#src: pitch perfect 3

[incorrectncardquotes]

Hitomi, to Chiduko: Okay, just because you are making me very sexually confused does not mean that you are intimidating.

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Kevin Wozniak on Kevflix: Top 5 – Movies Coming Out in November

Usually when making this list, a list I have been doing monthly for three years, I have a relatively easy time picking which movies should make the cut.  Sometimes I’m forced to snub one or two, but usually the five are pretty easy to pick.  This month was the opposite of that.  There are over fifteen films coming out in November that I am excited for, which is kind of insane.  We got horror movies, animated movies, gangster movies, thrillers, comedies, all sorts of movies from all genres from some of the best directors working in the game today working with some of the greatest actors and actresses ever.  It’s a very exciting month and the five movies on this list are titles you should all have on your radar this month.  Here are my picks for the most exciting movies coming out in November.

        *BONUS* – THE IRISHMAN (Martin Scorsese, November 1)

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a Netflix movie that will be available on the streaming service starting November 27th.  However, the film is also getting a small theatrical run in certain theaters before the Netflix drop.  This is a movie that you should see in theaters.  While I love that fact that Netflix gave Scorsese complete freedom to make a three-and-a-half-hour long gangster epic with $150 million-plus budget, a cast of cinematic legends, and top of the line de-aging technology, Martin Scorsese films are films that must be seen on the big screen and The Irishman is no different.  It’s a sprawling epic about life, time, and loyalty and a new gangster classic from Scorsese.  This is the best movie I have seen in 2019.

  And now, the official top five.

        5 – FROZEN II (Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee, November 22)

The first Frozen was an absolute juggernaut, becoming the most successful animated film at the world wide box office ($1.27 billion, respectively), winning an Oscar, two Grammy’s, and introducing a new kind of princess to a new generation of young girls.  I am excited to see what they do next.  I am excited to the improvement in the animation, where the story will go, and if they can possibly make a song to top the iconic “Let It Go”.  Frozen II has the potential to be the best animated movie of 2019.

    4 – A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (Marielle Heller, November 22)

The pitch on why A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood should be on your radar is simple: Tom Hanks stars as Mr. Rogers.  That’s it.  That’s the pitch and that is why everyone is going to see this movie.  But other than Hanks, who is simply perfect for the part of seemingly one of the nicest, sweetest, purest human beings to ever live on planet Earth, I’m excited to see the work of director Marielle Heller.  Heller, who made her debut in 2015’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, really made a splash with last year’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which earned three Oscar nominations and put Heller’s name on the map.  I’m excited to see her work with Hanks and see what kind of magic the two conjure up together.

    3 – DARK WATERS (Todd Haynes, November 22)

A lot of Oscar players have already premiered at one film festival or another.  However, there are still a few films that could come through and shake up the already foggy Oscar race.  Todd Haynes Dark Waters is one of those films.  In what looks like a mix of Spotlight and A Civil Action, Dark Waters looks at corporate defense attorney (the always great Mark Ruffalo) who takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.  Haynes is one of the best directors working today, always making movies that are smart, emotional, visually stunning, and riveting.  I’m excited to see what Haynes does in the political thriller genre and to see how he works with Ruffalo and the rest of the cast.

    2 –  FORD V FERRARI (James Mangold, November 15)

These next two films on the list I have already seen and both are in my ten best movies of the year.  Ford v Ferrari is a true American sports movie.  A red, white, and blue underdog story that is funny, exciting, and full of moments that will make you want to stand up and cheer.  Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in this true story about the Ford Motor Company’s efforts to defeat Ferrari at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.  Both Damon and Bale are in top form, as in Tracy Letts, who plays Henry Ford Jr. and could make an Oscar play at the end of the year.  This is movie I could watch a million times and one I am excited to see again.

    1 – KNIVES OUT (Rian Johnson, November 27)

I might be able to watch Ford v Ferrari a million times, but I could watch Knives Out two million times.  Rian Johnson’s follow-up to his brilliant, yet divisive entry in the Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi, is the most fun I’ve had at the movies in 2019.  A smart, funny, thrilling whodunit featuring an outstanding writing, the best ensemble of the year, and an ending you won’t soon forget.  Knives Out is a true blast and Johnson is the ringleader behind the mastery.  From a director who’s made other brilliant films like Brick, Looper, and The Last Jedi, this might be his crowning achievement.

        Follow Kevflix on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook by searching Kevflix.

          The post Top 5 – Movies Coming Out in November appeared first on Kevflix.

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[torentialtribute]

Liverpool uncovered: Simon Mignolet on losing his place to the best keeper he’s ever seen

Liverpool suffered a heartbreak in Barcelona on Wednesday night, but their quest to win the Premier League is still alive. It has been a remarkable campaign and with 91 points on the board, they will chase Manchester City all the way to the line.

Ahead of Saturday's crucial trip to Newcastle, long-serving goalkeeper Simon Mignolet told Sportsmail the story of the season from the players' perspective.

The Belgian has been on the journey every step of the way, seeing the highs and lows, and knows Liverpool can still dream.

Simon Mignolet has an important presence in the field for Liverpool this campaign

The Belgian believes the group at Anfield have what it takes to be champions one day

DREAMING BIG

After reaching the Champions League final last May, Liverpool made four big summer signings and enjoyed a fruitful start to the season. The key moment for the squad, though, was the night Paris Saint-Germain came to town in September and were tasks apart.

SIMON MIGNOLET: It all started so well. We had four victories before the first international break. When we came back we had Tottenham at Wembley and PSG at home in the Champions League, two of the best teams in the world in quick succession.

We beat Spurs 2-1, then scored three against PSG and blew them away. If we could play like that against Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, why couldn't we do it to everyone else? We knew, there and then, we didn't need to be afraid of anyone.

We had a good run in the previous season but we knew people would wonder if we could sustain it. So that game was the benchmark. That's where it all started.

Mignolet spoke exclusively to Sportsmail's Dominic King about Liverpool's season so far

SQUAD UNITY

Jurgen Klopp has stressed how well run Liverpool's dressing cream is. Mignolet's role may have changed over the last 12 months but he is an important member behind the scenes and the inclusive atmosphere has been crucial to maintaining form.

SM: I've never been in a dressing room where there is no trouble at some stage.

There's always going to be something where someone doesn't talk to someone else or they don't get on.

Alongside his prolific goalscoring, Sadio Mane also tries to make his team-mates laugh

But that's not the case with this squad. It's been that way for a year. Nobody is talking behind anyone's back, nobody has a grudge.

Sadio Mane always tries to be the joker but his jokes aren't always funny – people ended up laughing with him, rather than at the joke he made!

There's a lot of banter going on … Robbo (Andy Robertson), Milly (James Milner), Virg (Virgil van Dijk) – it comes from all sides.

Mignolet also identified James Milner (left) and Andrew Robertson as two of the biggest jokers

WORRYING TIMES

It's easy to look at Liverpool's results and think progress has been smooth, but that's not the case. Autumn brought some below-standard league performances and poor results in the Champions League. A 2-0 defeat at Red Star Belgrade was a line in the sand.

SM: October and November was a rough patch. We lost to Napoli away, drew with Manchester City at home, drew at Arsenal and then lost to Belgrade. Everything that could have gone wrong that night did go wrong.

