VueOnboardingTour

VueOnboardingTour is a Vue.js component that creates guided, step-by-step onboarding tours to help users navigate your app intuitively.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Documentation
  • Props
    • tourId
    • defaultTemplate
    • overlay
    • startEvent
    • scrollableContainerSelector
    • cookieStorage
    • endDate
    • labelTerminate
    • steps
  • Exposed Methods
    • startTour()
    • endTour()
    • goNextStep()
    • goPreviousStep()
    • setStep(index)
  • Cookie Storage
    • What is Cookie Storage?
    • How does it work?
    • Cookie Format
    • Example Setup
    • Clearing Cookies
  • Example Usage

Installation

Prerequisites

• Vue.js (Vue 2 or Vue 3) must be installed in your project.

1. Install the Package

Using npm:

npm install vue-onboarding-tour

Or, using yarn:

yarn add vue-onboarding-tour

2. Import and Register the Library in Your Project

After installation, import vue-onboarding-tour in your main JavaScript file and register it as a Vue plugin.

For Vue 2:

// main.js
import Vue from 'vue'
import App from './App.vue'
import VueOnboardingTour from 'vue-onboarding-tour'

Vue.use(VueOnboardingTour)

new Vue({
  render: (h) => h(App),
}).$mount('#app')

For Vue 3:

// main.js
import { createApp } from 'vue'
import App from './App.vue'
import VueOnboardingTour from 'vue-onboarding-tour'

const app = createApp(App)
app.use(VueOnboardingTour)
app.mount('#app')

Documentation

The VueOnboardingTour component allows for creating an interactive, step-by-step tour within a Vue application. Here is a detailed breakdown of the props to customize your tour.

Props

tourId

• Type: String | Number

• Required: true

• Description: A unique identifier for the tour. If cookieStorage is enabled, this ID is used to store a cookie, ensuring the tour is only shown once per user.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" />

defaultTemplate

• Type: Boolean

• Default: true

• Description: Controls whether the default tour template is used. Set to false to design a custom template for the tour steps.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" :defaultTemplate="false" />

overlay

• Type: Boolean

• Default: true

• Description: Enables or disables the overlay mask that highlights the area around the target element during each step.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" :overlay="false" />

startEvent

• Type: String
• Default: undefined
• Description: A custom event name that, when triggered, will start the tour. This is useful if you want the tour to start based on a specific user action or event.

Usage:

<VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" startEvent="showTour" />

Example:

To start the tour from a parent component, you can emit a custom event and pass the event name to the startEvent prop. Below is an example of how to trigger the tour using the custom event.

Parent Component (ParentComponent.vue):

<template>
  <div>
    <button @click="startTour">Start Tour</button>
    <VueOnboardingTour
      :tourId="123"
      :steps="steps"
      startEvent="showTour"
      labelTerminate="Finish Tour"
    />
    <div id="step1"></div>
    <div id="step2"></div>
  </div>
</template>

<script lang="ts">
  export default {
    data() {
      return {
        steps: [
          {
            target: '#step1',
            title: 'Welcome',
            description: 'This is the first step of the tour.',
          },
          {
            target: '#step2',
            title: 'Features',
            description: 'This is where you can find features overview.',
          },
        ],
      }
    },
    methods: {
      startTour() {
        // Emit the custom event to start the tour
        window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('showTour'))
      },
    },
  }
</script>

In this example, the ParentComponent contains a button that triggers the startTour method when clicked. This method emits the showTour event to start the onboarding tour in the VueOnboardingTour component.

scrollableContainerSelector

• Type: String

• Default: undefined

• Description: A CSS selector for a scrollable container within which the target elements are located. If set, the component will scroll this container to bring target elements into view instead of scrolling the entire page.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" scrollableContainerSelector="#main-container" />

cookieStorage

• Type: Boolean

• Default: false

• Description: Determines whether to store a cookie once the tour is completed, so it only shows once per user.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" :cookieStorage="true" />

endDate

• Type: Date

• Default: undefined

• Description: The endDate prop allows you to set an expiration date for the tour. After this date, the tour will not be shown again, even if the cookie is not present. Additionally, all cookies set by this component (such as those used for cookieStorage) will have an expiration date equal to this endDate. As a result, these cookies will be automatically cleared from the user's browser once the expiration date is reached.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour
    :tourId="123"
    :steps="steps"
    :cookieStorage="true"
    :endDate="new Date('2025-01-01')"
  />

labelTerminate

• Type: String

• Default: 'close'

• Description: The label for the button or text used to close the tour at the last step. Customize this label to suit your app's language or tone.

