WPGraphQL-Composer

WP-GraphQL Composer is a library of React-Apollo components for creating React apps served by a WordPress site.

This library was created to be an extension of the WPGraphQL plugin, and components and their respective queries won't work without a GraphQL server serving a schema identical to the one created by the plugin. I'd recommend using it because no other GraphQL server for WordPress has been developed and tested to the extent of WPGraphQL to my knowledge.

The Goal

This component library is meant to serve a different purpose than most component libraries. The focus of the library is the minimize the logic workload of creating a React-Apollo app from a WPGraphQL-served endpoint. This is made possible by stitching together state/logic management components and view component using the Recompose library. Each component can be customized heavily using there .compose() function. View the Creating New Composers for more detail. If you view any of the following examples you'll notice the components have minimal styling. The components are designed to be used as boilerplates.

Getting Started

Run the command npm install recompose wp-graphql-composer in a the project directory of the Apollo-React app directory. Import HttpLink from apollo-link-http and WPProvider from wp-graphql-composer and wrap you root component in a WPProvider component. WPProvider is a wrapper component for ApolloProvider. It handles authentication middleware and reads JWT user tokens from HTML5 localStorage.

  import React from "react";
  import ReactDOM from "react-dom";
  import { HttpLink } from "apollo-link-http";
  import { Menu, WPProvider } from "wp-graphql-composer";

  // Create Link
  const httpLink = new HttpLink({ uri: '/graphql', credentials: 'same-origin' })

  // Note link prop
  ReactDOM.render(
    <WPProvider link={httpLink}>
      <div className="theme">
        <Header>
          <Menu location="PRIMARY" />
          <Login />
        </Header>
        <Main />
      </div>
    </WPProvider>
  );

Composing Custom Components

The following guide is a simple example of creating a custom Menu component with the menu composer.

1. Start by importing menu, menuItem, and subItem view components from wp-graphql-composer, as well as isEmpty and map from lodash.

...
import { menu, menuItem, subItem } from 'wp-graphql-composer';
import { isEmpty, map } from 'lodash';

2. Next create new components to be the new view layers for the menu, menu item, and sub menu components. It's not required that all three components recomposed, but it is being done in the example for reference.

  const subMenuView = ( { MenuItem, items } ) => (
    <ul className="sub-menu">
      { _.map( items, ( { id, url, label,  } ) => (
        <li key={ id }>
          <a href={ url }>{ label }</a>
        </li>
      ) ) }
    </ul>
  );

  const menuItemView = ( { url, label, items, SubMenu, } ) => (
    <React.Fragment>
      <a className="menu-item" href={ url }>{ label }</a>
      { !_.isEmpty( items ) && <SubMenu items={ items } /> }
    </React.Fragment>
  );

  const customMenuView = ( { items, MenuItem, SubMenu } ) => (
    <nav className="menu">
      { _.map( items, ( { id, ...r } ) => (
        <div key={ id } className="menu-item">
          <MenuItem { ...r } />
        </div>
      ) ) }
    </nav>
  );

3. Last use the composer assigned to compose on each of the imported view components to compose a new CustomMenu Component.

  const SubMenu = subMenu.compose({ view: subMenuView });
  const MenuItem = menuItem.compose({ view: menuItemView });
  const CustomMenu = menu.compose({
    view: customMenuView,
    MenuItem,
    SubMenu
  });

  ReactDOM.render(
    <WPProvider {...}>
      <CustomMenu location="SOCIAL" />
    </WPProvider>
  );

The following view components have a composer.

• archives
• header
• main
• menu
• menuItem
• attachment
• page
• post
• login
• userControls
• error
• loading

And customizing them is generally the same with a few key differences in the logic/state handling layers. Read more about the composers below.

What is a Composer?

A Composer is component factory made up of higher-order component stitched together with compose from the Recompose library.

How does it work?

