How to Handle Network Disconnections Gracefully in a Next.js Application
Ensuring a great user experience often involves handling network disruptions gracefully. In this article, we’ll learn how to detect network connection changes in a Next.js application and display a warning to users when the connection is lost.
1. Why Monitor Network Connection?
- Improved User Experience: Informing users about connection status prevents confusion.
- Prevent Data Loss: Ensure critical actions like form submissions are halted during connection loss
- Resilience: Allow users to retry actions when the connection is restored.
2. Determining Network Status from the Browser
navigator is provided by modern browsers. onLine property and online/offlineevents to keep track of network changes.
navigator.onLine: It returns true if the browser is in online state. online and offline events: It fired when the network status is changed.
3.Implementation Steps
In this article we’ll create a NetworkStatus component, that:
- Detects network changes.
- Shows a warning banner when not connected.
- Hides the warning banner when the connection is restored.
4. Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Create a NetworkStatus Component
Create a new file components/NetworkStatus.jsx.
Step 2: Add the Created Component into Your App
Add the NetworkStatus component to your layout or pages/_app so the warning is accessible globally. js.
Then Modify pages/_app.js:
Step 3: Style the Warning Banner
Add custom styling to make the banner fit your application’s design. For example, you can extend the bannerStyles in the NetworkStatus component or define styles in your global CSS file (styles/globals.css).
Update the component to use the created css class:
Step 4: Handle Advanced Scenarios (Optional)
Custom Alerts or Modals: Instead of a banner, you could use a modal to block user actions when offline.
Polling for Connection: If navigator.onLine is unreliable, consider polling a server endpoint periodically to check connectivity.
Example:
Use setInterval to call pingServer every few seconds.
5. Testing the Feature
Simulate Offline Mode: In your browser Chrome DevTools, go to the Network tab, and then select Offline mode from the throttling options.
Reconnect: Return to Online mode in DevTools and observe the banner disappearing.
Final Code Summary
components/NetworkStatus.jsx:
pages/_app.js:
7. Conclusion
Monitoring network status and informing users about connectivity changes is a small but impactful feature that can significantly enhance the user experience of your Next.js application. With just a few lines of code, you can create a responsive and resilient UI that gracefully handles network disruptions.