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" labelTerminate="Finish" />

steps

• Type: Array

• Required: true

• Description: An array of objects defining each step in the tour. Each step object has the following fields:

  • target (String): A CSS selector for the element to highlight.
  • title (String, optional): The title text for the step.
  • description (String, optional): A description for the step.
  • tag (String, optional): Additional text or label to be shown in the step (e.g., a category or type label).
  • beforeScript (Function, optional): A function to be executed before showing the step.
  • afterScript (Function, optional): A function to be executed after displaying the step.

  Example Steps Array:

  const steps = [
    {
      target: '#step1',
      title: 'Welcome',
      description: 'This is the starting point of the tour.',
      tag: 'Step 1',
      beforeScript: () => console.log('Preparing for Step 1'),
      afterScript: () => console.log('Completed Step 1'),
    },
    {
      target: '#step2',
      title: 'Feature Overview',
      description: 'Here you can learn about the main features of our app.',
      tag: 'Step 2',
    },
  ]

  Usage:

  <VueOnboardingTour :tourId="123" :steps="steps" />

Exposed Methods

startTour()

Purpose:
Starts the onboarding tour programmatically.

Usage:
Trigger the tour when needed,

e.g., after a button click or other user action.

this.$refs.onboardingTour.startTour()

endTour()

Purpose:
Ends the onboarding tour programmatically.

Usage:
Call this method to finish the tour prematurely.

this.$refs.onboardingTour.endTour()

goNextStep()

Purpose:
Moves to the next step of the tour.

Usage:
Use this method to skip to the next tour step programmatically.

this.$refs.onboardingTour.goNextStep()

goPreviousStep()

Purpose:
Moves to the previous step of the tour.

Usage:
Use this method to go back to the previous step in the tour.

this.$refs.onboardingTour.goPreviousStep()

setStep(index)

Purpose:
Sets the tour to a specific step based on its index.

Usage:
Programmatically jump to a specific step.

this.$refs.onboardingTour.setStep(2) // Jumps to the third step

Cookie Storage

What is Cookie Storage?

The cookieStorage prop allows you to persist the state of the tour using cookies in the user's browser. When enabled, it ensures that the onboarding tour is only shown to the user once. After the user completes the tour, a cookie is set on their device, marking the tour as completed. The next time the user visits the site, the tour will not be displayed unless the cookie expires or is cleared.

How does it work?

1. Setting the Cookie: When cookieStorage is enabled, a cookie with the name vue_onboarding_tour_{tourId} is created. The value of the cookie is a JSON object that stores the date the tour was completed.
2. Checking the Cookie: On subsequent visits, the component checks if the cookie exists and whether the user has already completed the tour. If the cookie exists and is valid (not expired), the tour will not be shown again.
3. Expiration (Optional): You can also set an expiration date for the tour. The endDate prop allows you to set an expiration date for the tour. After this date, the tour will not be shown again, even if the cookie is not present. Additionally, all cookies set by this component (such as those used for cookieStorage) will have an expiration date equal to this endDate. As a result, these cookies will be automatically cleared from the user's browser once the expiration date is reached.

Cookie Format

The cookie stored is a JSON object with the following format:

{
  "tourId": "123",
  "completedAt": "2024-11-12T12:00:00Z"
}

Where:

• tourId: The unique ID of the tour (matching the tourId prop).
• completedAt: The date and time when the tour was completed, stored in ISO 8601 format.

Example Setup

To enable cookie storage and set an expiration date, you can use the following configuration:

<VueOnboardingTour
  :tourId="123"
  :steps="steps"
  :cookieStorage="true"
  :endDate="new Date('2025-01-01')"
/>

In this example:

• The cookieStorage prop is set to true, so a cookie will be stored when the tour is completed.
• The endDate is set to January 1, 2025. After this date, the cookie will be considered expired, and the tour will no longer appear, regardless of the user's previous completion.