Button element

Buttons are clickable elements that trigger an action. They can communicate calls to action, are visually prominent, and allow users to interact with the pages in various ways.

github location npm version

Usage

The vf-button component can be used with forms on a page and as a prominent 'call to action' link that goes to another page.

When To Use

A button can be used to submit data or take action and as a link to navigate to another page.

Use the primary button for the principal call to action on a page or form. Avoid having multiple primary buttons on the same page or form.

Use secondary buttons for secondary calls to action. Pages with too many prominent calls to action make it hard for users to know what to do next. Before adding lots of secondary buttons, try to simplify the page or break the content down across multiple pages.

Tertiary buttons can be used for less prominent actions. Consider using a link instead of a button to send users to another page, if this action is not very important.

As the vf-button is relatively large, depending on the context, you may wish to use the vf-button--small variant instead.

Alignment

As a general rule, the vf-button should be left aligned on the page and when used inside a larger component.

When used in conjunction with a single form input, as in the vf-search component, the vf-button needs to be inline with the input and to the right of it.

When a vf-button is used in a banner (e.g. to accept cookies) it needs to follow the content and be right aligned.

When Not To Use

If using the vf-button as a link do not use it to link to content on the same page. Use the vf-link-list component instead.

Label

Write button text in sentence case, describing the action it performs. For example:

  • ‘Apply now’ to apply for a job.
  • ‘Create account’ to create an account.
  • ‘Sign in’ to an account that a user has already created.
  • ‘Save and continue’ when pressing the button will save the information that the user has entered.

Try to keep the text on the button short and clear.

Related documentation

The guidelines on buttons in the GOV.UK Design System and the Carbon Design System include additional advice on when and how to use buttons.

Angular

As of vf-button v2.0.0-alpha.2 vf-button has experimental Angular support.

  1. install yarn add @visual-framework/vf-button
  2. import in your app.module
    import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.angular.component.ts";

@NgModule({
  declarations: [VfButton, YourOtherComponents],
  ...
})
  3. use
    <button class="vf-button" primary="true" small="true">Hello world</button>
  4. add to your styles.scss
    @import '~@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.scss';
    (you should also make use of vf-sass-starter)

Depending on the success of this method, we plan to add standardized guidance to the component library and component generator.

Usage:

<button class="vf-button" primary="true" small="true">Hello</button>

Variants

Primary variant

Nunjucks syntax

Depending on your environment you'll want to use render or include. As a rule of thumb: server-side use include, precompiled browser use render. If you're using vf-eleventy you should use include.

Using include

You'll need to pass a context object from your code or Yaml file (example), as well as the path to the Nunjucks template. Nunjucks' include is an abstraction of render and provides some additional portability.


{% set context fromYourYamlFile %}
- or -
{% set context = {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Primary button",
  "theme": "primary"
}
 %}
{% include "../path_to/vf-button/vf-button.njk" %}

Using render

This approach is best for bare-bones Nunjucks environments, such as precompiled templates with the Nunjucks slim runtime where include is not be available.

{% render '@vf-button', {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Primary button",
  "theme": "primary"
} %}
React syntax (pre-alpha) 

import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.react.js";
// or
import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.jsx";
<VfButton parameter="value" />

For individual parameter names and options, see the Nunjucks syntax example. Also follow the React setup guide. Note: React support is in its early pre-alpha stage and not all component are yet supported.

HTML 
<button class="vf-button vf-button--primary">Primary button</button>

Secondary variant

Nunjucks syntax

Depending on your environment you'll want to use render or include. As a rule of thumb: server-side use include, precompiled browser use render. If you're using vf-eleventy you should use include.

Using include

You'll need to pass a context object from your code or Yaml file (example), as well as the path to the Nunjucks template. Nunjucks' include is an abstraction of render and provides some additional portability.


{% set context fromYourYamlFile %}
- or -
{% set context = {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Secondary button",
  "theme": "secondary"
}
 %}
{% include "../path_to/vf-button/vf-button.njk" %}

Using render

This approach is best for bare-bones Nunjucks environments, such as precompiled templates with the Nunjucks slim runtime where include is not be available.

{% render '@vf-button', {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Secondary button",
  "theme": "secondary"
} %}
React syntax (pre-alpha) 

import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.react.js";
// or
import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.jsx";
<VfButton parameter="value" />

For individual parameter names and options, see the Nunjucks syntax example. Also follow the React setup guide. Note: React support is in its early pre-alpha stage and not all component are yet supported.

HTML 
<button class="vf-button vf-button--secondary">Secondary button</button>

Tertiary variant

Nunjucks syntax

Depending on your environment you'll want to use render or include. As a rule of thumb: server-side use include, precompiled browser use render. If you're using vf-eleventy you should use include.

Using include

You'll need to pass a context object from your code or Yaml file (example), as well as the path to the Nunjucks template. Nunjucks' include is an abstraction of render and provides some additional portability.


{% set context fromYourYamlFile %}
- or -
{% set context = {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Tertiary button",
  "theme": "tertiary"
}
 %}
{% include "../path_to/vf-button/vf-button.njk" %}

Using render

This approach is best for bare-bones Nunjucks environments, such as precompiled templates with the Nunjucks slim runtime where include is not be available.

