Create a nice search bar UX with vue-search-input

The page search input, also named search box, search bar, quick search, quick find etc, is an integral part of any website or web app. Usually positioned at the top of the page (either left, center or right) the search bar is often the first interaction a user has with a website, as it provides a quick way to find information.

UX (best) practices

There are a lot of good write-ups such as this one by Dawson Beggs posted at UX Collective, regarding how a good search bar UX must be. Every website/web-app implements the global search input differently though. Let's take a quick look at how some of the popular ones are handling it.

Storybook

Storybook is a widely used, open source tool for building UI components in isolation.

• Magnifier icon on the left side
• Clear icon x
• Pressing the esc does not blur the input, but clears the input's text
• It includes a focus icon \ which disappears on input focus
• The \ key moves focus to the input also selecting the text inside it

GitHub

GitHub is used by over 73 million developers to host their Git repositories.

• No magnifier icon on the left or the right side
• No clear icon x
• The esc key blurs the input, but does not clear the input's text
• It includes a focus icon \ which disappears on input focus
• The \ key moves focus to the input without selecting the text

Gmail

Gmail is probably the most popular free email service.

• Magnifier icon on the left side
• Clear icon x
• Search options icon on the right side of the input
• The esc key blurs the input but does not clear the input's text
• There's no focus icon \
• The \ key doesn't move focus to the input

Your website, depending on the UX that you are trying to achieve, might require a different combination of these features.

Have no fear though, if you are using Vue.js 3 as your frontend framework (and you should 😉), vue-search-input has got you covered.

vue-search-input

vue-search-input is a Vue.js 3 search input component, inspired by the global search input of Storybook and GitHub. Although headless by default, it includes a sample stylesheet as well as all of the necessary features so that you can create the perfect search bar experience for your use-case.

Features at a glance

• Focus on the search input at any time by pressing the / key on the keyboard.
• Includes a default CSS styling but it's also easy to bring your own styles too.
• Displays an x icon on the right side of the search input, used for clearing the text when there's a value typed inside.
• The search text gets cleared by pressing the esc key when the search input has focus (configurable).
• Completely customizable behavior via props.
• Customizable icons via slots.

Installation and Usage

Install with npm

npm i vue-search-input

Import it in your app

import SearchInput from 'vue-search-input'

Optionally import styles

import 'vue-search-input/dist/styles.css'

Use it inside the template with a bound reactive variable

<SearchInput v-model="searchVal" />

Customization with props and slots

Props

You can customize the behavior and turn features on/off using props.

Name	Type	Default	Description
type	string	search	The type of the input field. Allowed types are search and text
modelValue (v-model)	string	The input's value	''
wrapperClass	string	The default CSS class of the wrapper div	search-input-wrapper
searchIcon	boolean	Displays the "search" icon	true
shortcutIcon	boolean	Displays the "shortcut" icon	true
clearIcon	boolean	Displays the "clear text" icon	true
hideShortcutIconOnBlur	boolean	Whether to hide the shortcut icon when the input loses focus	true
clearOnEsc	boolean	Whether to clear the input field when the esc key is pressed	true
blurOnEsc	boolean	Whether to takes the focus out of the input field when the esc key is pressed	true
selectOnFocus	boolean	Selects the input's text upon / keypress	true
shortcutListenerEnabled	boolean	Enables the functionality for the / keypress	true
shortcutKey	string	The key for the shortcut functionality	/

Slots

vue-search-input includes some default icons but you can also customize them to suit your needs using the available slots.

Name	Description	Default content
search-icon	Slot for the search icon	<i class="search-icon search"></i>
shortcut-icon	Slot for the shortcut icon	<i class="search-icon shortcut" title='Press "/" to search'></i>
clear-icon	Slot for the clear icon { clear: () => void } the function that clears the input	<button class="search-icon clear" aria-label="Clear" @mousedown="clear" @keydown.space.enter="clear"></button>
append	Adds an item inside the input wrapper, before the search icon	-
append-inner	Adds an item inside the input wrapper, after the search icon	-
prepend	Adds an item inside the input wrapper directly after the input element	-
prepend-outer	Adds an item inside the input wrapper directly after the clear icon	-

Demo with examples

Checkout an online demo of vue-search-input which includes examples that mimic the search bar functionality of Storybook, GitHub, Gmail and YouTube!
https://vue-search-input.vercel.app

If you liked vue-search-input it would be awesome if you visit its repo on GitHub and give it a star.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[mhx]

yeahh, its a nice plugin. but i think it's too simple to be a plugin. i prefer to make my own components for this😢