  // attachment.jsx
  ...
  /**
   * Internal dependencies
   */
  import { Error, Loading } from '../utils'; 
  import { queryComposer } from '../composers';
  import { CUSTOM_LOGO_QUERY, ATTACHMENT_QUERY } from './query';
  import { customLogoMapper, attachmentMapper } from './attachment-mapper';

  ...

  attachment.compose = queryComposer({
    view: attachment, 
    whileLoading: { view: Loading },
    forError: { view: Error, type: '404-image' },
    queries: [
      {
        query: CUSTOM_LOGO_QUERY,
        cond: ({ customLogo }) => !!customLogo,
        mapper: customLogoMapper,
      },
      {
        query: ATTACHMENT_QUERY,
        cond: ({ customLogo }) => !customLogo,
        mapper: attachmentMapper,
        config: {
          options: ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }) => ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }),
          skip: ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }) => !id && !mediaItemId && !slug && !uri
        }
      },
    ],
  });

  const Attachment = attachment.compose();

  export { attachment, Attachment };

The above snippet is the definition for the Attachment composer.

The first thing you should notice is the queryComposer function.

  attachment.compose = queryComposer({ ... });

queryComposer is one of three functions provided for creating composers. The others are baseComposer and standardComposer. standardComposer is almost identical to queryComposer except is doesn't have a queries, and sharedMapper is simply called mapper property. The both accept an object as the parameter. The use cases are simple. Use queryComposer if you need Apollo/GraphQL query data with reusable logic, use standardComposer if you need a loading and error-handling layer, and for simply reusable logic use baseComposer. The Error and Loading composers are created using baseComposer.

The next is the first three properties of the object parameter.

  view: attachment, 
  whileLoading: { view: Loading },
  forError: { view: Error, type: '404-image' },

view, whileLoading, and forError. These properties define loading, error, and view layers of the factory.

• view Component - view layer component rendered after all other layers have been processed and component has left the loading state and no errors have been thrown.
• whileLoading object - the first Higher-Order-Component called in composers created by the baseComposer and second after queries in the queryComposer. It renders an alternative component base upon a conditional statement. Its takes an object with two properties as the parameter.
  • view Component - component rendered when cond returns truthy value.
  • cond function *optional - conditional to determine if component is in a loading state or not. Component props object is provided as a parameter. It defaults to props => !!props.data.loading.
• forError object - Higher-Order-Component called after whileLoading. It handles errors thrown in the query layer HOC before its called and catches any error thrown in the layers called after it. And like whileLoading it takes an object with properties as the parameter.
  • view Component - component rendered when error thrown.
  • cond function *optional - conditional to determine if error was flagged in layer called before the error layer. Component props object is provided as a parameter. It defaults to props => (!!props[errorProp] || !!props.error).
  • errorProp string *optional - path to prop used as errorProp in cond. Defaults to data.error.message.
  • type string* *optional - error type flagged when cond returns truthy value.

The last key thing to note is the queries property.

  queries: [
    {
      query: CUSTOM_LOGO_QUERY,
      cond: ({ customLogo }) => !!customLogo,
      mapper: customLogoMapper,
    },
    {
      query: ATTACHMENT_QUERY,
      cond: ({ customLogo }) => !customLogo,
      mapper: attachmentMapper,
      config: {
        options: ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }) => ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }),
        skip: ({ id, mediaItemId, slug, uri }) => !id && !mediaItemId && !slug && !uri
      }
    },
  ],

This is one of two properties unique to the queryComposer and it's the most complex.

• queries array - array of query configurations to be used by the resulting component. The configurations take for properies.
  • query gql - query to be requested
  • cond function *optional - conditional function to determine if query should be used based upon prop provided. Ex. props => !!props.id.
  • config object *optional - configuration use by Apollo's graphql higher-order component
  • mapper function *optional - props mapper function called after query is successful and loading state has been passed.

Also, take in account that the first configuration with a cond that returns true is the configurations used.

There are a few more properties, you can find out more about in the next section. Try a remember the composers layer hierachy shown below and everything should work out.

