---
title: Widget Tutorial
description: Follow along with this guide to learn how to create a custom widget for Homepage. We'll cover the basic structure of a widget, how to use translations, and how to fetch data from an API.
---
In this guide, we'll walk through the process of creating a custom widget for Homepage. We'll cover the basic structure of a widget, how to use translations, and how to fetch data from an API. By the end of this guide, you'll have a solid understanding of how to build your own custom widget.
**Prerequisites:**
- Basic knowledge of React and JavaScript
- Familiarity with the Homepage platform
- Understanding of JSON and API interactions
Throughout this guide, we'll use `yourwidget` as a placeholder for the unique name of your custom widget. Replace `yourwidget` with the actual name of your widget. It should contain only lowercase letters and no spaces.
This guide makes use of a fake API, which would return a JSON response as such, when called with the `v1/info` endpoint:
```json
{ "key1": 123, "key2": 456, "key3": 789 }
```
## Set up the widget definition
Create a new folder for your widget in the `src/widgets` directory. Name the folder `yourwidget`.
Inside the `yourwidget` folder, create a new file named `widget.js`. This file will contain the metadata for your widget.
Open the `widget.js` file and add the following code:
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/widget.js"
import genericProxyHandler from "utils/proxy/handlers/generic"; // (1)!
const widget = /* (2)! */ {
api: "{url}/{endpoint}" /* (3)! */,
proxyHandler: genericProxyHandler /* (1)! */,
mappings: /* (4)! */ {
info: /* (5)! */ {
endpoint: "v1/info" /* (6)! */,
},
},
};
export default widget;
```
1. We import the `genericProxyHandler` from the `utils/proxy/handlers/generic` module. The `genericProxyHandler` is a generic handler that can be used to fetch data from an API. We then assign the `genericProxyHandler` to the `proxyHandler` property of the `widget` object. There are other handlers available that you can use depending on your requirements. You can also create custom handlers if needed.
2. We define a `widget` object that contains the metadata for the widget.
3. The API endpoint to fetch data from. You can use placeholders like `{url}` and `{endpoint}` to dynamically generate the API endpoint based on the widget configuration.
4. An object that contains mappings for different endpoints. Each mapping should have an `endpoint` property that specifies the endpoint to fetch data from.
5. A mapping named `info` that specifies the `v1/info` endpoint to fetch data from. This would be called from the component as such: `#!js useWidgetAPI(widget, "info");`
6. The `endpoint` property of the `info` mapping specifies the endpoint to fetch data from. There are other properties you can pass to the mapping, such as `method`, `headers`, and `body`.
!!! warning "Important"
All widgets that fetch data from dynamic endpoints should have either `mappings` or an `allowedEndpoints` property.
## Including translation strings in your widget
Refer to the [translations guide](translations.md) for more details. The Homepage community prides itself on being multilingual, and we strongly encourage you to add translations for your widgets.
## Create the widget component
Create a new file for your widgets component, named `component.jsx`, in the `src/widgets/yourwidget` directory. We'll build the contents of the `component.jsx` file step by step.
First, we'll import the necessary dependencies:
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="1"
import { useTranslation } from "next-i18next"; // (1)!
import Container from "components/services/widget/container"; // (2)!
import Block from "components/services/widget/block"; // (3)!
import useWidgetAPI from "utils/proxy/use-widget-api"; // (4)!
```
1. `#!js useTranslation()` is a hook provided by `next-i18next` that allows us to access the translation strings
2. `#!jsx <Container>` and `#!jsx <Block>` are custom components that we'll use to structure our widget.
3. `#!jsx <Container>` and `#!jsx <Block>` are custom components that we'll use to structure our widget.
4. `#!js useWidgetAPI(widget, endpoint)` is a custom hook that we'll use to fetch data from an API.
---
Next, we'll define a functional component named `Component` that takes a `service` prop.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="7"
export default function Component({ service }) {}
```
---
We grab the helper functions from the `useTranslation` hook.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="8"
const { t } = useTranslation();
```
---
We destructure the `widget` object from the `service` prop. The `widget` object contains the metadata for the widget, such as the API endpoint to fetch data from.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="9"
const { widget } = service;
```
---
Now, the fun part! We use the `useWidgetAPI` hook to fetch data from an API. The `useWidgetAPI` hook takes two arguments: the `widget` object and the API endpoint to fetch data from. The `useWidgetAPI` hook returns an object with `data` and `error` properties.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="10"
const { data, error } = useWidgetAPI(widget, "info");
```
!!! tip "API Tips"
You'll see here how part of the API url is built using the `url` and `endpoint` properties from the widget definition.