The main thing that came out of it was doubt. The manager was so unhappy. We stayed over in Belgrade and the big question we asked was: "Why are we doing this?" It turned out to be a game we learned more from. We had to make sure it didn't happen in the Premier League.

A shock defeat at Red Star Belgrade proved to be a significant turning point

DEFINING DAYS

Lift-off for Liverpool came on December 2, when they dramatically beat Everton 1-0 in the Merseyside derby with an injury-time goal from Divock Origi. The victories that resonated most, however, will come as a surprise.

SM: I don't show my feelings a lot but when Divock scored I jumped off the bench! I was sat next to Adam Lallana and James Milner and the noise at the stage was incredible. That win was huge.

But I will pick another three out: Brighton away in January. We had two lost games against Manchester City and Wolves, and the match was dead, no chances for either team. Then Mo (Salah) scored a penalty. A week later, we beat Crystal Palace 4-3. A crazy game but so, so important. Those six points were massive. One slip and it makes a hell of a difference. Then recently we had Cardiff.

Like Belgrade, everything was set up there for us to fail. A dry pitch, 30-degree heat. What we did that day to win 2-0 made it one of our best performances.

Mignolet identified Divock Origi's late Merseyside derby winner as a 'huge' moment

MAGICAL MO

Salah has enjoyed another outstanding season and could well retain the Golden Boot. If he does, Mignolet will have his bit to help done.

SM: He sits next to me on the coach when we travel to games. He asks me about penalties and what ideas the opposition goalkeeper will have. I'll tell him he should do this or that. We practice penalties the day before a game and we work together.

I try to do the same as the keeper he will face the next day, to make it as realistic as possible.

The big thing about Mo? He is a cult hero in Egypt. People forget how big a figure he is in the Muslim world.

Mohamed Salah could win the Golden Boat again after another outstanding scoring season

We went to Dubai in January for a training camp and he was everywhere. He's like a statue.

He carries all that on his shoulders and he does it so well, like the pressure is nothing. He's down to earth, still the same guy as he was when he signed. Everywhere we go there is attention for him.

When there are crowds around the coach shouting 'Salah! Salah! " we join in with them and make it funny.

But he has an example to give. He has got so much talent but he works so hard to help.

Mignolet praised the way the Egyptian forward handles all of the pressure of his status

PERSONAL ANGUISH

Mignolet has not played in the Premier League this season. The £ 65million signing of Alisson Becker made him No 2 but he has blocked out any personal disappointment. His attitude is so good that both Klopp and Milner have highlighted his role.

SM: Me and my missus are building a house in Spain. I speak a few languages ​​and last year we decided to take Spanish lessons. Then Ali came and I don't need lessons any more if I speak Spanish with him!

As a goalkeeper, you learn from the guys you work with. He is Brazil No 1 ahead of Ederson. The main difference between the two is that Ali is probably better with his hands. He's the most complete goalkeeper I've seen in my career. He is so calm.

Not playing is the hard bit, the feeling of being on the pitch at the end when you've won is what I miss most. I understand how people who don't play stop doing their work. That's why I push myself every day. I get in the gym at 9am. The boys must look at me and think, "What's that idiot doing there again?"

Alisson is established as Liverpool's first-choice stopper and Mignolet called him 'complete'

THE FINAL ACT

Mignolet was part of the last Reds squad who challenged for the title, in 2014. Whatever happens in the next week, he believes this group has what it takes to be champions one day.

SM: The manager is perfect for the club. His vision and his character embodied what the fans live for. The style of play we have is what the supporters want, they want to see fire. They want to see Liverpool pushing, fighting.

It would be strange – and very frustrating – if we didn't win anything, but the only thing that would stop it is the opposition (Manchester City) being so good . All credit to them if that's the case. The amount of points we've accumulated would mean we are champions in a normal year.

We've been through the process to get where we want to be and the squad have grown. We should get something one day.

Mignolet was a part of Liverpool's 2014 title-challenging side and played in defeat by Chelsea

Source link

[totalsoccer]

Qatar unveils new World Cup stadium

VIDEO SHOWS: VARIOUS FOOTAGE OF NEW WORLD CUP STADIUM UNVEILED IN QATAR / INTERVIEW WITH COMMITTEE MEMBER / STILL PICTURES OF NEW STADIUM SHOWS: AL RAYYAN, QATAR (UNKNOWN) (SC MEDIA - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (MUTE) 1. VARIOUS FOOTAGE OF THE NEW AL RAYYAN STADIUM AL RAYYAN, QATAR (UNKNOWN) (SC MEDIA - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SC SECRETARY GENERAL, HASSAN AL THAWADI, SAYING: "The fact the stadium is 5km away from Education City I think represents the fact that it is a compact World Cup and we've always made that commitment to the fans. And I think that the nature of the compact World Cup, the best way of describing it is it's the Olympic Spirit but within the World Cup environment. I think fans will be able to watch more than one match a day - it's a very unique offering. Fans will not have to worry about changing accommodation to follow their teams. And they truly will be able to enjoy and experience what really matters, which is celebrating the world coming together for the World Cup and at the same time celebrating football on the pitch." AL RAYYAN, QATAR (UNKNOWN) (SC MEDIA - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (MUTE) 3. VARIOUS STILL PICTURES OF THE AL RAYYAN STADIUM AL RAYYAN, QATAR (UNKNOWN) (SC MEDIA - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SC SECRETARY GENERAL, HASSAN AL THAWADI, SAYING: "Excitement, pride, sometimes anxiety. But overall I think it's anticipation. We're very, very excited and, you know, we're waiting, eagerly awaiting the start of the World Cup where we welcome everybody from different corners of the Earth to celebrate as one this great moment." AL RAYYAN, QATAR (UNKNOWN) (SC MEDIA - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (MUTE) 5. PROMO VIDEO SHOWING START TO FINISH OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AL RAYYAN STADIUM STORY: Qatar inaugurated the fourth of eight 2022 World Cup venues, the Al Rayyan Stadium, when the country hosted the Amir Cup final between Al-Sadd and Al-Arabi on Friday (December 18). Al-Sadd, coached by former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez, beat Al-Arabi 2-1 to lift their 17th Amir Cup title after Algeria forward Baghdad Bounedjah scored twice. "It is a wonderful football stadium," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. "The atmosphere is incredible, with the seats extremely close to the pitch... I am sure this will be a perfect football arena in 2022 when it hosts matches during the World Cup. "The country is very well prepared for the next FIFA World Cup and on track to host a memorable instalment of the tournament – the first in the Middle East and the Arab world." The Amir Cup final's date coincided with Qatar National Day and the country is scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup final in exactly two years' time. The 40,000-capacity venue will host seven World Cup matches up to the round of 16. After the World Cup, the precinct surrounding Al Rayyan, which includes six training pitches, will be transformed into a regional sporting hub for the local community. Khalifa International, Al Janoub and Education City are the other three World Cup venues which have already been unveiled. (Production: Francis Maguire)

source https://sports.yahoo.com/qatar-unveils-world-cup-stadium-212617838.html?src=rss

[ernieboxall]

The 3 Unwittingly Made Mistakes I've Made In Speaking

 So, here we are...the first issue of 'How To Shine Instead of Shiver' webinar is in the can-or in my Dropbox anyway. It wasn't all roses, but it is out there now and ready to be improved on in the future. It took the sweat of the preparation, the toil of practice and the butterflies of going live.