{% render '@vf-button', {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Tertiary button",
  "theme": "tertiary"
} %}
React syntax (pre-alpha) 

import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.react.js";
// or
import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.jsx";
<VfButton parameter="value" />

For individual parameter names and options, see the Nunjucks syntax example. Also follow the React setup guide. Note: React support is in its early pre-alpha stage and not all component are yet supported.

HTML 
<button class="vf-button vf-button--tertiary">Tertiary button</button>

Small variant

Nunjucks syntax

Depending on your environment you'll want to use render or include. As a rule of thumb: server-side use include, precompiled browser use render. If you're using vf-eleventy you should use include.

Using include

You'll need to pass a context object from your code or Yaml file (example), as well as the path to the Nunjucks template. Nunjucks' include is an abstraction of render and provides some additional portability.


{% set context fromYourYamlFile %}
- or -
{% set context = {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Small button",
  "theme": "primary",
  "size": "sm"
}
 %}
{% include "../path_to/vf-button/vf-button.njk" %}

Using render

This approach is best for bare-bones Nunjucks environments, such as precompiled templates with the Nunjucks slim runtime where include is not be available.

{% render '@vf-button', {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "Small button",
  "theme": "primary",
  "size": "sm"
} %}
React syntax (pre-alpha) 

import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.react.js";
// or
import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.jsx";
<VfButton parameter="value" />

For individual parameter names and options, see the Nunjucks syntax example. Also follow the React setup guide. Note: React support is in its early pre-alpha stage and not all component are yet supported.

HTML 
<button class="vf-button vf-button--primary vf-button--sm ">Small button</button>

Link variant

Nunjucks syntax

Depending on your environment you'll want to use render or include. As a rule of thumb: server-side use include, precompiled browser use render. If you're using vf-eleventy you should use include.

Using include

You'll need to pass a context object from your code or Yaml file (example), as well as the path to the Nunjucks template. Nunjucks' include is an abstraction of render and provides some additional portability.


{% set context fromYourYamlFile %}
- or -
{% set context = {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "a link variant",
  "theme": "link"
}
 %}
{% include "../path_to/vf-button/vf-button.njk" %}

Using render

This approach is best for bare-bones Nunjucks environments, such as precompiled templates with the Nunjucks slim runtime where include is not be available.

{% render '@vf-button', {
  "component-type": "element",
  "text": "a link variant",
  "theme": "link"
} %}
React syntax (pre-alpha) 

import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.react.js";
// or
import { VfButton } from "@visual-framework/vf-button/vf-button.jsx";
<VfButton parameter="value" />

For individual parameter names and options, see the Nunjucks syntax example. Also follow the React setup guide. Note: React support is in its early pre-alpha stage and not all component are yet supported.

HTML 
<button class="vf-button vf-button--link">a link variant</button>

Examples

Installation info

This component is distributed with npm. After installing npm, you can install the vf-button with this command.

$ yarn add --dev @visual-framework/vf-button

Sass/CSS

The source files included are written in Sass(scss). You can point your Sass include-path at your node_modules directory and import it like this.

@import "@visual-framework/vf-button/index.scss";

Make sure you import Sass requirements along with the modules. You can use a project boilerplate or the vf-sass-starter

Changelog

Changelog

2.0.0-alpha.6

  • Changes the link variant to be a button element

2.0.0-alpha.5

  • Readme formatting fixes.

2.0.0-alpha.4

  • Style import fixes for experimental angular support.

2.0.0-alpha.3

  • Fixes for experimental angular support.

2.0.0-alpha.2

  • Adds experimental angular support. See README.md for more.

2.0.0-alpha.1

  • Requires at least @visual-framework@vf-sass-config@2.6.1.
  • Ensure no colour is set with revised set-type mixin.
  • https://github.com/visual-framework/vf-core/pull/1606

2.0.0-alpha.0

  • removes deprecated code
  • turns the primary, secondary, tertiary into actual things - rather than aliases.

Migration Instructions

  • If you were using the "Outline Primary" variant you should use the "Secondary" variant now.
  • This replaces the classes of vf-button--primary and vf-button--outline with vf-badge--secondary.

1.4.4

  • Added link theme button variant. This variant is similar to link style.

1.4.3

  • Added react implementation of button
  • https://github.com/visual-framework/vf-core/pull/1416
  • (Experimental) React documentation: https://visual-framework.github.io/vf-react/#/components-showcase

1.4.1

  • changes any set- style functions to cleaner version

1.4.0

  • Removes variants that are not to be used from the examples available.
  • Adds usage documentation.

1.3.1

  • React: Use react-dom-fragment to return HTML fragments.
  • https://github.com/visual-framework/vf-core/pull/1291

1.3.0

  • adds react support
  • https://github.com/visual-framework/vf-core/pull/1278

1.2.0

  • updates spacing design tokens
  • requires v2.0.0 of the vf-design-tokens package or newer

1.1.2

  • adds webkit-appearance: none; as needed for Safari browsers as autoprefixer is not doing this

1.1.1

  • removes the :hover text color rule so that it doesn't to white on hover

1.1.0

  • makes theme variant naming and decisions consistent

1.0.4

  • makes it work as an include as well as render
  • fixes bug with using the button aesthetic as a link

1.0.3

  • adds :focus styles to vf-button--outline
  • https://github.com/visual-framework/vf-core/pull/857

1.0.1

  • Button colours corrected for browsers that don't support CSS custom properties (IE)

1.0.0 (2019-12-17)

  • Initial stable release

Assets


File system location: components/vf-button

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