// QueryComposer
...queries(loading(error(queryMapper(...defaultExtraHocs(...extraHocs(sharedMapper(view)))))))

// BaseComposer
loading(error(...defaultExtraHocs(...extraHocs(mapper(view)))))

Composers

baseComposer -

  const composer = baseComposer({
    // default view layer component
    view: viewComponent,
    // default mapper function
    mapper: propsMapper
  });

  // all default values can be overwritten in composed instances
  const ComposedComponent = composer({ newView, newMapper });

standardComposer - composers/factories created from this function are for creating components that require reusable logic wrapped in an loading state higher-order-component, error handling higher-order-component, and a props mapper.

  const composer = standardComposer({
    // default view layer component
    view: ViewComponent,
    // default properties passed to loading state handler 
    loading: { view: LoadingViewComponent, cond: props => !!props.loading },
    // default properties passed to error state handler
    error: { view: ErrorViewComponent, errorType: 'error', errorProp: 'error' },
    // default HOCs wrapped around the mapper and view layer component
    extraHocs: [],
    // default mapper function
    mapper: props => props,
    // all other parameters are pass to the view component as a prop.
    ...extraDefaults,
  });

  // all default values can be overwritten in composed instances
  const ComposedComponent = composer({ view, loading, error, extraHocs, mapper });

queryComposer - similar to standardComposer but it includes conditional GraphQL HOCs each can have a cond function prop and mapper.

  const composer = queryComposer({
    // default view layer component
    view: ViewComponent,
    // default query properties
    queries: [{ query: GRAPHQL_QUERY, config: { options: {...}, ... }, mapper }]
    // default properties passed to loading state handler
    loading: { view: LoadingViewComponent, cond: props => !!props.loading }, 
    // default properties passed to error state handler
    error: { view: ErrorViewComponent, errorType: 'error', errorProp: 'error' }, 
    // default HOCs wrapped around the mapper and view layer component
    extraHocs: [],
    // default mapper function shared by all queries
    sharedMapper: props => props,
    // all other parameters are pass to the view component as a props.
    ...extraDefaults,
  });

  // just like with baseComposer all default values can be overwritten in composed instances
  const ComposedComponent = composer({ view, queries, loading, error, extraHocs, mapper });

Components

WPProvider

Handles setting up an ApolloProvider and authenication middleware for using WPGraphQL JWT Authentication

Props

• link Apollo HttpLink HttpLink object used designating the GraphQL server information
• fragmentData object/shape - GraphQL server information used to describe query info. See more below.

Example

  import React from react;
  import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
  import { HttpLink } from 'apollo-link-http';
  import { WPProvider } from 'wp-graphql-composer';

  const httpLink = new HttpLink({
      uri: endpoint,
      credentials: 'same-origin',
  });

  ReactDOM.render (
    <WPProvider link={ httpLink }>
      { children }
    </WPProvider>
  );

Main

Handles routing by querying for WordPress reading and permalink setting and passing it on to a routing function that process the data and returns a Routing Component that is provided to the view component as prop named Routes. The routing function can be substituted for a custom Routing setup.

Notes

The default routing function is designed to mimics WordPress' default pretty permalink and has two key requirements.

• Pretty permalinks must be enabled on the WordPress site serving the WPGraphQL server.
• react-router-dom package be installed and Main is wrapped in a BrowserRouter, HashRouter or the like.

WPRouting Component props

• archive Component component for handling WP Archive routes including tag and category paths
• page Component component for handling WP Page routes
• post Component component for handling WP Post routes
• frontChildren any for inserting extra routes at the start of react-router-dom Switch component.
• children any for inserting extra routes before the catch-all route of react-router-dom Switch component.

Custom view component example using Routes

  import React from 'react';
  import { main } from 'wp-graphql-composer';

  const view = ({ Archive, Page, Post, Routes, ...rest }) => {
    return (
      <main className="main" {...rest}>
        <Routes archive={Archive} page={Page} post={Post}>
          <Route exact path="/books/:id" component={Book} />
        <Routes>
      </main>
    );
  };

  const Main = main.compose({ view });

Attachment

Renders images stored in the WP media library

Props

Notes

• CUSTOM_LOGO_QUERY unusable until WPGraphQL PR#571 merged*

Page

Renders component using WP Page data

Notes

• Schema patch needed for use. Read more below.

Post

Renders component using WP Post data

Notes

• Schema patch needed for use. Read more below.

Archives

Queries a list of WP Posts based on props provided.

Props

• where object/shape filter parameters
  • category string post category
  • tag string post tag
  • year integer year post created
  • month integer month post created
  • author string post author
  • search string post search
• first integer post count limit

Notes

• Schema patch needed. Read more below.