                                                                                                                  There are loads of webinars out there, it looks easy, right? The thousands of successful webinars, and the online 'guru's', creating courses to help us become the success we've always wanted to be. Making the five and six-figure fees in 'passive' income and, by following their advice and downloading the information they have created, you too can join the ranks of the thousands of people in their membership group.

Have you ever noticed how they promise that the 'download' would enable you to start using their knowledge to build the life you choose-and then, having made the purchase, you are offered an up-sale for $27, and when you've bought the 'Bonus' they have the De-Lux offer for $355 a month?

 Let, me assure you now, though, with different price scales, this will be no different.

  You see, I offer you a 'Disclaimer' right now! "I do not know everything about speaking to a live audience or even to camera...but what I do know, I know well. But I'll tell you this-writing my webinar introduction, and my webinar course has not been 'Easy' anything but!

  Now, I don't know whether I will get to 100 webinars or Live videos. My '4 o'clock Sunday Stories' has been offered to the audience for over a year so that must be 52 at least. And, although I've worked hard to post every Sunday, sometimes being caught out by gremlins, sometimes by 'Life'. What I can do is put my experiences out there and hope that some part of it makes an impact on one person more than one person out there who can benefit.

    OK, so with that out of the way what am I going to do for YOU this newsletter?

   After all, one of the reasons for writing this particular newsletter is to dive into the confessions of a reluctant speaker. I'm going to share with you; the 3 unwittingly made mistakes I've made in speaking. A career which stretched back to before I was born (but, made real in November 2002. I'm giving them out in the hope you will not make them.

    Mistake #1 - I hadn't practised the 4 Ps:

  My first network meeting was in July 1994. I started a personal training business for business owners working in-house and outdoors. I had, almost, a lifetime of exercise behind me. My father, who had been a sportsman in the war, was a soldier and the battalion-sporting mascot. He represented the battalion in rugby, football, running and boxing (more about this later). After the war, he continued his sporting activities and included me in his training, even though I was only five years old.

   Now, at 40, all that experience was being put to good use building a business--or so I thought! I'd already ran my circuit training groups, been a supply teacher and assistant manager in semi-professional football. So! Exercise classes for executives would be the logical next step. Right? That's what I thought, but I found out, to my financial and physical cost, that there is so much difference between the two. And, the difference is that while I was a fitness trainer, supply teacher and assistant manager, I was being paid. Suddenly, I was looking for my first client.

   And, looking for that first client meant going to network meetings and earning my own money. That meant that not only did I have to structure the course, but I also had to sell the course. I knew how to set up sessions, and I knew how to deliver them. What I didn't know how to do is to be convincing when people who wanted to work with me, saw me.

   You see, the know, like, and trust factor depends on communication and connection, but when I went networking for the first time I didn't do what I'm teaching the people who are looking to go through the process now, to do themselves...The 4 Ps of Perfect Presentations. I knew nothing about them and made the biggest mistake of all...I went along unprepared. Does that sound like you? Do you remember your first networking event?

    I rose early, bathed and groomed, went out into the dark, ice-covered night and scrapped the windscreen. I drove about 5 miles to the meeting, smiled at the man taking names and joined the other members at the coffee table. Then the moment we were asked to sit down and told that we would be asked to make a 60-second pitch. No one told me. Perhaps, no one will tell you.

    I hadn't prepared a pitch, so I didn't practise, and since I hadn't prepared or practised I didn't have a good posture, so the performance was crap.

 I didn't know why, but I did know that it wasn't a good look. I saw and heard the other business owners tell their stories and determined to find a way to do better...that just took more network meetings, more expense, more travel and more listening.

  Then, I remembered what I had done some 25 years before when I gave my first speech as a best man to the daughter of Nuneaton's Head of the Chamber of Commerce. I was given three months notice and used them to prepare and practice, which meant that my posture and performance hit the mark. It's easier when you have three months notice, isn't it?

  From that moment on the whole process of speaking to a live audience became much more comfortable and, over the following months, much more polished. So much so that I built a client-base of 5 business owners who worked with me over two years until the economy, which had been in the doldrums, picked up and took off...they were so busy that they decided that exercise came second.

 And, so...back to square one.

  But, now I knew the secret of being comfortable and confident talking to a live audience. And, having done it once, I was determined not only to do it again but to help other business owners let go of the anxiety and dread...and grow their business through their 'Audible business card'.

  Mistake #2 Taking the same message to different groups.

  One major lesson I learned from the experience at network meetings was that you could spend an awful lot of money on business cards, banners and websites but if you can't excite people face to face, or on camera, then that's a waste of finances.

 There's also another problem with those same methods of communicating with potential customers. And, that is that the words don't change. You turn up at a meeting set up your banner, begin to chat to people around the coffee table and exchange business cards, watch the receiver put the card in their pocket or into a card wallet. Over a meal, you chat with the people on the table and tell them a little about yourself before giving your 60-second presentation.

  On your way home, do you wonder how many people will take any notice of the card or the words on the card? Do you wonder how many people read the words on your banner? How many people go to your website and read the words before following up?

  A few days later, you go to another networking group and go through the routine of raising the banner and handing out business cards. You give your 60-second presentation and move on. Now, my view is that the words on your banner and the words on your business cards don't change...the same words to a different audience. The words you use to accountants, solicitors, IT specialists and website builders must surely be different from the words for architects, interior designers, plumbers and window cleaners.

  You have a much more economical way of making an impact on these audiences to use what I call 'Your audible business card'—your mouth.

 Using the 4 Ps of Perfect Presentations, you can change your presentation depending on the needs of the sales staff-because ultimately that's what the people in front of you are-require to 

hear from you.

  In any case, your initial message is only as fresh as the number of times you tell it to the same audience; few business owners can get away with telling the same story, to the same people time after time. It's always good to have versions of who you are, where you are, what you do and who you're looking to talk to. But, whatever the version, the 4Ps remain the same.

  Your 'Audible business card' cost no more than the time to prepare and practice your next presentation. After that presentation, if it's a good presentation, then people will come and ask for your e-mail, your telephone number, people will ask You for a 1 to 1.

  Mistake #3 How do I know if it's a good presentation?

 "How do I know if my presentation is any good?" That's a question I am asked regularly. And it's pretty easy to answer.

"How many people came up and asked for your details after you finished?' I could finish there, the outcome. You may have made every one of the

'4 Unwittingly Made Mistakes Many Speakers Make When They Speak To A Live Audience,' and still get a ton of business. If that's the case, brilliant. I couldn't be more pleased.

" Could you have got more? And did you have any sleepless nights, anxiety or dread before the presentation?

 You see, there are always improvements to be made, and it's not a bad idea to know where those improvements can be made straight away. And there are just 3 Questions to ask yourself-or the people who listen to you. Those questions are:

 What Did I/You Like?

What Would I/You Change?

What Do You Remember? (Hopefully, you remember the main points of your presentation.)

 Let's have a look at the questions one by one. 

