'] == optionCollection) {
                  $('#productCollection option[value=' + optionCollection + ']').attr('selected', 'selected');
                }

              });
            });


            $('#SaveProduct').attr('product-id', json['id']);
            $('#productsModal').modal('show');
          }   
        }); 
      });


      $('#productsModal').on('hide.bs.modal', function() {
        $('#SaveProduct').attr('product-id', '');
        $('#productCollection').val([]);
      });

      $('#SaveProduct').on('click', function() {
        var productID = $(this).attr('product-id');

        $.ajax({
          method: 'POST',
          data: {
            url: shop,
            id: productID,
            product: $('#productForm').serialize(),
            type: 'PUT'
          },
          url:'ajax.php',
          dataType: 'html',
          success:function(json){
            console.log(json);
          }   
        }); 
      });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

And for our ajax.php, we should have the following code:

<?php
require_once("inc/functions.php");
require_once("inc/mysql_connect.php");

$id = $_POST['id'];
$shop_url = $_POST['url'];

$sql = "SELECT * FROM shops WHERE shop_url='" . $shop_url . "' LIMIT 1";
$check = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if(mysqli_num_rows($check) > 0) {
	$shop_row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($check);

	$token = $shop_row['access_token'];

	if($_POST['type'] == 'GET') {
		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", array(), 'GET');
		$products = json_decode($products['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		$id = $products['product']['id'];
		$title = $products['product']['title'];
		$description = $products['product']['body_html'];
		$collections = array();

		$custom_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/custom_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$custom_collections = json_decode($custom_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($custom_collections as $custom_collection) {
			foreach ($custom_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		$smart_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/smart_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$smart_collections = json_decode($smart_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($smart_collections as $smart_collection) {
			foreach ($smart_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		echo json_encode(
			array(
				"id" => $id,
				"title" => $title,
				"description" => $description,
				"collections" => $collections
			)
		);

	} else if( $_POST['type'] == 'PUT' ) {
		$productData = array();
		$productData = proper_parse_str($_POST['product']);

		$array = array("product" => array("title" => $productData['productName'], "body_html" => $productData['productDescription']));

		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", $array, 'PUT');
	}
	
}
?>
Code language: PHP (php)

The scripts above should allow us to edit and save a new title and description for any of the products that we select below.

Now, what we want to do is when we select a product. A bootstrap modal should appear and allow us to select new collections for our product.

updating shopify products in bootstrap modal

Updating the product’s collection

There are two ways to update the product’s collection. One is to use the Collection API, delete the collection attached to the product, and create the deleted collection and assign all of the previous products assigned to the collection except that product that we selected. Two is to use Collect API.

Obviously, the first option is the worse way of updating the product’s collection. Why? Because it’s ugly and it’s making too many unnecessary API calls.

However, if you use collect API instead, all we needed to do is to get the collect attached to the product that we selected, delete the collect, and create a new collect with the new collection. Simple as that!

Let’s start by getting all of the collect from collect API. Open the ajax.php and update its code to the following:

<?php
require_once("inc/functions.php");
require_once("inc/mysql_connect.php");

$id = $_POST['id'];
$shop_url = $_POST['url'];

$sql = "SELECT * FROM shops WHERE shop_url='" . $shop_url . "' LIMIT 1";
$check = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if(mysqli_num_rows($check) > 0) {
	$shop_row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($check);

	$token = $shop_row['access_token'];

	if($_POST['type'] == 'GET') {
		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", array(), 'GET');
		$products = json_decode($products['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		$id = $products['product']['id'];
		$title = $products['product']['title'];
		$description = $products['product']['body_html'];
		$collections = array();

		$custom_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/custom_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$custom_collections = json_decode($custom_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($custom_collections as $custom_collection) {
			foreach ($custom_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		$smart_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/smart_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$smart_collections = json_decode($smart_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($smart_collections as $smart_collection) {
			foreach ($smart_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		echo json_encode(
			array(
				"id" => $id,
				"title" => $title,
				"description" => $description,
				"collections" => $collections
			)
		);

	} else if( $_POST['type'] == 'PUT' ) {
		$productData = array();
		parse_str($_POST['product'], $productData);

		$array = array("product" => array("title" => $productData['productName'], "body_html" => $productData['productDescription']));

		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", $array, 'PUT');

		$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects.json", array('product_id' => $id), 'GET');
		$collects = json_decode($collects['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($collects as $collect) {
			foreach ($collect as $key => $value) {
				$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects/" . $value['id'] .".json", array(), 'DELETE');
			}
		}

	}
	
}
?>
Code language: PHP (php)

In the code above, we first get the collects assigned to our selected product and then loop through each collect using foreach and then delete each collect. These are just basics and you should be able to follow along 🙂

Next, we’ll use POST endpoint to create the new collect.

<?php
require_once("inc/functions.php");
require_once("inc/mysql_connect.php");

$id = $_POST['id'];
$shop_url = $_POST['url'];

$sql = "SELECT * FROM shops WHERE shop_url='" . $shop_url . "' LIMIT 1";
$check = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if(mysqli_num_rows($check) > 0) {
	$shop_row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($check);

	$token = $shop_row['access_token'];

	if($_POST['type'] == 'GET') {
		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", array(), 'GET');
		$products = json_decode($products['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		$id = $products['product']['id'];
		$title = $products['product']['title'];
		$description = $products['product']['body_html'];
		$collections = array();

		$custom_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/custom_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$custom_collections = json_decode($custom_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($custom_collections as $custom_collection) {
			foreach ($custom_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		$smart_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/smart_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$smart_collections = json_decode($smart_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($smart_collections as $smart_collection) {
			foreach ($smart_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		echo json_encode(
			array(
				"id" => $id,
				"title" => $title,
				"description" => $description,
				"collections" => $collections
			)
		);

	} else if( $_POST['type'] == 'PUT' ) {
		$productData = array();
		parse_str($_POST['product'], $productData);

		$array = array("product" => array("title" => $productData['productName'], "body_html" => $productData['productDescription']));

		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", $array, 'PUT');

		$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects.json", array('product_id' => $id), 'GET');
		$collects = json_decode($collects['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($collects as $collect) {
			foreach ($collect as $key => $value) {
				$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects/" . $value['id'] .".json", array(), 'DELETE');
			}
		}


		if( count($productData['productCollection'] ) > 0) {
			for ($i = 0; $i < count($productData['productCollection']); $i++) { 
				if(count($productData['productCollection']) >= 0 && count($productData['productCollection']) <= 1) {
					$value = $productData['productCollection'];
				} else {
					$value = $productData['productCollection'][$i];
				}
				

				$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects.json", array('collect' => array('product_id' => $id, 'collection_id' => $value)), 'POST');
			}
		}
	}
	
}
?>
Code language: PHP (php)

In the above code, we need to check if the collections selected by the merchant is more than one. If it is, then we’ll loop through each collections and create the collect using the value of product ID and collection ID.

If you’re wondering why there is a condition inside the loop, it’s because the productData variable can create two-dimensional arrays especially if the length of the array is more than 1. So we need to make sure we get both values regardless of the array length.

With everything saved, we should be able to update the product’s collections. BUT! Unfortunately, the built-in parse_str() function is not going to work if there are two or more query strings with the same name.

For example, let’s say we have the following query string:

https://weeklyhow.com/?id=1&id=2&id=3
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

If we use the built-in parse string function, the function will only return the last value which is 3.

So if we use the same function, it’ll most likely not create the first collects.

To fix that, we’ll have to use the following function provided by Evan K from php.net:

function proper_parse_str($str) {
  # result array
  $arr = array();

  # split on outer delimiter
  $pairs = explode('&', $str);

  # loop through each pair
  foreach ($pairs as $i) {
    # split into name and value
    list($name,$value) = explode('=', $i, 2);
   
    # if name already exists
    if( isset($arr[$name]) ) {
      # stick multiple values into an array
      if( is_array($arr[$name]) ) {
        $arr[$name][] = $value;
      }
      else {
        $arr[$name] = array($arr[$name], $value);
      }
    }
    # otherwise, simply stick it in a scalar
    else {
      $arr[$name] = $value;
    }
  }

  # return result array
  return $arr;
}
Code language: PHP (php)

You can copy the above function and paste it either on the very top of ajax.php or inside the functions.php.

Once you’re done copying the code, we should then be able to use it instead of the parse_str() function.

