How to create a Chat screen

Ionic Design Kit, built on a design base of Ionic Framework components, simplifies app development by providing designers with a range of pre-made elements. Designers can effortlessly pick and place elements, eliminating the need to create components from scratch. For developers, this means no complex coding – all components are sourced from the Ionic Framework. The result is a speedy, efficient, and collaborative process, making the Ionic Design Kit essential for both designers and developers.

The Chat Screen is a crucial feature in messaging apps, customer support tools, and collaborative platforms. It serves as a real-time communication hub, allowing users to send and receive messages. A well-designed Chat Screen fosters seamless interaction, enhances user engagement, and supports key features like message delivery indicators, typing notifications, and multimedia support.

This guide will walk you through the steps to design and implement a Chat Screen using the Ionic Design Kit. By leveraging its design elements and the Ionic Framework, you can create a clean, responsive, and intuitive chat experience that users will love.

1. Install Ionic CLI with the command

Creating a project with the Ionic CLI

npm i -g @ionic/cli

2. Create a new project

To create a new project, run the following command.

ionic start chat blank --type=react

3. Get inside the project directory

cd chat

4. Create a Chat page

Create page Chat.tsx inside src/pages and add code.

import { IonPage } from '@ionic/react';

const Chat: React.FC = () => {
  return (
    <IonPage></IonPage>
  );
};

export default Chat;

Please make sure that you've added routing in src/App.tsx for the created page. All Ionic framework components that will be used below should be imported similarly to the IonPage component.

5. Select the layout structure

For convenience, we will be using the layout structure recommended by Ionic for all screens. This allows us to add header code and content inside the IonPage.

<IonPage>
  <IonHeader>
    <IonToolbar>
    ...
    </IonToolbar>
  </IonHeader>
  <IonContent>
  ...
  </IonContent>
</IonPage>

6. Place the Back button component

Inside the IonToolbar component, add an IonButtons component with the slot set to start, positioning the button at the beginning of the toolbar. Also, add className='ion-padding-start' to provide padding at the start.

Within the IonButtons component, include an IonBackButton component with the properties defaultHref='#' and text=''. This creates a back button that navigates back in the app's history when clicked. To customize the default icon, set the icon property to {arrowBack}. Ensure that {arrowBack} has been imported correctly from Ionic icons.

import { arrowBack, videocamOutline, personAddOutline, arrowUpOutline } from "ionicons/icons";
...
<IonHeader>
    <IonToolbar>
        <IonButtons slot='start' className='ion-padding-start'>
            <IonBackButton defaultHref='#' text='' icon={arrowBack} />
        </IonButtons>
    </IonToolbar>
</IonHeader>

7. Put the title on top of the page

Place the IonTitle with the text 'Three Musketeers' to add a title for this page.

<IonHeader>
    <IonToolbar>
        <IonButtons slot='start' className='ion-padding-start'>
            <IonBackButton defaultHref='#' text='' icon={arrowBack} />
        </IonButtons>
        <IonTitle className='ion-text-start'>Three Musketeers</IonTitle>
    </IonToolbar>
</IonHeader>

8. Place the Video and Add person buttons

Inside the IonToolbar component, add an IonButtons component with the slot set to end, positioning the button at the ending of the toolbar. Also, add className='ion-padding-end' to provide padding at the end.

Within the IonButtons component, incorporate the IonButton with IonIcon component inside with slot property to icon-only and icon to {videocamOutline}.

Then incorporate the IonButton with IonIcon component inside with slot property to icon-only and icon to {personAddOutline}

<IonHeader>
  <IonToolbar>
    <IonButtons slot='start' className='ion-padding-start'>
      <IonBackButton defaultHref='#' text='' icon={arrowBack} />
    </IonButtons>
    <IonTitle className='ion-text-start'>Three Musketeers</IonTitle>
    <IonButtons slot='end' className='ion-padding-end'>
      <IonButton>
        <IonIcon slot='icon-only' icon={videocamOutline} />
      </IonButton>
      <IonButton>
        <IonIcon slot='icon-only' icon={personAddOutline} />
      </IonButton>
    </IonButtons>
  </IonToolbar>
</IonHeader>

This concludes our work with IonHeader, and the following sections will cover working with IonContent.

9. Create a chat message layout

To design a chat message layout using Ionic, you can utilize the IonContent and IonList components for structured display. Within an IonList, each message is wrapped in an IonItem for individual styling and spacing. Use a <div> with a custom class, such as chat-item, to organize elements like the sender's name, time (inside IonNote), and the message text (inside IonText). Styling can be applied to align the content and customize its appearance, ensuring the chat layout is clean and visually appealing. This setup allows for easy scalability when adding more messages.

<IonContent>
  <IonList lines='none' className='ion-padding-top'>
    <IonItem>
      <div className='chat-item'>
        <IonNote>
          Porthos, 02:03 PM
        </IonNote>
        <IonText>
          My faithful friends, it's time to gather once again. For only together are we invincible. What say you?
        </IonText>
      </div>
    </IonItem>
  </IonList>
</IonContent>

10. Add other chat messages

Repeat the previous step to add other items with different data. For positioning messages differently, you can apply a class like right to align specific messages to the right side.

11. Create a chat input with send button

The IonItem is used as a container to align the input and button. An IonTextarea is included to allow multi-line text input, and the rows attribute specifies its height. The IonButton, positioned using the slot='end' attribute, acts as the send button, enhanced with an IonIcon for better visual representation. Styling, such as the return class, can be added to adjust the appearance and layout of the button within the container.

<IonContent>
  <IonList lines='none' className='ion-padding-top'>
    ...
    <IonItem>
      <IonTextarea rows={3} value='Let us be cautious, my friends. Protecting the queen is a great honor. We must act wisely and prudently.' />
      <IonButton fill='outline' slot='end' className='return'>
        <IonIcon icon={arrowUpOutline} />
      </IonButton>
    </IonItem>
  </IonList>
</IonContent>

Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey thus far. Stay tuned for more guides in our comprehensive series, where we'll not only delve into various aspects of mobile app development but also showcase how the Ionic Kit can be your game-changer.

Are you prepared to elevate your Ionic experience? Explore the advantages of incorporating the Ionic Design Kit for intuitive designs and seamless development. May your coding journey be marked by continual innovation and triumphant achievements!