What did I/you like? The criteria might be - Poster; Tone; Speed; Volume; Pauses; Smile; Delivery; Conclusion.

 What would I/you change? Posture; Tone; Speed; Volume; Pauses; Smile; Delivery: Conclusion; Verbal Crutches

 This is the big one! What do you remember? Leave it a couple of days and then ask "What do you remember from my presentation?"

  The answers to these questions will determine whether your sales team, the people who have stayed with you, will recommend you when they are talking to their partners, clients and other business owners. How many of the people not at the presentation ring you up and say that you have been recommended.

  Once you have answers to these questions, the 4 Ps and particularly the performance will improve your presentations, your self-esteem, your health and your financial prospects without sleepless nights, anxiety or dread.

  I hope sharing these mistakes has given you some insight into your presentations and will, perhaps save you money and aid your health. Also, I'll be back in a fortnight with more insights into speaking and storytelling in business and life.

  If you have any comments on anything I've written in this issue, feel free to e-mail me at ernie@erniesaid.info 

 I've enjoyed putting this together to celebrate my first webinar.

   I finished this article while listening to Hamlet performed by the RSC on the BBC...you can bet these actors used the 4Ps to Perfect their performances.

[allenmendezsr]

Why Not Fly Free

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/why-not-fly-free/

Why Not Fly Free

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I’m so sure you’ll be happy with my e-Book that I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.

If you’re unsatisfied for any reason with my e-Book, just let me know anytime within 60 days of your purchase and I’ll refund

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Travel Agent tells his secrets

I’ve been beating the airlines at their own game for more than 15 years, flying almost free 98% of the time.You can use the same strategy that I’ve used to get 63

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Even though the price of airline tickets have gone out of site because of skyrocketing fuel prices and increased costs of airport security, there’s still a way you can beat the system’s high prices.

My name is David Tinney and I own a travel agency in the midwest United States. Our specialty is selling discount international airline tickets. I’ve written a guide that shows how you can travel practically free just about anywhere in the world.

That’s right, after more than 20 years in the travel industry, I’m giving up all my

secrets

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But you don’t have to own a travel agency like I do for this to work. You’ll learn the strategies to make it happen. My guide teaches you how to turn expenses into free travel…including:

  Learn: secrets the airlines DON’T want you to know

  Learn: how your kids fly free

  Learn: strategy I use to get free airline tickets

  Learn: how you can save up to 70% on First or Business Class

  Learn: to fly anywhere in the world, only pay the ticket’s tax

  Learn: how to take a vacation free, including airline tickets and hotel

  Learn: the truth about last minute airfares

I seperate the fact from the fiction. I’m amazed at how uninformed the public is about how the airline industry works and thinks. The simple fact is, we’ve been duped by the slick advertising campaigns the airlines are pitching to us.

We believe the myths they’re shoving at us and it’s costing us hundreds of dollars of our hard earned money!

For instance, here are some myths the airlines have led you to believe:

  Myth: Cheapest fares are always found online.

  Truth: Wrong. Many of the wholesale airline contracts are prohibited from being marketed on a website. If you’re only searching Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and the like, you’re not seeing all the really discounted fares that are available.

  Myth: Buy your ticket direct from an airline will get you a good deal.

  Truth: Wrong again. You just eliminated the possibility of buying a special kind of airline ticket, which is almost always cheaper than anything the airlines offer. FYI, the cheapest airfares are sold

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  Myth: The airlines sell off unsold seats cheap at the last minute.

  Truth: This myth can cost you big time or the cancellation of your plans if you’re not willing to pay the exorbitant price the airlines want to extort from you. Believing this myth proves you have no clue about the airlines’ distribution system.

Airline Executive Reveals Prices…

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From this interview, you’ll get the advice from an executive of one of the top airlines in the world how to consistantly purchase airline tickets at rock bottom prices. This information is not available anywhere I know of. It’s probably the first time a top airline official has revealed the inner workings of the industry.

He confirms what I have been saying as a travel agent how the price of an airline ticket is determined and it’s contrary to what you hear in their advertising message.

Obviously, I cannot reveal this gentleman’s name or the airline he works for but you’ll be shocked by what he revealed to me.

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David

“I thought your book was excellent. A really good example of producing an ebook in a niche that you know a lot about…Great job!”

Neil Shearing, Ph.D. (England) Helping You Achieve Internet Success… http://www.InternetSuccessPortal.com 

Hi David,

“Today we, Margaret & I are flying off to Spain for 3 months, before we found out about of your Guide. Never mind, next time will be different. Thanks for waking us up to what is out there. Regards,”

Trevor (NSW,Australia)

David,

“I was most impressed with your internet discourse about travel savings. Many thanks,”

Jess

(South Africa)

Hello David,

“I really thought your book was excellent.”

Nigel (United Kingdom)

There’s no fluff and extra filler in my guide. Just facts, a simple formula that has worked for me. Real, practical tips how to earn free travel. Tips you can put into practice today.

Travel Insider Reveals All

You’re going to learn and benefit from my experience. With over a decade in the travel industry, I know the inside secrets, what works and what doesn’t.

There’s a lot of scams out there. I’ve gotten some in the mail, saying I have won a free cruise and blah, blah, blah. Call the 800 number and find out they want $100 deposit before they’ll talk to you.

It’s not about being an air courier. Thats ancient news, and besides you can’t take anybody with you as a courier. Oh, and it also costs $200-300 per year just to get on the list as a courier. Then you still have to pay for a portion of the ticket. Is that a good deal? I think not.

I’m going to give you information that will make you a more savvy traveler, armed with information that will save you bucks.

Why Not Fly Free gives a workable plan to attain a goal. The goal of free travel. Simple, yet extremely effective.

Like I said, I’ve owned a travel agency for more than 20 years. My office has planned literally tens of thousands of vacations and trips.

I remember once a man and his wife sat across from me at my desk. They were planning their dream vacation for them and their two kids. They told me they’d been saving five years for this vacation. Scrimping and saving for five years so they could take the kids to Florida, their family vacation of a lifetime.

As I listened to this man and wife, I felt so sorry for them. Because they didn’t know the secrets in this guide, their family dreams were unfulfilled.

Is this what you’ve been doing? Cutting corners, skipping lunch all week to save some extra bucks for that dream vacation?

Thats great but there’s a better way. My guide shows you exactly how you can travel practically free.

A few nights ago, my wife and I were watching TV and a commercial came on. In one scene, it showed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I turned to her and said, “We’ve been there, we’ve seen that.” Turning, she smiled and took my hand. Her squeeze told me, “Thank you.”

See, you don’t have to be rich to realize your travel dreams. All you have to know is the right information. It’s not hard, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist. Just follow the simple steps I outline.

It’s been said this time in which we live is the age of information. It’s true, having the right information at the right time can be very beneficial, right? My guide leads you with the right information how to accumulate free travel.

I’ve learned that dreams don’t automatically happen. You have to do something to make them a reality. The guide will show you exactly what to do, how to reach your travel dreams, step by step.

Most of us spend 3 to 4 hours a night in front of the TV. You can read the guide in less time than that. And learn how to make those travel dreams come true. Your wife and kids will be glad you did.