<?php
require_once("inc/functions.php");
require_once("inc/mysql_connect.php");

$id = $_POST['id'];
$shop_url = $_POST['url'];

$sql = "SELECT * FROM shops WHERE shop_url='" . $shop_url . "' LIMIT 1";
$check = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if(mysqli_num_rows($check) > 0) {
	$shop_row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($check);

	$token = $shop_row['access_token'];

	if($_POST['type'] == 'GET') {
		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", array(), 'GET');
		$products = json_decode($products['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		$id = $products['product']['id'];
		$title = $products['product']['title'];
		$description = $products['product']['body_html'];
		$collections = array();

		$custom_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/custom_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$custom_collections = json_decode($custom_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($custom_collections as $custom_collection) {
			foreach ($custom_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		$smart_collections = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/smart_collections.json", array("product_id" => $id), 'GET');
		$smart_collections = json_decode($smart_collections['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($smart_collections as $smart_collection) {
			foreach ($smart_collection as $key => $value) {
				array_push($collections, array("id" => $value['id'], "name" => $value['title']));
			}
		}

		echo json_encode(
			array(
				"id" => $id,
				"title" => $title,
				"description" => $description,
				"collections" => $collections
			)
		);

	} else if( $_POST['type'] == 'PUT' ) {
		$productData = array();
		$productData = proper_parse_str($_POST['product']);

		$array = array("product" => array("title" => urldecode($productData['productName']), "body_html" => urldecode($productData['productDescription'])));
		
		$products = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/products/" . $id . ".json", $array, 'PUT');

		$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects.json", array('product_id' => $id), 'GET');
		$collects = json_decode($collects['response'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

		foreach ($collects as $collect) {
			foreach ($collect as $key => $value) {
				$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects/" . $value['id'] .".json", array(), 'DELETE');
			}
		}


		if( count($productData['productCollection'] ) > 0) {
			for ($i = 0; $i < count($productData['productCollection']); $i++) { 
				if(count($productData['productCollection']) >= 0 && count($productData['productCollection']) <= 1) {
					$value = $productData['productCollection'];
				} else {
					$value = $productData['productCollection'][$i];
				}
				

				$collects = shopify_call($token, $shop_url, "/admin/api/2020-07/collects.json", array('collect' => array('product_id' => $id, 'collection_id' => $value)), 'POST');
			}
		}
	}
	
}
?>
Code language: PHP (php)

Now, query strings are encoded to URL text formatting that’s why before we save the new title and description, we’ll have to decode the title and description back to a normal text format using urldecode() function.

Now if we save all of our scripts and run the app, we should then be able to update the collections without any problem. Awesome!

Updating shopify product collection in bootstrap modal

Conclusion

Updating a product’s collection can be a hassle especially if the products are attached to not just a custom collection, but also to a smart collection. However, with collect API, we should be able to update the product’s collection without doing too much unnecessary API calls.

We hope that you learned how to update your products using collect API. If you have encountered any issues or errors, let us know in the comments below and we’ll try to help out! 🙂

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Conclusion

There’s no doubt that Videoder is one of the most used downloaders and converter online. But if for some reason the app doesn’t allow you to download then there are Videoder alternatives that you can use.

If you have encountered any issues. Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below. We’d love to help out!

Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.

How to Become A Unity Developer (Complete Beginner’s Guide)

29th June 2020

Have you ever wondered how game companies created their games? Have you been researching how to become a unity developer or how to learn game development? If so, then you have come to the right place!

Today, we will be taking a look at a variety of different topics that are closely related to game development. However, we’ll be only focusing on one particular game engine and that is Unity and by the end of this article, you should be able to answer the following questions:

What makes Unity so good compared to other game engines?
What is the difference between a game designer and a game developer?
What is the best programming language for game development?
and more.

But before we get to the actual process of how to become a unity developer, let’s understand first what is Unity and what makes Unity stand out from other game engines.

What is Unity?

Unity is one of the most popular game engines that you can use for game development. It is just so good that you can create games in just 10 minutes or less. But what makes it stand out to other game engines?

Unity vs. Other Game Engines

The following are the features that makes Unity stand out.

Easy to use

Compared to other game engines, Unity is one of the easiest tools to learn. In fact, if you ever get lost, you can easily navigate to their manual page through the help tab.

Well, it’s just a manual. Do you say?

Their documentation is very straight to the point and easy to understand and navigate through. It’s like their manual is not only meant for beginners but also for the ones that have experienced Unity.

Easy Programming Language

Unity used to work with JavaScript (also known as UnityScript), Boo and C# all at the same time but since working with three programming languages at the same time is one hell of a job, they decided to get rid of JavaScript and Boo, and stay with C#, which we believe is a good decision.

C# is one of the easiest programming languages out there and if you want to become a Unity developer, learning the programming language C# is your way to go. C# is also based on C which makes it easier to transition to other programming languages.

So you know C# already but still don’t know how to use it with Unity?

Well, Unity also provides scripting references! If you ever get confused about their built-in attributes and functions, you can just find it on their scripting references and there they explain each and everything.

Multi-Platform Development

Unity offers a multiple platform development which means you can build your games for android phones and later on build it for iOS, Windows PC, Mac and other platforms without having any issues at all.

Compatibility

Unlike Unreal Engine, Unity allows you to create complex projects for low-end devices without requiring a powerful computer setup. However, if you are looking to create a project that is too detailed then obviously none of the two will help you out. So if you think your computer is not the best then we suggest you start with mobile game development or casual game development.

With that said, Unity is the best game engine for developers who only have low-end computers.

Affordability

Compared to other game engines, Unity is very affordable. In fact, if your plan is to just learn game development, you can have Unity personal license for FREE!

Best Community Ever

Unity has the best and the most active community ever. Compared to other game engines, Unity provides a very good community that can support you throughout your game development journey.

Not only that, but Unity is also everywhere. You got scripting issues? search it on Google and you will find your answer immediately. You want tutorials? We have plenty of gaming tutorials here dedicated for Unity development.

How To Become A Unity Developer: Step by Step Guide

We’re not going to lie but learning how to develop video games is hard. Not only that but it also offers a TON of work. However, if you compare it to other skills or career paths, becoming a Unity developer is actually one of the easiest and coolest choices you could ever make!

If you’re still reading all the way here then that makes you really fit for this kind of career. Let’s get through the process of becoming a Unity developer.

Step 1: Understand Why You Want To Become A Unity Developer

The first and one of the most important steps on how to become a Unity developer is understanding and identifying your reasons for why you want to become a game developer.

Why do you want to learn game development?

Is it because you’re just curious about how games are created? or you really want it to turn into a career? or you have game designs in your head that you want to become a reality?

Most games especially the ones that are created by big companies are often created by multiple people with different roles. There are game designers, animators, 3D modeling, programmers, and sound designers.

Now why is this important?

Well, understanding the purpose of your quest and knowing what you really want to achieve will not only benefit you but also save you from future headaches.

You see, game development is a very tedious task especially if your game projects are overly huge.

Step 2: Installing Unity Editor

Before you can start learning how to become a Unity developer, obviously, you will need to install Unity into your computer.

Download Unity Editor 2020

Once you arrived to the plans and pricing page, just select Personal under the Individual tab and this should allow you to download the latest Unity Hub Installer.

Step 3: Playing Around Unity

Once you are able to use Unity, play around and understand each corner of the editor. Unity also provide free projects that you can download from their Asset Store and so if you ever get confused or lost, this is where you can use their documentation.

Step 4: Taking Unity Courses Online

Another way to fasten your learning journey is by taking Unity courses online. However, if you’re not interested in spending money on these courses then YouTube is your best option.

There are hundreds of free videos online that can help you understand how to use Unity. We recommend our good friend Brackeys. He provides good and straight to the point tutorials that will surely help you start.

Step 5: Never Stop & Focus On Your Projects

If you’re really serious of becoming a game developer then you have to commit to it. It’s unfortunate that we often see game developers start their project and after a couple of months they just get sick of it and stopped working. This is mostly the case especially if they only care for the profit of their work.

If you really want to become a Unity developer then you have make sure that you finish your projects. So don’t stop and just focus on finishing your projects.

Step 6: Publish Your First Game

After some time, usually 3-6 months, you should be able to publish your very first game. Wai-what?! I should be able to publish a game in just 3-6 months?! I don’t even know how to animate my character yet!

Well, that could be true that some game projects may take much time longer than 6 months but the whole point of learning to become a Unity developer is to start from a small game. We suggest to not look too much into detail like animations or graphics since they do take most of the time in development.

Now let’s say you have your first game ready for publishing. Where can you publish your game?

There are many places that you can publish your game but it all just depends on which platform your game is built. If it is meant for PC then publish your game on Steam. If it is a game meant for Android mobile phones then publish your game on the App Store. Just don’t forget to indicate that you are the developer who created the game as it will increase your respect+ points (*wink*).

Bonus Tip For Becoming a Unity Developer

We understand that learning how to create video games is hard and that’s why we’d love to provide you more tips and hopefully these helps you boost your learning journey.

Improve your programming skills

Every game developer knows that you always need to improve your skills in order to create something spectacular. If you’re looking to become a great Unity Developer, you need to learn everything about Unity editor.

Taking courses online regarding Unity and experimenting will also come in handy. You always need to try this out and improve your skills the best way you can, as it will make a huge difference in the long term. Plus, you can even read books on the topic, and Unity itself has a lot of tutorials and videos you can go through.

There are also plenty of Unity Game Development Cookbooks that you can use and download online that will surely help you learn game development and the whole process of game development.

