Font Awesome 5 use social/brand icons in React
The Font Awesome documentation provides clear instructions on how to add regular and solid icons in React. However, incorporating social icons can be a bit different. In this blog post, we will explore how to use social/brand icons from Font Awesome 5 in a React application.
Installing the Required Packages
To begin, we need to install the necessary Font Awesome packages. Open your terminal and execute the following commands:
npm i --save @fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core
npm i --save @fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons
npm i --save @fortawesome/react-fontawesomeNote that we are using the @fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons package instead of @fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons since we want to use social icons.
Importing the Required Icons
After installing the packages, we can import the required icons into our React application. In the relevant component file, add the following imports:
import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core';
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/react-fontawesome';
import { faFacebookF } from '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons';
library.add(faFacebookF);In this example, we have imported the Facebook icon from the @fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons package. You can import additional social icons in a similar manner.
Using the Social Icons
Now that we have imported the desired social icons, we can utilize them within our React components. Here’s how you can render the Facebook icon:
<FontAwesomeIcon icon="fa-facebook-f" />If you encounter an error message like “Could not find icon {prefix: ‘fas’, iconName: ‘fa-facebook-f’},” it means that you need to use the correct prefix for brand icons. Instead of “fas,” which stands for “free-solid-svg-icons,” use “fab” for brand icons.
Try using the following code to render the Facebook icon:
<FontAwesomeIcon icon={['fab', 'facebook-f']} />By specifying the prefix as “fab” within an array, we can access the Facebook icon from the brand icons set.
Remember to ensure that you have installed the required packages before importing the icons. Otherwise, the import statements will throw errors.
That’s it! You can now use social icons from Font Awesome 5 in your React application. Experiment with various social icons and enhance the visual appeal of your website with Font Awesome’s extensive collection.
I hope this step-by-step guide has helped you utilize social icons from Font Awesome 5 in your React project. Feel free to explore other brand icons and enhance your application’s user experience.