In addition to my all my

secrets

about how to fly practically free, how to travel on a shoestring budget and the way get to the cheapest airline tickets, I’m going to also open up my ‘little black book‘ and reveal the phone numbers of the consolidators who sell the cheapest airline tickets!

That’s right, I’m pulling out all the stops and giving you my list of favorite consolidators! Some of these phone numbers are unpublished toll free numbers and aren’t available to the public.

How much is this worth? Depending on how much you travel, perhaps hundreds of dollars on just one airline ticket! With a list of 17 Airline Consolidators, practically unknown to the public, you’ll realize incredible savings on each ticket purchased.

You can use this list over and over and save thousands of dollars over time!

ATTENTION:. You cannot get this list anywhere on the web, no one has it. The only reason I can share it with you is that I own a travel agency.

Get the eBook AND Air Consolidator list now

Doesn’t matter what time of day it is, GET INSTANT ACCESS

Not Sure Whether Why Not Fly Free is Right For You? Then Ask Yourself This…

The question is, is it worth the one time low fee for the eBook to know how to save hundreds, even thousands, on your next trip or vacation?

FACT

:You will easily waste that much money or more if you do nothing.

FACT:You can easily waste that much money if you fail to learn how to get free trips and vacations.

FACT:You can easily waste that much money or more buying other eBooks that don’t have the information mine does.

FACT:You can easily waste 5 or 10 times that much money if you don’t buy your tickets from one of the consolidators from my “little black book” list.

FACT:You can easily waste that much money or more if you fail to understand how the airline’s marketing strategies dupe the public into buying the most expensive tickets.

FACT:If you’re not completely satisfied, you will get 100% of your money back, guaranteed, hassle free, no questions asked, 60 day unconditional guarantee.

Order via our secure server using Visa, Mastercard, American Express or PayPal

[justsoyoudonthaveto]

I know nothing about this movie, but the name itself just speaks to me. It says way too many Christmas trees, fake snow, small towns, big city girls who have to buckle down to stay in said small town, and lots of ugly sweaters worn unironically. Right now it’s steamy and gross out, and we’re at the tail end of a really bad rainstorm. Nothing better to do now than watch a Christmas in July movie with all three of my boys – one of which (the only legal one) is going to be playing the Hallmark Drinking Game. Let’s Begin – It’s Christmas Camp!

FYI – this was based on a book. Yes, someone wrote a book about this.

Drink #1 – opening shot of a Christmas scene in an unnamed city. Then we see a high powered career girl striding to work in a dress and ankle boots, which is honestly an awful look. Career girl now walks into the office in a pair of red character shoes – so what happened to her boots? Career girl is in advertising, up for a senior account executive position. She’s got a Sassy Friend, who just asked if more work is what the Career Girl needs.  Career Girl is named Hailey, and her boss Shawna isn’t sure that Hailey is right for the job because she doesn’t appreciate Christmas that much, and she’s up against privileged white guy Tom (Drink #2) who managed to decorate the entire office way too much. Shawna is sending Hailey to Christmas Camp for a holiday attitude adjustment – it’s 2 hours west of Boston, so off Hailey goes to get a Christmas Camp Certificate in Holiday Cheer.

Sassy Friend cannot believe that there is a thing like Christmas Camp and I for one am on Sassy Friend’s side. Hailey apparently only Christmases in the Caribbean with her parents where they snorkel on Christmas Eve instead. Now, while I occasionally dream of a Walt Disney World Christmas, I still won’t travel there because I want my house and my tree and my kids and their homemade stockings, so I have no idea why anyone would go far away at this time of the year.

Drink #3 – Montage of Winter Scene in Small Town Massachusetts, complete with “Deck the Halls” music while Hailey drives through the town. Drink #4 – Hailey hasn’t been inside Christmas Camp 2 minutes and she’s already offered cocoa and a cookie, and the Innkeeper gets to expound on his (Drink #5 Dead wife) and their many, many Christmas traditions. She’s shown to her room, the Angel Room, and what are the odds, there is NO Christmas tree in her room – although there is a lot of garland, angels, and twinkle lights. Hailey isn’t impressed.

Drink #6 Fake Snow – and our hero has arrived at the Holly Peak Inn, site of Christmas Camp. Our Hero is the son of the innkeeper, and he is…not attractive. Son is some kind of architect or developer, and is pressuring (slightly) his dad to sell the Inn and move to some kind of waterfront property. But off he goes to Hailey’s room to bring her the list of activities that she has to do to get her Christmas Camp Certificate – a three word phrase that I will NEVER be tired of typing out.

Hailey is not in the mood yet because she’s working on her pitch proposal.  The Checklist includes things like “Be Merry” “Joy” “Cheer” and seriously, Hailey thinks this is ridiculous. Hands raise if you agree.

Drink #7 Dead wife loved Christmas. Ben the Innkeeper is doing all sorts of traditional things in honor of dead wife, and son (and hero) Jeff is all about assisting dad. So now they are going around the room to all the people who need Christmas Cheer in their live, and someone to teach them how to get it, because apparently all the Christmas movies in the world haven’t done it for them yet. Couple #1 – newlyweds, and they don’t know how to meld their two traditions together. (Dude, just do what the wife says). Gail is a mom whose son is overseas in the military, and who has lost her Christmas Mojo.  John is a single, divorced dad of daughter Madison and son Blake. And Hailey just interrupted the meeting with a call from her Sassy Friend.

Hailey just asked Jeff is she could cheat at Christmas Camp, and Jeff just laughed at her. And Ben is collecting all the cell phones and Hailey looks like she lost her arm.

Drink #8 – Everyone has to write down their Christmas Wish, and of course, Hailey has no idea what to write. She has a lot of conversation with Jeff while everyone else is being quiet and respectful about writing things down. But it’s a nice conversation and they don’t hate each other. Sassy Friend loves her and bolsters her confidence, like a good Sassy Friend. (Drink #9).

There’s some kind of baker on premises, and she and Jeff have a heart to heart about how much Jeff is a good boy and how much his Dad loves his Christmas Camp. Huh?

Another nice conversation between Jeff and Hailey, and he gives her some kind of McGraw Hill book about kids at Christmas that will help her with her pitch to a toy company whose next campaign is all about Christmas Tradition.

There’s a sale coming to IHOP on July 16 – $0.58 short stacks! Check it out here!

Day 2 of Christmas Camp = Joy! Hailey is awakened by a cute dog who makes her walk him in the fake snow. And then Jeff shows up and takes over. There’s a field trip today. And now Hailey is LATE for the field trip and all she came up with on her toy proposal was ONE FREAKING PARAGRAPH. There is no excuse, Hailey.

The field trip – is to find the Perfect Christmas Tree (Drink #10) – which they have to chop down themselves. All of these trees have the most even amount of snow on them, and apparently, every guest has to pick their own tree for their room. And Hailey picks out the Charlie Browniest tree in the forest.

Uh-oh, Newlyweds are not seeing eye-to-eye about Christmas traditions. And Gail is having sad times about not being with her son around the tree. Hailey is very thoughtful, and now Gail is turning into a matchmaker between the handsome Jeff and Hailey.  Then we go to Jeff and Ben and Ben says that Jeff’s mom would like Hailey. Drink #11!