Get a certification

So you’re taking this very seriously and you want your next career to be a Unity Developer. Well, acquiring a programming certification or even a Unity certification can help as well.

You want to show gaming companies that you have what it takes to work with Unity. Many times companies want developers with experience or a certification that shows their expertise. Get that, and you will have an advantage for getting jobs as a Unity Developer.

Learn more about the production process

A good Unity Developer will always have a plan in place for the game. You want to avoid situations when you are a feature creep and constantly focus on adding features. What you want to do is to plan everything accordingly and prepare a proper production map. That will give you more insight and focus, and you can also prevent any issues that can sometimes arise.

Understand how you can use the asset store

Some people that use assets get a bad rap, but they usually rely on them too much. Assets and templates can help you save time, and they can be very helpful. Since Unity has its own asset store, it makes a lot of sense to check it out and testing it for yourself. It can make a huge difference for you and people will appreciate it more.

Find ways to create systems that you can reuse and re-purpose

Automating stuff or having scripts to make the job easier is very helpful for every game developer. A Unity Developer in particular will appreciate this because you get to customize everything in the future. It works seamlessly and it will make your process a lot easier.

We recommend reading our tutorial on how to create a custom unity editor. This will help you customize your games much faster instead of doing it manually.

Unity Tutorials: How To Create Custom Editor Window

Study the Unity roadmap and be active on their forums

Every good Unity Developer stays on the forum, interacts with the Unity creators, talks about features and bugs, etc. These things will help you become a great developer and you will be able to focus a lot more on results and value.

Stuff like this can always make a huge difference, and it will surely give you the outcome that you would expect. You need to stay up to date with their roadmap too, since it will help you figure out whether you need such functions in your game.

Conclusion

Becoming a Unity Developer is a dream come true for a lot of programmers. While it can be tricky to become a Unity Developer at first, with the right planning, education and focus you can make it work. Yes, it requires a lot of practice, but it will help you pursue your dreams while also being able to create outstanding games!

Unity Tutorials: How To Create Custom Editor Window

15th June 2020

Have you been wondering how Unity Developers created those systems or plugins that you have downloaded from the assets store? We’re not going to lie but we do too actually.

We’ve been doing research on how to create our own plugins and to be honest, it’s not THAT really complicated at all.

All you really need honestly is to create a C# script and add a few lines of code that creates the menu and the window, and… it’s all up to you what you’re going to put in the custom window that you created.

However, if you’re not really sure what we’re talking about here then don’t worry. We’re here to help you out.

In this tutorial, we’re gonna be looking at how to create your very own custom editor window that you can use to speed up your game development process.

Getting Started

For this tutorial, we don’t really need to set up a scene. All we need is a C# script and that’s it.

Note: It’s a good practice to always separate your custom editor scripts from your game scripts. Most developers put these scripts in the Editor folder.

Important: Scripts inside the Editor folder will not be included in the builds. That’s why it’s important to NOT reference your custom editor scripts to your game scripts.

Creating the Custom Editor

Create a new C# script and name it CustomUnityEditor.cs and copy the following code:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    
}
Code language: CSS (css)

Notice that our code above is different from your usual scripts.

Normally we use the namespace UnityEngine to get almost everything that we need to program our game. However, this namespace never gives you the ability to extend Unity, that’s why we added UnityEditor. This namespace will allow us to almost control everything inside Unity.

Now, since we don’t really want this script to only process once it’s applied to a game object, we had to change it from MonoBehaviour to EditorWindow. This will hint Unity that this script is a custom editor script and will always run throughout the editor.

Now the next thing we’re going to do is to create a menu.

Open the CustomUnityEditor.cs script once again and update its code to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {

    }
}

For the update above, we just simply created a custom menu using the MenuItem attribute. The MenuItem attribute allows you to add custom menu items to the main menu and the inspector context menus.

But after using the MenuItem attribute, you must include underneath it a function that will run once you have clicked the menu. That’s why we added the function CustomEditorWindow().

Save the script and head back to Unity.

Once the script is saved, you should be able to see the custom menu in Unity like in the above image. Clicking the Run option though will not do anything at the moment. This is obviously because we have no process yet inside your CustomEditorWindow() functon.

Now let’s start creating the custom editor window.

Open the CustomUnityEditor.cs script once again and update its code to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In the update above, we just added the GetWindow() to render a custom editor window. Basically, what GetWindow() will do is it will check if the CustomUnityEditor type already exists in Unity. If it does, then open the editor window. Otherwise, create and show a new one and return its instance of it.

Save the script and you should be able to create your own editor window.

Graphical User Interface

Now that we have our custom editor window working, it’s time for us to add content inside this window.

To do that, we’ll have to use the built-in function OnGUI(). You probably remember this but back in the day, OnGUI() is used to draw buttons, labels, and other user interfaces in the game but ever since the new UI system is added to Unity, OnGUI() becomes something that you only use for the editor.

Let’s head back to our script and update its code to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

GUI Labels

To create a label for your custom unity editor, all you need to do is to use GUILayout.Label() function:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor");
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This should give you the following:

If you want to add styles to your labels, all you need to do is to use EditorStyles as the second argument for Label().

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");
    }
}

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This should give you the following:

GUI Space

There are instances that you find the content of your editor, a bit, cramped and so Unity provided a way that allows you to give spaces between your elements.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
    }
}

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

GUI Text Field

The most commonly used for custom editors is the text field. This allows you to modify any value that your game objects are holding.

Keep in mind though that working with text fields is a little bit different. Instead of using GUILayout, you will have to use EditorGUILayout.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);
    }
}

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

For text fields, it’s important to dedicate and create its own variable to assign the value of the text field. Also, make sure that whenever you create the variable, it’s value is initialized. Otherwise, you will get a null-value error.

GUI Color

Also one of the most commonly used elements. The process of adding color picker into your editor is pretty much the same with creating a text field. The only difference is instead of making a string (or int, float, etc) variable, you use Color.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);
    }
}

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This should give you the following:

GUI Toggle

Creating a toggle for your custom editor is also very simple. Just create boolean variable and use Toggle() function:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This should give you the following:

GUI Button

Buttons are one of the most useful things that you can add to your editor. To add a button to your editor, all you need to do is to use GUILayout.Button() as an argument for an if statement.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);

        if(GUILayout.Button("Proceed"))
        {

        }
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This will allow you to send a process once the button is clicked.

Now, the question is…

How do you actually use these elements to control and modify your game objects?

There are two ways to do that:

Using GUILayout.Button()
Using events

Using Buttons for Unity Editor

Let’s start first with the button. Let’s make it work like whenever we press the button, the name of the game object that we selected will be replaced by the value of _name. The color of the game object will be replaced with _color, and the availability of the game object will be controlled by the toggle.

Open the editor script once again and update its code to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);

        if(GUILayout.Button("Proceed"))
        {
            GameObjectRename(Selection.gameObjects);
        }
    }

    private void GameObjectRename(GameObject[] objects)
    {
        foreach (var obj in objects)
        {
            obj.name = _name;
        }
    }
}

Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In the updated code above, we added a function that when we pressed the GUI Button, all of the selected game objects will be given a new name.

In order to do that, we’ll have to loop through all of the selected game objects in our editor. Luckily, we have what’s called Selection.

Selection is one of the most useful classes in UnityEditor. One of its use is to allow you to access all of the selected game objects in the editor.

Like in the code above, we have used Selection.gameObjects. This will provide us all of the game objects that we selected in the editor.

We also created a function GameObjectRename(). Since we’re passing an array of game objects, we’ll have to create its parameter to be an array.

Inside this function, we loop through all of the selected game objects and each game object will get a new name.

So if you save the script and head back to Unity, you should be able to rename all of the game objects in your scene.

Using Events for Unity Editor

Now that we’re able to change the name of our game objects on click of a button. How about changing the names of our game objects when we change the value of the elements of our custom editor? You know? Like the inspector. When you adjust the position of the game objects, the game objects move as well without hitting a button.

In order for us to do that, we’ll have to use two functions that will check if any of our editor GUI is being updated.

Let’s take a closer look. Have your editor script updated to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        EditorGUI.BeginChangeCheck();

        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);

        if(GUILayout.Button("Proceed"))
        {
            GameObjectRename(Selection.gameObjects);
        }

        if(EditorGUI.EndChangeCheck())
        {
            Debug.Log("Value changed");
        }
    }

    private void GameObjectRename(GameObject[] objects)
    {
        foreach (var obj in objects)
        {
            obj.name = _name;
        }
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In the updated code above, we added two things. One is the BeginChangeCheck() function and second is the EndChangeCheck() function. The first function will obviously start checking if something in the editor is being updated.

However, when you use this function, you have to make sure that you end this with an EndChangeCheck() function and this function should be used as an argument for an if statement.

Everything that is between this two functions will be checked if something is changing.

Inside the if statement is where you can add functions when the editor found something changed.

Now you may be asking.

How do we actually know if a certain element changed?

The answer is actually pretty simple.