In this case, we're fetching data from the `info` endpoint. The `info` endpoint is defined in the `mappings` object. So the full API endpoint will be `"{url}/v1/info"`.
The mapping and endpoint are often the same, but must be defined regardless.
---
Next, we check if there's an error or no data.
If there's an error, we return a `Container` and pass it the `service` and `error` as props. The `Container` component will handle displaying the error message.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="12"
if (error) {
return <Container service={service} error={error} />;
}
```
---
If there's no data, we return a `Container` component with three `Block` components, each with a `label`.
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="16"
if (!data) {
return (
<Container service={service}>
<Block label="yourwidget.key1" />
<Block label="yourwidget.key2" />
<Block label="yourwidget.key3" />
</Container>
);
}
```
This will render the widget with placeholders for the data, i.e., a skeleton view.
!!! tip "Translation Tips"
The `label` prop in the `Block` component corresponds to the translation key we defined earlier in the `common.js` file. All text and numerical content should be translated.
---
If there is data, we return a `Container` component with three `Block` components, each with a `label` and a `value`.
Here we use the `t` function from the `useTranslation` hook to translate the data values. The `t` function takes the translation key and an object with variables to interpolate into the translation string.
We're using the `common.number` translation key to format the data values as numbers. This allows for easy localization of numbers, such as using commas or periods as decimal separators.
There are a large number of `common` numerical translation keys available, which you can learn more about in the [Translation Guide](translations.md).
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="26"
return (
<Container service={service}>
<Block label="yourwidget.key1" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key1 })} />
<Block label="yourwidget.key2" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key2 })} />
<Block label="yourwidget.key3" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key3 })} />
</Container>
);
```
---
Here's the complete `component.jsx` file:
```js title="src/widgets/yourwidget/component.jsx" linenums="1"
import { useTranslation } from "next-i18next";
import Container from "components/services/widget/container";
import Block from "components/services/widget/block";
import useWidgetAPI from "utils/proxy/use-widget-api";
export default function Component({ service }) {
const { t } = useTranslation();
const { widget } = service;
const { data, error } = useWidgetAPI(widget, "info");
if (error) {
return <Container service={service} error={error} />;
}
if (!data) {
return (
<Container service={service}>
<Block label="yourwidget.key1" />
<Block label="yourwidget.key2" />
<Block label="yourwidget.key3" />
</Container>
);
}
return (
<Container service={service}>
<Block label="yourwidget.key1" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key1 })} />
<Block label="yourwidget.key2" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key2 })} />
<Block label="yourwidget.key3" value={t("common.number", { value: data.key3 })} />
</Container>
);
}
```
## Add the widget to the Homepage
To add your widget to the Homepage, you need to register it in the `src/widgets/widgets.js` file.
Open the `src/widgets/widgets.js` file and import the `Component` from your widget's `component.jsx` file. Please keep the alphabetical order.
```js
// ...
import yourwidget from "./yourwidget/widget";
// ...
```
Add `yourwidget` to the `widgets` object. Please keep the alphabetical order.
```js
const widgets = {
// ...
yourwidget: yourwidget,
// ...
};
```
You also need to add the widget to the `components` object in the `src/widgets/components.js` file.
Open the `src/widgets/components.js` file and import the `Component` from your widget's `component.jsx` file.
Please keep the alphabetical order.
```js
const components = {
// ...
yourwidget: dynamic(() => import("./yourwidget/component")),
// ...
};
```
## Using the widget
You can now use your custom widget in your Homepage. Open your `services.yaml` file and add a new service with the `yourwidget` widget.
```yaml
- Services:
- Your Widget:
icon: yourwidget.svg
href: https://example.com/
widget:
type: yourwidget
url: http://127.0.0.1:1337
```
!!! tip "API Tips"
You'll see here how part of the API url is built using the `url` and `endpoint` properties from the widget definition.
We defined the api endpoint as `"{url}/{endpoint}"`. This is where the `url` is defined. So the full API endpoint will be `http://127.0.0.1:1337/{endpoint}`.
---
That's it! You've successfully created a custom widget for Homepage. If you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out to the Homepage community for assistance. Happy coding!