Dog has conned Hailey into sitting outside in the fake snow again. And now Jeff has to show up and talk to Hailey in the unconvincing moonlight. They both commiserate that they are single. Jeff thinks his dad is way more lonely than he lets on. Drink #12 Jeff just gave Hailey his coat even though he’s only in a cableknit sweater.

Just so you know what’s going on in my house, the two boys who aren’t drinking are having a game of nerf dart hide and seek. I am also serving as referee. I find that I do not care about nerf dart hide and seek, other than I wish it wasn’t in my living room.

Drink #13  – Hailey finally decorates her own damn tree.

Day 3 – Giving Theme. Dentist Dad gets into a fake snowball fight with his kids, and Hailey and Jeff join in – Drink #14 (extra sip because it’s a montage). But then off they go to the food kitchen, and Matchmaker Gail is working her magic, and off Jeff goes to show Hailey the Giving Tree (or Angel Tree) and Hailey is all inspired with her toy presentation. Drink #15 – sly glances between Jeff and Hailey over the donated pie. Gail is trying to get Hailey to let her hair down with Jeff, and she’s all like no, she’s got to focus on her job and not love (Drink #16).  Also, would like to point out a continuity problem, because in every scene Hailey has a different pair of earrings in her ears.

Hailey is still staring at her laptop with one paragraph written when Jeff comes to invite her to make snow angels, to get a jump on her “Christmas Spirit” chore. The last time I tried to make a snow angel, I was pregnant and I couldn’t get back up. A good time was had by all. Drink #17 as Jeff and Hailey had more speaking glances with each other and they’ve set up a hot cocoa date for 11 am the next day.

Day #4 – Sharing.  Baker is making sugar cookies, and now they all have to do some, and thank goodness we have missed a cookie montage. Drink #18 for the cookies, and in relief of not seeing Hailey have to bake.

Uh Oh, She’s got to answer her phone, and she’s not supposed to be on it, but emergency at work has meant that Hailey has missed her cocoa date with Jeff, and now Jeff is halfway to Sad Times, but he confronts her about it, and makes her feel guilty about caring about her job that pays her a salary and gives her benefits. Shut the hell up, Jeff, and get your own damn cocoa.

Newlyweds are enlisting help from the divorced kids on where all of the blended family members are going to sleep at their house. Just don’t invite your family at your first Christmas, you dumb newlyweds. Establish your own family.

Hailey is back outside on the bench with the dog, this time being joined by Ben the Innkeeper. But Ben is now confiding to Hailey about his money woes, and Hailey is in the zone telling Ben to license out his Christmas Camp idea. Ben loves the idea, but says don’t say anything to Jeff, because Jeff wants him to sell the inn, and now we’ve set up the confrontation for the second half of the movie. Thank goodness, I thought it would be more missed hot cocoa dates.

Day 5 – Holiday Spirit. Now they have to throw snowballs at weird targets and tell the group why Christmas is important to them. Magically, everyone hits their targets. Hailey’s all inspired to slow down and disconnect. Drink #18! (And Drink #19 because it then turned into a montage.)

Off Jeff and Hailey go for a walk in the fake snow covered woods to a little fake wishing well where his parents got engaged, because that is NOT clingy or creepy to do on a non-date with someone you sort of like. She makes a wish in the wishing well. Drink #20! And now with one question, Jeff has made Hailey wonder about her entire relationship with her parents, just by asking if they really want to go to the Carribbean.

Day #6 – Heart. Oh thank goodness we are almost done. Hailey has just woken up – she slept in her bathrobe, btw, and is super relaxed and happy and must face the fact that her parents don’t like to eat fish on Christmas, they’d rather have turkey. Show of hands, how many people have turkey in November and then in December? To me, that’s a lot of turkey.

Jeff is able to help out Hailey’s mom’s plumbing emergency, which is nice. Last task – everyone has to help cook. Newlywed bride says her tradition is to go around the table and say what they are grateful for – DUDE – that is a Thanksgiving Tradition. Gail says she likes brined turkey. Hailey likes stuffing. And divorced kids like brussel sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes. Again, I feel this is a Thanksgiving menu, not Christmas.

Hailey has finished her ideas for licensing Christmas Camp, and it looks awesome and the font is fun, but then Jeff comes by to show his dad a picture of a condo he wants his dad to move to on the waterfront (like a contenda).

Day #7 – Inspiration – and there’s a Camp Graduation Party where the whole town comes. Drink #21. I want to go to this party so badly. Before this party, everyone has to go around and say something that has inspired us – and FYI the newlyweds are expecting.

Drink #22 They are under the Mistletoe and Drink #23 – they do not get to kiss. Jeff is not so subtly hinting that he likes Hailey and wants her to think about him more than her job. He also has stressed that he wants his dad to sell the Inn, and Hailey can’t tell him that she’s worked out a whole thing to save his dad’s actual business and I can see the Sad Times Coming A Mile Away.

Older Son is protesting the fact that he didn’t make up “The Sad Times.” He did. Take your due, Older Son. Younger Son is asleep on the couch. Guess that nerf war really wore him out.

Sassy friend has been helpful off-screen with the toy advertising presentation, and Gail has swanned in to say she’s all ready to start internet dating.

Dinner time, and that turkey looks way underdone. Everyone is grateful for the time they spent at Christmas Camp. Older Son is annoyed that they are not going in a circle around the table. Now they’re eating, and it’s a different turkey. Just FYI, no one got salmonella.

Graduation party – montage. Drink #24! Hailey and Jeff are dancing, and they are so in sync, it’s like they were on Dancing with the Stars. Jeff is now so happy he’s dancing by himself like Hugh Grant in that awful movie Love Actually, and NOW Jeff has found Hailey’s Christmas Camp Licensing Idea and Drink #25 – SAD TIMES!!!!

But for once, Jeff is taking it out on his dad, and not Hailey. And during this emotional confrontation, Hailey has to butt in and now Jeff has to storm off in a huge hissy fit of Sad Times, and jeez, he’s such an ass. He’s all upset that Hailey did work and that this whole trip was about work and not about him! Grow the hell up, Jeff.

Older Son is now sitting on sleeping Younger Son.

Ben just told Hailey that he thinks Jeff is scared of his feelings for Hailey. Meh. Darling Husband is drinking to the Sad Times as we suffer through an Energizer Bunny commercial.

Now, we’re back, and Hailey can’t sleep – and who could, with the very loud Christmas track overlaying this movie? Last Day – Hope. But Poor Hailey is in the Sad Times, and can barely pack her suitcase without a tiny tear that doesn’t really run down her face. And she’s off to go back to the real world, and we have 15 more minutes of this crap. She does get her Christmas Camp Certificate before she leaves the Inn, though. Everyone has to stand still in the room while she leaves in honor of the heroine leaving the scene.

Back to the city – one week later. She’s back in her creepy black boots and mini skirts – what is she, on Pretty Little Liars? (I’m bingeing the last season before it leaves Netflix the end of this month).  Drink the entire bottle – she’s learned the message of Christmas, all about taking time, teamwork, etc., and because she’s so honest with herself and with her boss, she gets the promotion! If there’s anything left, save it for the last bit.

Younger son is so asleep he’s almost off the couch. Older Son keeps trying to wake him up. And no one has brushed their teeth yet.