You will have to compare the value of the previous element to the current value of the element. If the values are not the same then that means they’re meant to be updated. Otherwise, they’re not.

Alright, let’s try that.

Update the editor script to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        EditorGUI.BeginChangeCheck();

        var oldName = _name;

        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);

        if(GUILayout.Button("Proceed"))
        {
            GameObjectRename(Selection.gameObjects);
        }

        if(EditorGUI.EndChangeCheck())
        {
            Debug.Log("Value changed from: " + oldName + " to " + _name);
        }
    }

    private void GameObjectRename(GameObject[] objects)
    {
        foreach (var obj in objects)
        {
            obj.name = _name;
        }
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In the updated code above, we simply cached the old value of our _name variable to oldName. Then, right after the change check, we will check if the old name is the same as the new name.

As you can see from the image above, we have the old value and the new value. Awesome!

Now, the reason why we’ve done the checking it’s because Unity currently doesn’t have a function to tell us which data is being changed. It’s just to give you an idea of how you can cache your old values.

However, the case for the game objects is different.

We have to check if the current name of the game object is not equal to the new name.

Head back to the script and update it to the following:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;

public class CustomUnityEditor : EditorWindow
{
    private float _space = 20f;
    private string _name = "";
    private Color _color;
    private bool _active = false;

    [MenuItem("Custom Editor/Run")]
    public static void CustomEditorWindow()
    {
        GetWindow<CustomUnityEditor>("Custom Unity Editor Window");
    }

    private void OnGUI()
    {
        EditorGUI.BeginChangeCheck();

        var oldName = _name;

        GUILayout.Label("Welcome to your very own editor", EditorStyles.largeLabel);
        GUILayout.Label("This is a label with no styles at all. Feel free it experiment with me and learn how to display user interfaces");

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Name your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _name = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Name", _name);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Pick a color for your object(s)", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _color = EditorGUILayout.ColorField("Color", _color);

        GUILayout.Space(_space);
        GUILayout.Label("Is the object(s) available in the scene?", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
        _active = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", _active);

        if(GUILayout.Button("Proceed"))
        {
            GameObjectRename(Selection.gameObjects);
        }

        if(EditorGUI.EndChangeCheck())
        {
            //Debug.Log("Value changed from: " + oldName + " to " + _name);
            GameObjectRename(Selection.gameObjects);
        }
    }

    private void GameObjectRename(GameObject[] objects)
    {
        foreach (var obj in objects)
        {
            if(obj.name != _name)
                obj.name = _name;
        }
    }
}
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

The update is just super simple. Inside the GameObjectRename() function, we checked if the current value of the game object’s name is equal to the value of _name. If it’s true then we change the name of the game object. Otherwise, don’t.

Going back to Unity should allow you to update the names of the game object without pressing the button.

Conclusion

There you have it! We hope this lesson gave you a bit of a lesson on how to create a custom editor for Unity. We know we have left a few things in this lesson. We’ve seen that this is a long process and so we’ll separate the lesson for the game object colors and other controls.

For now, we hope you enjoyed your reading and we hope you learned from us. However, if you encountered any issues that we haven’t seen, please let us know and we’ll help you as soon as we can.

Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.

Learn How to Use React Router v5 | React.js Tutorial

8th June 2020

So you have been creating web applications using different programming languages and so far, you are not satisfied with how your application is rendering your web data.

Most applications nowadays are made with only one page and if you’re not familiar with how they’re called, they’re called single-page-applications or SPA, and these applications are mostly made with React and they are often faster compared to web applications like WordPress.

Single-page applications are often using what we call nowadays “routing” or “router” and no, we’re not talking about an internet router but a react-router.

Now the question is…

What is React-Router?

React Router is one of the most powerful and most used routing libraries for React. It is used to navigate through different webpages without making your web browser refresh which makes your application more faster and dynamic.

How to use?

Using react-router is very easy but you need to firstly install it using the following command.

npm install react-router-dom

Now with all that being explained, let’s start by creating a very simple project where we use react-router to navigate through different webpages.

Getting Started

Let’s start by creating a new project. Open your VS code editor and run the following command using the Terminal window.

npx create-react-app routing-app

If you don’t have visual studio code editor, then we suggest installing it to your machine as it will make your development more faster and comfortable.

Download Visual Studio Code

After creating the new react app, we will then have to install the react-router using the following command:

npm install react-router-dom

Once the installation is done, finally run the start command to see your work through your browser.

npm start

Awesome! Now it’s time for us to create the real deal.

Creating Components

The first thing we’re going to do is to modify our App.js file. So open that and update its code to the following.

import React from 'react';
import Nav from './Nav';
import './App.css';

function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <Nav />
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Saving the code should give you the following error in your browser.

This error happened because we haven’t created the Nav component that we’re trying to import. Let’s do that.

Create a new file and name it Nav.js and apply the following code:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

function Nav() {
  return (
    <nav>
        <ul>
            <li>Home</li>
            <li>Blog</li>
            <li>About</li>
        </ul>
    </nav>
  );
}

export default Nav;Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Now if you save the script, you should be able to see in your browser that a list is created.

Awesome! Now let’s created these pages.

Create a new file and name it Home.js. Then, copy the following code:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

function Home() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Homepage</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

export default Home;Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Then, create another new file and name it Blog.js. Then, copy the following code:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

function Blog() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Blog</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

export default Blog;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Then of course all website have their very own about page so we’ll create a file for that as well. Name it About.js and copy the following code:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

function About() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>About us</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

export default About;Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Awesome! Now we have every page ready.

Now, if we update the code of our App.js to the following, we should be able to see the content of each files that we created.

import React from 'react';
import Nav from './Nav';
import Home from './Home';
import Blog from './Blog';
import About from './About';
import './App.css';

function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <Nav />
      <Home />
      <Blog />
      <About />
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Like this

However, that’s not what we want to achieve.

We only want to display the blog page if the URL is pointing to the blog page and the same goes to the about page and home page.

This is where react-route can help us.

To use routing, what we need to do is to import BrowserRouter, Route, and Switch from react-router-dom. Then use these components to create route paths throughout our web application.

Let’s update the code of our App.js to the following

import React from 'react';
import Nav from './Nav';
import Home from './Home';
import Blog from './Blog';
import About from './About';
import './App.css';
import { BrowserRouter, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom';

function App() {
  return (
    <BrowserRouter>
      <div className="App">
        <Nav />
        <Route path="/" component={Home}/>
        <Route path="/about" component={About}/>
        <Route path="/blog" component={Blog}/>
      </div>
    </BrowserRouter>
  );
}

export default App;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

To explain the code above, we first imported the components from react-router-dom (BrowserRouter, Route, and Switch).

Then, we used the BrowserRouter and everything that is inside of this component will have the ability to use routing.

We used Route then gave it a path and indicated which component should be displayed once the URL contains the specific path. For example, if we add in the URL /about, the web application should display the about page. The same goes for other routes.

Now you might be wondering, why did we not applied a route to the Nav component? Well, the answer is quite obvious. We will be using the Nav component to navigate from homepage to about page and blog page.

Now if you save the script, you should notice that the about and blog pages are gone. Thanks to route component, the about page will only be displayed once our URL pointed to that specific path.

So if you visit / in your browser. Only the home page will be displayed.

Awesome! Now let’s work for our Nav component because it looks really ugly.

Look for the file App.css and update its code to the following.

.App {
  text-align: center;
}

nav {
  align-items: center;
  background: #123123;
  padding: 20px;
  color: white;
}

nav ul {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-around;
  list-style: none;
}

nav ul li {
  font-weight: bold;
}
Code language: CSS (css)

For this stylesheet, we just need to style our navbar so it looks more decent. Later on we might edit this again for the links. We’ll see..

But for now, if you save the stylesheet, you should be able to see that our navbar looks much better.

That looks much better.

The homepage issue

One of the common issues with React-Route is when you visit the blog page, for example, it will also display the homepage.

The reason why this is happening is it basically just checks if the URL contains the specified paths in our application. For the homepage, we have only specified it to display if the URL has /and since there is a / to /blog it will both display the home page and the blog page.

So, how can we fix this?

Fixing this is actually really easy. This is where we’re going to use the Switch component.

If you’re not sure what switch does then just think of it as an if statement. If the path is /blog, then it will just display the blog page.

However, the case for the homepage is different. If we applied the switch component to our application, whenever we open the about page or the blog page, it will only display the homepage and nothing else. That’s why we will be applying the exact attribute for our homepage router.

What the exact attribute will do is it will check if the URL really only has a slash to it. If the URL contains /blog then it will skip the homepage and proceed to the blog page.

So with that being said, let’s update our App.js code to the following:

import React from 'react';
import Nav from './Nav';
import Home from './Home';
import Blog from './Blog';
import About from './About';
import './App.css';
import { BrowserRouter, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom';

function App() {
  return (
    <BrowserRouter>
      <div className="App">
        <Nav />
        <Switch>
          <Route path="/" exact component={Home}/>
          <Route path="/about" component={About}/>
          <Route path="/blog" component={Blog}/>
        </Switch>
      </div>
    </BrowserRouter>
  );
}

export default App;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

If you save your script, you should be able to browse the Blog page without displaying the home page.

