How do I add an active class to a Link from React Router?

Question

I've created a bootstrap-style sidebar using Link. Here is a snippet of my code:

<ul className="sidebar-menu">
  <li className="header">MAIN NAVIGATION</li>
  <li><Link to="dashboard"><i className="fa fa-dashboard"></i> <span>Dashboard</span></Link></li>
  <li><Link to="email_lists"><i className="fa fa-envelope-o"></i> <span>Email Lists</span></Link></li>
  <li><Link to="billing"><i className="fa fa-credit-card"></i> <span>Buy Verifications</span></Link></li>
</ul>

I want to set the class for the active path to active on the wrapping element <li>. I see there are other solutions out there that show how to do this like Conditionally set active class on menu using react router current route, however I don't think that it's the best way to set an active class on a wrapper to a Link.

I also found https://github.com/insin/react-router-active-component but it feels like it is unnecessary.

In React Router, is this possible or do I need to use an external solution?

Answer 1

On the Link component you can now add activeClassName or set activeStyle.

These allow you to easily add styles to the currently active link.

---

Previously, you could create a custom component that works like a wrapper to Link with the following logic.

In a file called nav_link.js

import React from 'react';
import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';
import PropTypes from 'prop-types';

class NavLink extends React.Component {
    render() {
        var isActive = this.context.router.route.location.pathname === this.props.to;
        var className = isActive ? 'active' : '';

        return(
            <Link className={className} {...this.props}>
                {this.props.children}
            </Link>
        );
    }
}

NavLink.contextTypes = {
    router: PropTypes.object
};

export default NavLink;

And use it as given below in your component:

...
import NavLink from "./nav_link";
.....

<nav>
    <ul className="nav nav-pills pull-right">
        <NavLink to="/">
            <i className="glyphicon glyphicon-home"></i> <span>Home</span>
        </NavLink>
        <NavLink to="about">
            <i className="glyphicon glyphicon-camera"></i> <span>About</span>
        </NavLink>
    </ul>
</nav>