Sassy Friend has shown up again to tell Hailey that she deserves her promotion, and to ask her if Jeff has called, but no, the answer is no, because Jeff sucks. Ben has shown up at Hailey’s office. The licensing idea is a hit, and Ben offers to take Hailey to Gail’s Christmas party, and he’s promising a surprise. Is it Jeff? You know it’s Jeff. Oh, is the surprise that Gail’s handsome (so much handsomer than Jeff) Marine son is home for Chrsitmas!  That’s one I didn’t see coming – except damn it, Jeff was behind the Marine. They are off to talk outside in the winter in Massachusetts where Hailey is not wearing a coat and stilletos.

They are both sorry, and they both apologize. Jeff is wearing a pink shirt and he’s confessing that Hailey has opened his heart and Merry Christmas, kiss in the winter and it’s snowing. Yay. Finish the Drink.

Oh My Goodness, this one had so many good and bad things. And Older Son has just farted in Younger Son’s sleeping face. Part of this movie feels like that. BUT, we did get a bit of Christmas Cheer just when we are boiling on the East Coast, and I know husband was happy to drink three bottles of Smirnoff Ice in the interest of Hallmark Blogs. So I call it a wash. I watched Christmas Camp, just so you don’t have to.

  Are you ready for the wonders and delights of Christmas in July? The fake snow! The Turkey! The Ugly Sweaters! The Cheer! The Sad Times! I watched (and my husband drank his way through) Christmas Camp - just so you don't have to. I know nothing about this movie, but the name itself just speaks to me. It says way too many Christmas trees, fake snow, small towns, big city girls who have to buckle down to stay in said small town, and lots of ugly sweaters worn unironically.

[totalsoccer]

Jota stars as Portugal ease past Sweden without Ronaldo

SHOWS: LISBON, PORTUGAL (OCTOBER 14, 2020) (RTP - ACCESS ALL) 1. PORTUGAL COACH FERNANDO SANTOS ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, FERNANDO SANTOS, SAYING: "Jota did not arrive today nor a month ago, Jota has been named several times before probably when he was not even thinking of move to Liverpool, he was already here. He was decisive for us in the match against Luxembourg. He is a player that is here for a long time and if he is named often to take part in the national team and if he plays, it's because he has quality because I don't call anyone without quality." 3. WHITE FLASH 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, FERNANDO SANTOS, SAYING: "The option has to be in accordance with the team strategy. I played with three mobile players that is how we used to play lately. Play with three mobile forwards instead of a more fixed forward, without Ronaldo that is one of the players who can do that too. Today we could have played Ronaldo and Jota because that keeps the team characteristics." 5. WHITE FLASH 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL AND LIVERPOOL FORWARD, DIOGO JOTA, SAYING: "Obviously, I'm happy for what I did individually, but I know that the most important was the collective performance. I think we had really good periods and others where we knew how to suffer and at the end I think we got a result that is very difficult to achieve against this Swedish team, a victory by three goals. At the end I think it's a happy night not only for me, but also for the national team." 7. WHITE FLASH 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL AND LIVERPOOL FORWARD, DIOGO JOTA, SAYING: "What happened, it's an atypical situation, then I did not have the opportunity to speak again with Cristiano. Obviously, I know that if he was available things could have be different, but we have to play with what we have and the eleven that entered the pitch played an excellent match and got a convincing result. That was the most important." STORY: Goals from Bernardo Silva and a brace from Diogo Jota gave Portugal a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden in the Nations League on Wednesday (October 14) as the hosts made light of the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to a positive COVID-19 test. Ronaldo's only contribution to the game was a post on Instagram around kickoff time urging on his team mates as he remained in quarantine, and they proved more than equal to the task. William Carvalho could have given the home side the lead in the opening minutes, but his header came back of the post and bounced away to safety, and Sweden's defence struggled to deal with Portugal's pace and precision. Silva opened the scoring in the 21st minute as Portugal won the ball back in the middle of the field and quickly countered, with Jota firing a pinpoint pass to Silva in the penalty area for a perfect first-time finish. Marcus Berg went close to equalising for Sweden with a powerful shot which hit the post, but the more the Swedes attacked the more vulnerable they were to Portugal's lightning-quick counters. Jota got on the scoresheet just before halftime, lashing home Joao Cancelo's cross from deep on the right to make it 2-0, and he added a superb third with a solo run and thumping shot in the 71st minute. With 10 points from four games, Portugal top Group 2 in League A on goal difference ahead of France, who beat Croatia 2-1 in Zagreb, with the Swedes bottom after a fourth straight round robin loss. (Production: Miguel Fermino Pereira)

source https://sports.yahoo.com/jota-stars-portugal-ease-past-232618139.html?src=rss

[prismatranslates-cue]

Airi Lesson Talk [Fairin’ ∞ Fairin’] Part 2

Previously: Part 1

In the dorm, outside Airi’s room.

Knock knock.

Chisa: Airi~ We’re having a snack, want some?

Airi: No thanks, I’m fine.

Yuuki: Are you sure? We’ve got your favourite chocolate!

Airi: Maybe later...

Yuzuha: Are you not feeling well?

Airi: No, I’m fine, just...

Yuuki: We’re coming in.

In Airi’s room: pitch black.

Chisa: What the—why’s it so dark in here?!

Yuzuha: Why don’t you open the curtains?

Airi: This morning’s fortune said to stay away from the sun.

Chisa: Uh, is that even possible?

Yuzuha: What happens if you don’t do what the fortune says?

Airi: I have to.

Yuzuha: Or else what?

Airi: I don’t know, but I know I have to.

Yuuki: Isn’t this like that story from the myths? With that god?

Chisa: Huh? What are you talking about?

Yuuki: I think it was, uh, Amaterasu-Okami? When she shut herself inside the cave.

Chisa: Oh, I know the one. The sun goddess hid herself in a cave, and the whole world was plunged into darkness, right?

Yuuki: Do you remember how they got her to come out of the cave in that story?

Chisa: Um, it was... Oh yeah, it was because a goddess danced naked.

Yuzuha: Ahaha, what the heck?

Chisa: The sight made all the other gods laugh, and the sound of all their laughter made Amaterasu curious enough to come out.

Yuzuha: Do you like those myth stories, Chisa?

Chisa: Well, I’ve always liked that one. It’s like, even when it gets dark, as long as you keep smiling and laughing, the sun will come back around.

Yuuki: Alright then, guess we should try dancing too.

Yuzuha: Naked?

Chisa: No thank you.

Yuuki: Why not? This is for Airi.

Airi: Um, thank you, Yuuki-chan. But you don’t need to do that.

Yuuki: Are you sure?

Airi: You see, I was thinking, the recording studio will be dim, right? So I’m actually trying to get myself used to being in the darkness.

Chisa: Oh, gotcha...well, how’s that working out?

Airi: I’m not getting anywhere...in fact, I think I’m even more scared of it now...

Yuzuha: Why don’t you stop for now? I don’t think the studio will be that dark, anyway.

Yuuki: Oh! I just had an idea! Get this!

Chisa: Ooh, what is it?! ...is how I’d like to react, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Yuuki: Let’s all go to the lesson studio right now! Tonight!