The navigation links

Now that we’re done with the components, let’s continue and work for our navigational links. Currently, we have a navbar with items that are not clickable.

Usually, developers who are new to react, they often just add anchor tags to the nav items to make the link work but that’s not the most effective way of navigating through the website.

We’ll be using another component that is very useful and that is the Link component. Don’t worry, we don’t have to install another module because this component is already included in the react-router-dom which is very convenient.

So with that being said, let’s open our Nav.js file and update its code to the following:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';
import {Link} from 'react-router-dom';

function Nav() {
  return (
    <nav>
        <ul>
            <Link to='/'><li>Home</li></Link>
            <Link to='/blog'><li>Blog</li></Link>
            <Link to='/about'><li>About</li></Link>
        </ul>
    </nav>
  );
}

export default Nav;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

So for the update above, all we did is we added the link component from the react-router-dom and used it like how you use anchor tags. However, instead of href we use to attribute to point which link we want the navbar item to lead us.

Saving the script should give you the ability to click the navbar items.

However, as you can see from the above image, the links became purple and we can barely see it now.

We can easily fix that by adding styles to it but instead of doing it through the stylesheet, let’s do it directly to our Nav.js.

Open the Nav.js file and update its code to the following:

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';
import {Link} from 'react-router-dom';

function Nav() {
  const navColor = {
    color: 'white'
  };

  return (
    <nav>
        <ul>
            <Link style={navColor} to='/'><li>Home</li></Link>
            <Link style={navColor} to='/blog'><li>Blog</li></Link>
            <Link style={navColor} to='/about'><li>About</li></Link>
        </ul>
    </nav>
  );
}

export default Nav;
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

For the update above, we just simply created a const variable and reference it to the Link component just like how you apply style with classNames, etc.

So with all that being saved, you should be able to finally see the navbar links. Try it and see that your webpage is not loading at all.

Conclusion

And that’s all about it! You can finally create as many routers as you want using React-Router. We hope that this tutorial helped you understand how react-router works and how you can apply it to your web applications. If you are looking for a guide on how to create a responsive navbar using react, feel free to go to our blog page and there you will find a guide on how to make one.

If you have encountered any issues while you’re following this tutorial, feel free to let us know in the comments below and we’d love to help you out as soon as we can.

Unity Tutorials: How To Make a 2D Arrow Projectile

3rd April 2020

It’s quite common for games to have enemies, buildings, weapons, and other items that produce bullets or projectiles.

That’s why game developers who are new to the game development often ask questions like: How do I make a projectile that follows its target?

We’ve seen a lot of different answers to that question and most of them are not as good as what we’re about to show you.

That’s correct! In this tutorial, we’re going to teach you how to make a projectile in 2D that follows its target. Not only that, but we’re also going to show you how you can make it look like an arrow (or ever rocket launcher) that creates an arc without using any Physics!

Although if you are interested in pre-made projectile effects, we highly recommend purchasing Unique Toon Projectiles as it compatible with 3D and 2D games and it is SUPER EASY to customize.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

Video Tutorial

Getting Started

Before we start working, it’s important to ensure that the project you’re working on is set up for 2D games. Otherwise, you will encounter issues like camera projections, etc.

If you’re not sure whether you’re using 3D or 2D, you can always check it by navigating to your Project Settings.

Edit menu > Project Settings… > Editor

Unity default behaviour mode changing from 3d to 2d

Once everything is good, then let’s begin.

Let’s create two new 2D sprites and let’s name them Player and Enemy.

Select the two sprites and navigate to your inspector and change the Sprite from none to Knob.

We’ll also scale them up by 5 and separate them in the scene like this.

The player is on the left and the enemy is on the right.

If you like, you can change the color of the two sprites to make it easier for you to determine which one is the player and which one is the enemy.

The next thing we’re going to do is to add tags for both sprites so it will be much easier for our code to get the locations of these game objects.

So to do that, select the Player and go to the inspector and change the value of the Tag from Untagged to Player.

Next, select the Enemy game object. Now, since Unity doesn’t provide an Enemy tag by default, we’re going to create it ourselves so go to the inspector, select the dropdown for Tags and select Add Tag…

This should show you the Tags & Layers window.

Now, under the Tags section, click on the button with a plus sign.

For the New Tag Name, just input Enemy and click Save.

Now select your Enemy game object once again, navigate to your inspector and change the Tag from untagged to Enemy.

Awesome! Now we’re done with the Player and Enemy.

The Projectiles

For the projectiles, we’ll be using the Player as the starting position and the enemy as the target of the projectile.

We’ll be using the following image as our arrow sprite so go ahead and click the download below.

Download

Once you have downloaded the PNG file, go to your project and import it.

Once imported, just simply drag it onto your hierarchy.

Scripting Projectiles

Now that we have the arrow sprite, let’s start working on its script.

Select the Arrow game object and navigate to your inspector and click the Add component button.

Select New Script and name it Arrow.

Then, open the script and copy the following code.

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Arrow : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject player;
    public GameObject target;

    public float speed = 10f;

    public Vector3 movePosition;

    private float playerX;
    private float targetX;
    private float nextX;
    private float dist;
    private float baseY;
    private float height;

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        player = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
        target = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Enemy");
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {
        playerX = player.transform.position.x;
        targetX = target.transform.position.x;
        dist = targetX - playerX;
        nextX = Mathf.MoveTowards(transform.position.x, targetX, speed * Time.deltaTime);
        baseY = Mathf.Lerp(player.transform.position.y, target.transform.position.y, (nextX - playerX) / dist);
        height = 2 * (nextX - playerX) * (nextX - targetX) / (-0.25f * dist * dist);

        movePosition = new Vector3(nextX, baseY + height, transform.position.z);

        transform.rotation = LookAtTarget(movePosition - transform.position);
        transform.position = movePosition;

        if (movePosition == target.transform.position)
        {
            Destroy(gameObject);
        }
    }

    public static Quaternion LookAtTarget(Vector2 r)
    {
        return Quaternion.Euler(0, 0, Mathf.Atan2(r.y, r.x) * Mathf.Rad2Deg);
    }
}

Code language: C# (cs)

By saving the script and running your game, you should have the following output:

And there you go, that’s how you make an arrow projectile using Unity 2D.

Technically, we’re done with this but let’s customize our script.

Let’s say we wanted to make our arrows go higher. We can do that by declaring another variable and replacing the value inside our height variable.

Let’s update our code to this.

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Arrow : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject player;
    public GameObject target;

    public float speed = 10f;
    public float launchHeight = 2;

    public Vector3 movePosition;

    private float playerX;
    private float targetX;
    private float nextX;
    private float dist;
    private float baseY;
    private float height;

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        player = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
        target = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Enemy");
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {
        playerX = player.transform.position.x;
        targetX = target.transform.position.x;
        dist = targetX - playerX;
        nextX = Mathf.MoveTowards(transform.position.x, targetX, speed * Time.deltaTime);
        baseY = Mathf.Lerp(player.transform.position.y, target.transform.position.y, (nextX - playerX) / dist);
        height = launchHeight * (nextX - playerX) * (nextX - targetX) / (-0.25f * dist * dist);

        movePosition = new Vector3(nextX, baseY + height, transform.position.z);

        transform.rotation = LookAtTarget(movePosition - transform.position);
        transform.position = movePosition;

        if (movePosition == target.transform.position)
        {
            Destroy(gameObject);
        }
    }

    public static Quaternion LookAtTarget(Vector2 r)
    {
        return Quaternion.Euler(0, 0, Mathf.Atan2(r.y, r.x) * Mathf.Rad2Deg);
    }
}

Code language: C# (cs)

With this new script, you can use this even for catapults or rocket launchers and all you needed to do is to increase the value of launchHeight and decrease the speed to make the rocket launcher more realistic.

There you have it! You have finally created an arrow that arches up to the target.

Obviously, you can always customize the script and add effects when the arrow reaches the target. For example, blood splatter… or an explosion for rocket launchers.

Feel free to do whatever you want!

Conclusion

Like what we mention at the beginning of this tutorial… Arrows, bullets, rockets, etc. they are all pretty common in games. Using the script that we provided, we’re quite confident that you can use it for a long run and customize it very easily.

If you’re looking for more 2D related tutorials, you can always head to our Game Development blog page and read more.

Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.

How To Make Premium WordPress Theme Header (Tutorial)

6th December 2019

Greetings! Welcome to another part of the Premium WordPress Theme development tutorial series. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to create the header for our premium WordPress theme.

If you remember, last time we have set up our Premium WordPress theme using Local by Flywheel. We have created the basic boilerplate HTML for our index, header, and footer. We have also added a screenshot for our theme so it will display in our dashboard how the theme will look like once activated.

Join FlyWheel for FREE and get a free SSL Certificate to keep your site secure!

