Managing Content and Static Data in Next.js

In the journey of developing a Next.js application, efficiently managing content and static data is essential for a seamless user experience. This article explores how to create documentation pages using markdown and how to effectively manage static data using the public directory in Next.js.

Creating Documentation Pages with Markdown

Documentation is an integral part of any web application. In Next.js, you can create documentation pages easily by utilizing markdown, a lightweight markup language. To achieve this, we can make use of the react-markdown library, which allows us to render markdown content as React components.

First, let's install the react-markdown library using npm or yarn:

npm install react-markdown
# or
yarn add react-markdown

Now, let's create a documentation page named documentation.md in the pages directory:

# Welcome to Our Documentation

In this section, we'll explore the features of our application and how to get started.

## Getting Started

To start using our application, follow these steps...

## Features

Our application offers the following features...

Next, create a file named documentation.js in the pages directory to render the markdown content:

import React from 'react';
import ReactMarkdown from 'react-markdown';

const documentationContent = `# Welcome to Our Documentation\n\nIn this section, we'll explore the features of our application and how to get started.\n\n## Getting Started\n\nTo start using our application, follow these steps...\n\n## Features\n\nOur application offers the following features...`;

function Documentation() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Documentation</h1>
      <ReactMarkdown>{documentationContent}</ReactMarkdown>
    </div>
  );
}

export default Documentation;

In this example, the documentationContent variable contains the markdown content, and the ReactMarkdown component from the react-markdown library is used to render it as HTML.

Managing Static Data with the Public Directory

In Next.js, the public directory is a special folder used for serving static assets like images, fonts, and other files. This directory is accessible from the root of your application.

To include an image located in the public directory, you can use the following code in your component:

<img src="/image.png" alt="An example image" />

This code will reference the image named image.png located in the public directory.

Conclusion

In this section, you've learned how to create documentation pages using markdown and the react-markdown library, as well as how to manage static data using the public directory in Next.js. These techniques will help you provide comprehensive content and effectively manage static assets in your Next.js application.

Managing Content and Static Data in Next.js