Header

Renders Site Info(Title and Description)

Menu

Renders component using WP Menu data

Login

Handles user login using login mutation provided by the WPGraphQL-JWT-Authenication plugin and the authenication middleware managed by the WPProvider component. This means that in order for this component to work the WPGraphQL-JWT-Authenication must be installed and activated on the WordPress site behind the GraphQL endpoint.

Util Components

• Error
• Icon
• Loading

Composer Functions

• BaseComposer
• QueryComposer
• UtilComposer

Higher-Order Components

• whileLoading
• forError
• composeQuery

Project Structure

├── bin
├── dist
│   ├── index.js
│   ├── index.js.map
│   ├── index.module.js
│   └── index.module.js.map
├── src
│   ├── ... - components
│   └── index.js - library exporter
├── test
│   ├── __unit_tests__ - component tests
│   ├── __util_tests__ - util component tests
│   ├── composers.test.js - composer function and HOC tests
│   └── fragmentTypes.json - Introspection data for Apollo test utils
├── .babelrc
├── .gitignore
├── .npmignore
├── CHANGELOG
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
├── LICENSE
├── package.json
├── README.md
├── rollup.config.js
└── package.json 

Schema patch

By default some WP settings aren't exposed by WPGraphQL. This is due to the fact that these settings aren't loaded using WordPress's Option API. While there have been talks of patching these settings in WPGraphQL nothing has been done as of yet. To get around this issue the settings can be added to the WPGraphQL schema manually. Below is an example that you can copy and patch into your theme's functions.php or plugin's [plugin-name].php. These are also the settings needed by a couple of the components in the library.

use GraphQLRelay\Relay;
use \WPGraphQL\Data\DataSource;

function wp_graphql_schema_patch() {
  register_graphql_fields( 'Settings', [
    /** 
     * Defines the home_url setting
     */
    'homeUrl' => [
      'type' => 'String',
      'description' => __( 'The url to current site. Use this if site is a multisite' ),
      'resolve' => function() {
        return home_url();
      },
    ],
  ] );

  /** 
   * Holds the post type object permalink field
   */
  $permalink = [
    'type' 				=> 'String',
    'args' 				=> [
      'leavename' => [
        'type' 				=> 'Boolean',
        'description' => __( 'Whether to keep post name or page name' ),
      ],
    ],
    'description' 	=> __( 'The permalink to the post object' ),
    'resolve' => function( \WP_Post $post, $args ) {
      if ( ! empty( $args['leavename'] ) && $args['leavename'] ) {
        $leavename = true;
      } else {
        $leavename = false;
      }

      /**
      * Strip site url for routing use
      */
      $permalink = str_replace( home_url() . '/', '', get_permalink( $post, $leavename ) );
      return ( $permalink ) ? $permalink : null;
    },
  ];
  register_graphql_field( 'post', 'permalink', $permalink );
  register_graphql_field( 'page', 'permalink', $permalink );
  register_graphql_field( 'attachment', 'permalink', $permalink );

  $isGutenPost = [
    'type' 				=> 'Boolean',
    'description' 	=> __( 'Is post made with the Gutenberg' ),
    'resolve' => function( \WP_Post $post, $args ) {
      $is_guten_post = preg_match("/<!-- wp:(.*) -->/", $post->post_content ) ? true : false;
      return $is_guten_post;
    },
  ];
  register_graphql_field( 'post', 'isGutenPost', $isGutenPost );
  register_graphql_field( 'page', 'isGutenPost', $isGutenPost );
}
add_action( 'graphql_register_types', 'function wp_graphql_schema_patch' );

Introspection CLI

This scripts fetches schema fragment data for use with WPProvider to silent heuristic fragment warnings.

Setup

Before using the script you have to install two dependencies. Run the following npm install --save-dev chalk node-fetch.

Usage

Run the script using wpg-intro <endpoint> <output>. <endpoint> is the WPGraphQL endpoint being used by the app and it's required. <output> is the path the output json file should be saved to, it defaults to the project working directory root.

Example

To use introspection data with the WPProvider component, import introspection json file as a module and set it to WPProvider as the fragmentData prop.

...
import { WPProvider } from 'wp-graphql-composer';
import json from './path/to/fragment/file';

...

ReactDOM.render(
  (
    <WPProvider link={httpLink} fragmentData={json}>
      ...
    </WPProvider>
  ),
  document.getElementById('root'),
);