Sign up for free

If in case you haven’t followed our first tutorial, we highly recommend you to catch up first before proceeding to this part.

Read: Getting Started for Premium WordPress Theme 101

Getting Started

In this second part of our Premium WordPress tutorial series, we’re going to start taking a look at how we can implement custom CSS and JavaScript, and properly include them in our theme.

We’re going to learn how to use the functions.php file on WordPress, which is one of the most powerful files in WordPress.

Custom CSS & JavaScript

Let’s start by making two new folders inside our project, and name it css and js. This is where we’re going to store our CSS files and JavaScript files.

Then inside the css folder, create a new CSS file and name it style.css.

html, body {
	margin: 0;
	padding: 0;
}Code language: CSS (css)

And then inside the js folder, create a new JavaScript file and name it script.js.

//Let's make our script.js empty for nowCode language: JSON / JSON with Comments (json)

Our file structure should look something like this.

Save all your scripts.

The Functions File

Now, let’s create the functions.php file so go back to your code editor, if you’re using Sublime, just press CTRL + N and CTRL + S to save, and name it functions.php.

Keep in mind that the file name is plural, with an s.

Inside the functions.php file, we want to create a function or at least use a function that will allow us to include our CSS file in our header and JavaScript file in our footer.

For now, let’s create a function that will load all of the scripts required by our theme like jQuery, Bootstrap, our script, etc.

<?php

function esquela_scripts_enqueue() {

}

?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

If you look at your footer.php file, you will see that there are scripts that are being referenced by our footer.

Footer PHP file with jQuery and Bootstrap

What we’re going to do is to remove all the scripts from our footer, but copy all the URLs and paste it in our functions.php file. However, we’re going to change the URL for the jQuery since bootstrap is only using the slim version of jQuery.

We’ll end up with something like this:

<?php

function esquela_scripts_enqueue() {
	//https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js
	//https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.7/umd/popper.min.js
	//https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/js/bootstrap.min.js
}

?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Next, we’re going to register all the links using the WordPress function wp_register_script() and then we’ll enqueue them next using wp_enqueue_script().

We should end up with something like this by now:

<?php

function esquela_scripts_enqueue() {
	wp_register_script( 'jQuery', 'https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'jQuery' );

	wp_register_script( 'Popper', 'https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.7/umd/popper.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Popper' );

	wp_register_script( 'Bootstrap', 'https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/js/bootstrap.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Bootstrap' );

	wp_register_script( 'Esquela', get_template_directory_uri() . '/js/script.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Esquela' );
}

?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Coding Reference

If in case you don’t know the functions that we used above, you can always refer to the following.

wp_register_script()

Description: A WordPress function that registers a script to be enqueued later by another WordPress function wp_enqueue_script().

Parameters:

`$handle`	(string) (Required) The name of the script and should always be unique.
`$src`	(string\|bool) (Required) The full URL of the script, or path of the script relative to the WordPress root directory. If the source is set to false, the script is an alias of other scripts it depends on.
`$deps`	(array) (Optional) An array of registered script handles this script depends on. Default value: array()
`$ver`	(string\|bool\|null) (Optional) A string specifying the script version number, if it has one, which is added to the URL as a query string for cache busting purposes. If version is set to false, a version number is automatically added equal to current installed WordPress version. If set to null, no version is added. Default value: false
`$in_footer`	(bool) (Optional) Whether to enqueue the script before </body> instead of in the <head>. Default ‘false’. Default value: false

wp_enqueue_script()

Description: Registers the script if the $src is provided (does NOT overwrite), and enqueues it.

Parameters:

`$handle`	(string) (Required) The name of the script and should always be unique.
`$src`	(string\|bool) (Required) The full URL of the script, or path of the script relative to the WordPress root directory. If the source is set to false, the script is an alias of other scripts it depends on.
`$deps`	(array) (Optional) An array of registered script handles this script depends on. Default value: array()
`$ver`	(string\|bool\|null) (Optional) A string specifying the script version number, if it has one, which is added to the URL as a query string for cache busting purposes. If version is set to false, a version number is automatically added equal to current installed WordPress version. If set to null, no version is added. Default value: false
`$in_footer`	(bool) (Optional) Whether to enqueue the script before </body> instead of in the <head>. Default ‘false’. Default value: false

Awesome! Now that we have created a dedicated function for our scripts, let’s actually enqueue our scripts using the add_action() function.

So right underneath our esquela_scripts_enqueue() function, type in, add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'esquela_scripts_enqueue');

Our functions.php file should have the following:

<?php

function esquela_scripts_enqueue() {
	wp_register_script( 'jQuery', 'https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'jQuery' );

	wp_register_script( 'Popper', 'https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.7/umd/popper.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Popper' );

	wp_register_script( 'Bootstrap', 'https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/js/bootstrap.min.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Bootstrap' );

	wp_register_script( 'Esquela', get_template_directory_uri() . '/js/script.js', array(), 1, true );
	wp_enqueue_script( 'Esquela' );
}

add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'esquela_scripts_enqueue');

?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Next, let’s open our header.php file once again and add the following code inside the <head> tag.

<?php wp_head(); ?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Then, let’s open our footer.php file and add the following code just before the closing body tag.

<?php wp_footer(); ?>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Save all of your scripts and head to your website. You should see the following results in your browser inspector.

Importing CSS and JS files with WordPress Enqueue functions

As you can see, our theme started including the scripts that we listed in our functions.php file. Not only that, but it also added the meta tags that are required for every WordPress theme which is great!

That’s how you load your javascript in WordPress.

Now.

What about CSS stylesheets? How do you import them?

The answer is fairly easy and the way you do that is quite similar to how you import your scripts. The only difference is the functions that we’re going to use and that is the wp_register_style() function and wp_enqueue_style() function.

Let’s create a new function and we’ll name it esquela_style_enqueue().

function esquela_style_enqueue() {
	
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Go to your header.php file and remove the Bootstrap CSS file that is being referenced.

Then, go back to functions.php file and update your esquela_style_enqueue() function to the following:

function esquela_style_enqueue() {
	wp_register_style('Bootstrap', 'https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/css/bootstrap.min.css', array(), 1, 'all');
	wp_enqueue_style('Bootstrap');

	wp_register_style('Esquela', get_template_directory_uri() . '/css/style.css', array(), 1.2, 'all');
	wp_enqueue_style('Esquela');
}

add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'esquela_style_enqueue');Code language: PHP (php)

Save all your scripts and you should have the following results.

Great! now all of our files are being loaded.

Now that we finally understand how the functions work, let’s add another resource to our theme. Since we need icons, we’re gonna need Font Awesome.

So go ahead to Font Awesome, login to your account, go to your kit, and copy the URL of the script.

Next, go back to your functions.php file and add the following code inside your esquela_scripts_enqueue() function.

wp_register_script( 'FontAwesome', 'https://kit.fontawesome.com/YOUR_FONTAWESOME_KIT_NAME.js', array(), 1, true );
wp_enqueue_script( 'FontAwesome' );Code language: PHP (php)

Save all your scripts!

WordPress Theme Header

Now that we’re done with the functions, let’s proceed to our theme and design our header.

Open your header.php file once again, and add the following code just below the opening body tag.

<header id="es-header">
	<div class="logo" id="logo">Esquela</div>
	<nav>
		<ul class="menu">
			<li><a class="nav-links" href="#">Home</a></li>
			<li><a class="nav-links" href="#">About</a></li>
			<li><a class="nav-links" href="#">Menu</a></li>
			<li><a class="nav-links" href="#">Contact</a></li>
		</ul>
		<ul class="social">
			<li><a href="#"><i class="fab fa-instagram"></i></a></li>
			<li><a href="#"><i class="fab fa-facebook-f"></i></a></li>
			<li><a href="#"><i class="fab fa-twitter"></i></a></li>
			<li><a href="#"><i class="fab fa-whatsapp"></i></a></li>
		</ul>
	</nav>
	<div class="menu-toggle" id="toggle"><i class="fas fa-bars"></i></div>
</header>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Awesome! Now let’s style our header with CSS.

Open your main.css file inside the css folder and copy the following CSS code.

header {
	padding: 25px 100px;
	background: #3952a6;
	width: 100%;
	box-sizing: border-box;
	z-index: 99;
	transition: .5s;
	height: 100px;
}

header .logo {
	color: #fff;
	height: 50px;
	line-height: 50px;
	float: left;
	font-size: 25px;
	font-weight: bold;
	transition: .5s;
}

header nav {
	float: right;
}

header nav ul {
	margin: 0 50px;
	padding: 0;
	display: inline-flex;
}

header nav ul li {
	list-style: none;
}

header nav ul li a {
	position: relative;
	font-size: 15px;
	height: 50px;
	line-height: 50px;
	padding: 0 20px;
	color: #fff;
	text-decoration: none;
	display: block;
	transition: .5s;
	text-transform: uppercase;
}

.social li {
	background: #fff;
	border-radius: 50%;
	margin: 0 5px;
}

.social li a {
	position: relative;
	color: #3952a6;
	font-size: 15px;
	width: 25px;
	height: 25px;
	padding: 5px;
	line-height: 5px;
	text-decoration: none;
	display: block;
	transition: .5s;
	text-align: center;
}

.menu-toggle {
	color: #fff;
	float: right;
	line-height: 50px;
	font-size: 25px;
	cursor: pointer;
	display: none;
	transition: 0.5s;
}
@media screen and (max-width: 1027px) {
	header {
		padding: 20px 40px;
	}
}

@media screen and (max-width: 991px) {
	.menu-toggle {
		display: block;
	}

	header nav {
		position: absolute;
		width: 100%;
		height: calc(100vh - 50px);
		background: #333;
		top: 90px;
		left: -100%;
		transition: 0.5s;
	}

	header nav.active {
		left: 0;
	}

	header nav ul {
		display: block;
		text-align: center;
	}

	.social {
		margin-top: 20px;
		display: inline;
	}

	.social li {
		margin: 20px 0;
		background: none;
	}

	.social li a {
		width: 100%;
		font-size: 50px;
		text-align: center;
		border: none;
		height: auto;
		color: #1f1e1e;
	}

	header nav ul a {
		border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0, .2);
	}
}

@media screen and (max-width: 580px) {
	header {
		padding: 20px 30px;
	}

	.body-m {
		padding-top: 110px;
		padding-left: 10px;
		padding-right: 10px; 
	}
}Code language: CSS (css)

Save your files! You should have the following results for desktop.

WordPress Esquela Theme Premium Header tutorial

And for mobile, you should end up with the following.

WordPress Esquela Theme Premium Responsive Header tutorial

Awesome! But we’re not done yet! If you try to click the menu bar, our links and socials will never show up.

So what do we do? Of course, we’ll use JavaScript to display our menu.

So go ahead to your files, open your js folder and open the script.js file.

Then copy the following code:

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('.menu-toggle').on('click', function(e) {
        $('nav').toggleClass('active');
    });
});Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Save all your files.

You should end up with the following result when you click the menu button.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully learned not only how to use functions.php file but also how to create a responsive premium theme header for WordPress.

In the next tutorial, we’re going to learn how to create a hero banner with image and header texts.

For now, we would like to thank you for reading this post. If you think you have learned something from us, let us know below in the comments, we really love hearing from you!

If you have questions or maybe a request, contact us or comment below and we’ll reply to you as soon as we can.

About us

Our origins

WeeklyHow started as a blog for sharing programming lessons and also a way for Bernard, to get online clients. Somewhere in the middle of 2019, we decided to make our niche focus on Shopify Development, Game Development (a little), and E-Commerce. We started removing all of the content that is not related to our current niche to ensure that readers can find what they need. One of our goals is to give everyone the ability to create extraordinary applications.

The year 2020 is such a challenging year yet we decided to move forward and improve our platform to give lessons to our readers. right now, you’re not just going to read tutorials, you’re going to learn with us through our courses, quizzes, and QnA.

Everyone deserves to have the best experience when it comes to learning and that’s why we’re here to provide you that experience.

For partnership and business development inquiries, please email us at contact@weeklyhow.com

Shopify Draggable Tutorial: How to Drag and Drop in Shopify

3rd September 2019

It’s quite popular these days to interact with everything through mobile devices. Tapping, swiping, dragging things up and down, or even zooming in and out. All of these are possible with mobile devices.

Now, the problem arises, can all of these actions be done as well by desktop computers? Technically yes but most of the time no. Besides, it all depends on the capability of your display if it can do such actions like touch-screen.

But what if your desktop doesn’t have touch-screen features? Can you still drag or swipe? Maybe with the cursor instead?

100% yes! Thanks to Shopify Draggable, you can drag and drop web objects easily without too much programming.

So without further ado, let’s get started

What is Shopify Draggable

Shopify Draggable is a drag & drop library that allows developers to build interactive objects for users to drag from one place into another. For example, users can drag a product into the trash for deletion.

Shopify Draggable is also extensible which means if you have enough technical skills you can extend this library into something more useful. For instance, drag and popup or “drag and drop to see your prize!“.

Features

Unfortunately, Shopify Draggable is no longer being maintained by its original developers. However, this library could still give you the following features:

Drag & drop by mouse / touch
Extendable dragging behaviour
Extendable drag detection

Installing Shopify Draggable

What we liked about Shopify draggable is that it could easily be installed in many ways. For example, if you are using Laravel for Shopify Development then you can just run the following code.

npm install @shopify/draggable --save
Code language: CSS (css)

If you’re using yarn then

yarn add @shopify/draggable
Code language: CSS (css)

On the other hand, if you want to use their CDN directly. You can use one of the following script tags

<!-- Entire bundle -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/draggable.bundle.js"></script>

<!-- legacy bundle for older browsers (IE11) -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/draggable.bundle.legacy.js"></script>

<!-- Draggable only -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/draggable.js"></script>

<!-- Sortable only -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/sortable.js"></script>

<!-- Droppable only -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/droppable.js"></script>

<!-- Swappable only -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/swappable.js"></script>

<!-- Plugins only -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.8/lib/plugins.js"></script>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Browser Compatibility

If you are worried about this library not being compatible with all of the versions of the popular browsers then worry not! Because Shopify Draggable is compatible with:

Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Internet Explorer
Microsoft Edge
Opera
Safari

Examples

Whenever you use Shopify Draggable, it is important to remember that draggable objects must be inside a container or element.

Also, we’re going to use this library without any frameworks which mean pure HTML is what we only needed. This way, it’ll be much easier for you to understand how this library works.

Don’t worry, we’ll be guiding you step by step on how to use Shopify Draggable.

First, let’s create an empty HTML file.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8">
		<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
		<style>

		</style>
	</head>
	<body>

	</body>
	<script type="text/javascript">

	</script>
</html>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Next, let’s import the library using CDN.

Add the following line inside the head tag.

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@shopify/draggable@1.0.0-beta.2/lib/draggable.min.js"></script>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Now that we have the library installed, let’s create the objects that we can drag.

Inside the body tag, copy the following code.

<div class="block">
	<div class="droppable draggable-dropzone--occupied">
		<div class="draggable"></div>
	</div>
</div>

<div class="block">
	<div class="droppable"></div>
</div>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

In the code example above, we have declared three div classes and that is the block class, droppable class, and the draggable class.

Block Class

Take note that we called this “block” class because the above code, more specifically the div tag has a class of block. You can always change this class to whatever name you want as long as you specify that class in the javascript which we’ll do in a few moments.

Block class is where you can create all of the droppable objects. To simply explain this. All droppable elements must have their own parent block class like what the example above has.

Droppable Class

This class is used for objects to be dropped into. So for example, you have one draggable object. You can drag this object into this section with droppable class.

Keep in mind that the size of draggable objects MUST be equal to the size of the droppable objects.

And again, you can rename this class to whatever you want as long as you specify this in your javascript.

Draggable Class

This class will make any elements draggable and can be dropped onto any element with the class of droppable. Same with the rest, you can rename this class to whatever you want… and… of course specify it in the javascript. (We really love repeating ourselves, don’t we?)

Let’s continue

Inside the script tag, copy the following code.

const containers = document.querySelectorAll('.block')

const droppable = new Draggable.Droppable(containers, {
  draggable: '.draggable',
  droppable: '.droppable'
});

droppable.on('drag:start', () => console.log('drag:start'));
droppable.on('droppable:over', () => console.log('droppable:over'));
droppable.on('droppable:out', () => console.log('droppable:out'));
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

The above code is written in Javascript ES6. So make sure you copy this code inside the script tags.

To explain the above code, we firstly declared a constant variable and we called it containers. Then we select all elements with the class of block.

Currently, we have to two div elements with a class of block so that’s what the variable will look for.

Next, we declare a new droppable object and target all the available blocks that can be used by draggable objects and then we assign which element is draggable and droppable.

After that, we initialize the events:

drag:start
droppable:over
droppable:out

And then make a callback where we display in the console which event is currently happening.

Like we have mentioned before, it is important to give your objects their specified sizes to ensure that they will fit in their designated sections.

To do this, copy the following code inside the style tag.

.grid {
	display: grid;
	grid-template: 150px 150px 150px / 150px 150px 150px 150px;
	grid-gap: 10px;
	background-color: #ffffff;
	padding: 10px;
}
.draggable {
	background-color: #ff3946;
	box-shadow: 10px 10px 10px #7777;
}

.draggable, .droppable.draggable-dropzone--occupied{
	width: 100px; 
	height: 100px; 
}
.droppable{
	width: 100px; 
	height: 100px;
	border: solid;
	display: flex;
}
Code language: CSS (css)

The code above will only give our objects a little bit of style which doesn’t actually matter but since we need to give our objects a width then might as well give it a style.

If you have noticed, we have a new class at the top of this CSS which is the .grid class.

This class does not matter as well, but this will organize our grid especially if we want to add more droppable sections on our page.

Let’s go back to our HTML and modify what’s inside the body tag:

<div class="grid">
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable draggable-dropzone--occupied">
			<div class="draggable"></div>
		</div>
	</div>

	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
</div>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

What we changed in our body tag is we simply added the grid class and then inserted our blocks inside of it.

We’re almost done!

Go save your file as index.html and open that file in your browser.

You should see something like this:

Shopify Draggable Tutorial - How to Drag and Drop Objects From One Place to Another

You may drag the red block into the empty block. You may also put it back into its place.

Now, what if you want to add more empty blocks for the draggable object?

The answer is very simple.

Just duplicate the block for the droppable object like below:

<div class="grid">
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable draggable-dropzone--occupied">
			<div class="draggable"></div>
		</div>
	</div>

	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
	<div class="block">
		<div class="droppable"></div>
	</div>
</div>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

This will give you the following output:

Shopify Draggable - Drag and Drop Features for Shopify Developers

Conclusion

There you go! You have finally developed a simple web page where an object can be dragged and dropped into different blocks.

What we really liked about this library is the fact that you don’t need to use jquery to make this library work. Not only that. It is ridiculously fast and lightweight.

I highly recommend you to experiment with this library. As we said before, this library is extensible meaning you can add more features to it.

If you want us to write more about Shopify Draggable library, let us know in the comments below and let us know as well your reactions by clicking one of the emojis below.

We love seeing your reactions 🙂

Laravel Tutorials For Beginners: Step by step Guide

24th July 2019

There are many frameworks out there that you can use to develop web applications. But only a few provide resources and documentation that can help you build your app from scratch.

In this article, we will be talking about Laravel and why it is one of the most used frameworks for developing web applications from start to finish. This Laravel tutorial will also guide you from scratch, step by step, from installing Laravel to deploying your web application online so you will be able to develop more applications in the future.

But before we go straight to Laravel tutorial, let’s understand first what is Laravel.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework that is created by Taylor Otwell back in 2011. It is created for the development of web applications to follow the MVC pattern also known as Model-view-controller which allows for a much-needed separation of concerns in our web applications.

Why you should start using Laravel?

There are many reasons why you should start using Laravel, one of which is that Laravel helps developers to build web systems in a matter of seconds. For example, to develop a Login, Logout, Registration systems, all you needed to do is to install Laravel to your project. In just one line of command instead of manually typing lines of codes and authenticating databases.

There are also cases that I have been thinking of ways to paginate my web applications but with Laravel, all you needed to do is to use a function and list the items. Simple as that!

Now to prepare you for this tutorial, I will be providing you the list of software that we’re going to use in this tutorial. So make sure you have them all installed on your computer.

Requirements:

Laravel framework has a few system requirements. All of these are provided by the Laravel Homestead virtual machine, so it is highly recommended that you use Homestead as your local development environment.

In different cases, you may install the required software separately depending on your projects. For example, you can use Laravel with just PHP installed and Composer.

Here are the following requirements if you are not using homestead:

PHP >= 7.1.3
Composer
Nodejs or Npm
PDO PHP Extension
BCMath PHP Extension
Ctype PHP Extension
JSON PHP Extension
Mbstring PHP Extension
OpenSSL PHP Extension
PDO PHP Extension
Tokenizer PHP Extension
XML PHP Extension

How to Create Web Applications with Laravel?

Building web applications using Laravel is very easy. In fact, even a 12-year old you can do this. To start, obviously, you need to install Laravel and its required applications.

Installing Laravel

Laravel uses Composer to manage its dependencies. So, before you can use Laravel, make sure you have Composer installed on your computer. Keep in mind that we’re not going to use homestead virtual machine in this tutorial. You may follow this link to download the latest version of Composer.

After installing Composer, download the latest version of PHP and make sure it is Non-thread safe. After downloading, extract the PHP zip file into your C: Drive

If you encountered errors as soon as you install PHP. Make sure that you have Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio installed. Otherwise, you’ll encounter more errors such as VCRUNTIME140.DLL was not found, and php commands won’t work.

Now, to check if you have installed both Composer and PHP correctly. Open your command prompt and type the following command:

php -v

If you have successfully installed PHP, you should see something like this:

Installing PHP 7.3.7 and Composer on Windows PC

To check if you have installed Composer, type the following in the command prompt:

composer --version

How to check the version of composer using command prompt

If you have seen both responses. You may now install Laravel by typing the following command in your shell.

composer global require laravel/installerCode language: PHP (php)

Alternatively, you may also install Laravel by issuing the Composer create-project command in your terminal:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel project-name

Keep in mind that by using the command create-project, a new folder will be created with the name that you have provided in the command. In the code above, the project will be called project-name.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the project that you have created can be located at the directory of your shell. In my case, it’s located in:

C:\Users\WeeklyHows\

Now, after creating the project. You will need to change your directory to the project folder that you just have created. Use the following command:

cd project-name

Installing Laravel with create-project command for Laravel 5

Now, to view your project in your browser, you will need to use the command artisan. Artisan is the command-line interface included with Laravel. It provides a number of helpful commands that can assist you while you build your application.

Use the following command:

php artisan serve

Now, open your browser and browse http://127.0.0.1:8000 and you should see something like this:

First look at laravel's introduction and interface

Congratulations! You just created your first Laravel application!

If you are using Windows, you are required to open another command prompt and change your directory back to your project folder.

Keep in mind that you SHOULD not close the previous command prompt as it keeps the localhost from running.

Now I know it’s just a homepage and it is not that fully functional yet but we’ll get into adding more features that will make our application more interesting.

Now, Laravel has a feature called Authentication.

What is Authentication?

Authentication is the process of identifying the user’s credentials. Whenever a user logs in, a web application, for example, will process the input parameters such as username and password, and then if the parameters exist in the Laravel’s database, then the user will be able to sign in.

With Laravel, you are able to create both login forms and registration forms with just one command and that is make:auth.

Now go back to command prompt and try using the following command:

php artisan make:authCode language: CSS (css)

That should give you the following response:

Using PHP artisan to create authentication for Laravel Application

If you refresh your Laravel application, you will see that there are new links added at the right top corner of the application. Those are the menu that was generated by the Laravel Auth.

Here’s how it looks like when you click the login menu.

Now, you might be thinking, Wow! That’s how easy it is?

Well, we still have to create and setup our database to make that login page work like an actual login page

How can we do that?

Easy! By using Laravel Migrations.

What is Laravel Migrations?

Laravel Migrations, in a nutshell, are files which contains a class with both up() and down() functions. Both of these functions are executed to apply and revert changes to the database.

Does it help developers? 100% yes! Laravel Migrations, makes it twice easier to maintain database schema. You won’t need to open up, phpMyAdmin or any sort of that just to make updates to your applications.

How can we create a database with Laravel Migrations? Simple, by using the command migrate.

Open your command prompt and type in:

php artisan migrate

PHP artisan migrate: Could not find driver error

Illuminate\Database\QueryException  : could not find driver (SQL: select * from information_schema.tables where table_schema = homestead and table_name = mig
rations and table_type = 'BASE TABLE')Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

If you have encountered this kind of error, chances are you have not setup both of your .env and php.ini files. To fix this error, proceed to the directory where you installed PHP (In my case, it’s in C:\ drive) and open php.ini file using notepad or any text editor you prefer.

Once you open php.ini, search by pressing CTRL+F and look for the line:

;extension=pdo_sqlite

If there’s a semi-colon at the beginning of the line, remove it (the semi-colon NOT the whole line). That means it is being commented out and not being supported.

If you have noticed, we’re going to use SQLite for our database and not MySQL. Why? Well, there are other extensions that are commented in the ini file and it’s up to you which extension you want to use but in this tutorial we’ll be using SQLite.

Don’t forget to save the php.ini file.

The next file is the .env file.

You may locate this file in your project folder. Go to your project and open the file using your favorite text editor.

Once you opened the .env file, look for lines that start with DB_. Now delete the lines except the DB_CONNECTION=mysql.

Instead of mysql, change the value to sqlite.

It should look something like this.

Editing the Database of ENV file of Laravel

Now, since we made changes to our .env file, we are required to re-run our application.

Go back to the first command prompt we have created and press CTRL+C to stop the localhost from running. Then, run php artisan serve once again.

Stop Laravel Application from running locally with Command Prompt

Next, we need to create a file for our SQLite database. So in our project folder, look for the folder named database and create a file with a file extension .sqlite.

Just like below.

Create SQLite Database for Laravel Applications

After all of that, proceed to command prompt and try again the command php artisan migrate

You should see a response like this:

Good job! You have successfully created the database for your Laravel application. You may now register to your application and sign in.

Laravel Application with Account registration authentication

Laravel Authentication and Database issues

Conclusion

If you are new to Laravel, Congratulations! You have learned and created your very first Laravel application. Not just that, you have also learned what to do when you encounter errors with your database.

Laravel provides more awesome features and we’re going to tackle that in the future. For the meantime, I hope you have actually learned and enjoyed this tutorial. If you have suggestions or request, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments below.