Airi: Th-the lesson studio?

Yuuki: It’s set up like a recording studio right now, right? It’s perfect!!

To be continued...in Part 3

[vskpop]

February 2017 ⋅ What do you say to BTS? Not today

Draw Me - Wonder Girls 

I really hope that starting my monthly post with the goodbye song from a disbanded group will not become a constant this year, but it’s already the second time in a row it happens. I guess at least they’re getting a chance to give fans closure (goodbye, 4minute).

On one hand, it’s surprising that the Wonder Girls lasted through so many member changes, random concepts and failed American debuts. On the other, I was also shocked to see them finally give up just as they had seemingly found their new path with the band concept.

Without wanting to delve too deep into the situation (I’ve already done that with 2NE1 and it was enough), it’s incredibly frustrating that they disbanded as they started to put their own stamp on their music and put out interesting things that actually reflected what they wanted to do.

Even if you’re not into rock-ish ballads, Draw Me is worth listening to just for the bridge, which hits me like a ton of bricks every single time.

 Act. 2 Narcissus - Gugudan

Gugudan’s debut had one of the cutest cute concepts of 2016; I was still pleased with it, all considered. I wouldn’t have been too bothered if they had continued on that route, but A Girl Like Me is so good that it might end up as one of my favourite comebacks of the whole year (and yes, I know it’s February).

The song itself is great; none of the girls spend the entire time singing in the highest pitch they can produce, and all the main singers get decent parts.

What I was especially impressed with was the styling and concept for A Girl Like Me. While a lot of girl group concepts are ridiculously vague, after the mermaid concept Gugudan went for an original and well-developed “Narcissus” (aka vain) concept. I adore how they managed to find a different variation on the subject for each of the members.

I would hardly call this female empowerment but, in the realm of k-pop, seeing girls singing about how great they are is not that common. They were so into the concept that the physical album has a mirror in it, which pretty much seals the deal for me.

Knock Knock - Twice 

After the tragedy that was TT, Twice were a lost cause for me, and I’m not sure that the situation has changed much. Considering the disgusted expressions that Nayeon and Jungyeon have in 90% of the live performances of Knock Knock, I’m going to say that this comeback was a step in the right direction, but there’s still a  long way to go.

Just like Red Velvet, Twice have been subject to ridiculous infantilisation, made worse by a simultaneous sexualisation. Knock Knock still has childish motifs like pajama parties and fairytale books, but it’s not all-out kindergarten like TT was.

While it’s still not nearly as good as Like Ooh Ahh, this new song is delightfully catchy and the “pretty rebels” concept (sic - and yes, throwing pillows at each other is the most rebellious thing they do)  is much less disturbing that the “sexy Tinkerbell” one.

Rookie - Red Velvet 

I was obsessed with the kindergarten-like chant in Red Velvet’s Ice Cream Cake for months after it was released. The perfect balance of stylishness, weirdness and childishness of their “red” was their signature style, and what set them apart from the other girl groups that debuted around the same time.

The more they move forward, the more their comebacks lean heavily towards a kindergarten-y, bubblegum-y aesthetic. In Rookie, the five members of Red Velvet are thrown into a Narnia-cum-Alice-in-Wonderland scenario, they wear puffy baby blue pinafore dresses, and chant “lookie lookie, my super lookie lookie lookie” in the highest-pitched voice they can produce.

The atmosphere and tone don’t feel dissimilar to the colorful, childlike concepts  NCT Dream have been doing. The difference and/or the problem lie in the fact that NCT Dream are aged 17 or under, but the only 17-year-old in Red Velvet is Yeri. Joy is 21; Wendy and Seulgi 23; Irene is about to turn 26.

It’s ironic to think that this is what they have to perform, when their labelmate SNSD’s Taeyeon hated Gee (another song that hinges on childishness, innocence and repetition) when she was 19.

Is this oversaturated iteration of the cute concept better than them acting like sexy toddlers à la Twice’s TT? Definitely. It’s still really disappointing to see such an original, distinctive project fade into something more conventional.

Adding insult to injury, the best songs on the album are Body Talk, which would have been perfect for a “velvet” comeback, and Talk To Me, which could have represented an ideal medium between the “red” and the “velvet”.

Wings: You Never Walk Alone - BTS 

BTS’ Wings as a whole was one of my top three albums of 2016; this is probably why I found the new songs in the You Never Walk Alone a little underwhelming. Despite the high concept, they don’t have the same bite as any of the original Wings tracks.

Strangely rock-ish Spring Day seems to have picked up some cues from Day6, but with a much busier, artificial production. The various parts of the songs feel clunkily assembled and, even though the end result is good enough, it’s still one of the least unique songs of their production.

The music video is - as usual - is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, and it’s gorgeously shot; the lyrics are beautiful, emotional and uplifting; I always appreciate when V gets some non-falsetto singing; however, in the end it still feels uninspired and “less-than” in comparison to any other 2015-2016 BTS song.

Talking about “less-than”, I am furious that BTS’ team thought that putting out Not Today would be a good idea. While I have to acknowledge that in any other circumstance it would be an ok song, it just falls flat in comparison to previous BTS hype songs.

Everything, from the pacing of the song to the vocal gimmicks used by the members (think of Jimin saying “aaawww!” and the last line of Not Today’s pre-chorus), reminds me of a poorer version of Fire. I know that BTS are known for their bangers and they had to throw one in there, but this sounds like a rip-off made by a lesser group.

The MV for Not Today looks remarkably like a sportswear advert - especially the slow motion sequences around minute 3. It wouldn’t be terribly surprising, since they’re sponsored by Puma, but it doesn’t quite pay off as a music video.

My favourite of the “add-on” songs is what should arguably be the title track, You Never Walk Alone, which conveys the same message as Spring Day with a much more interesting structure, incisive raps and a style that matches the original Wings songs much better.

I’ve said before and I will say again that, in my eyes, BTS are the most likely candidates to be the Big Bang of the third generation; I can’t rule out that in a few years I’ll have changed my opinion on You Never Walk Alone, but for now I’ll have to try to write it off as necessary growing pains.

I’m just glad to see that they managed to go another comeback without letting go of the true BTS trope, dirty concrete walls.

 Don’t Recall - K.A.R.D. 

Because DSP Media has hardly been the best company lately (or ever?), I have been trying not to get too attached to their new group, K.A.R.D, especially while terms like “predebut group” and “project group” keep being thrown around and they are not promoting on shows.

Their first single Oh Na Na arrived a bit too close to the end of the year for it to end up my 2016 list, but I have been listening to it pretty much non-stop. I am quite surprised that I’m not disappointed with their second single Don’t Recall, and I possibly like it even more.

While tropical house (drink!) has been done to death in k-pop, K.A.R.D manage to make it moody and nostalgic, and most of all not sounding same-y and forgettable, by moving towards a dancehall vibe and adding a hook that’s not as obvious but just as perfect as Oh Na Na’s.

K.A.R.D’s international success has been ridiculous (and I’ve been on that bandwagon from day 1), so I’m hoping that they will manage to survive 2017 despite their agency.

Also, they have to be the first group to release fan theories to their own video.

More songs of note 

My Day - Day6

Come Over - DEAN  

 Zero - Dino (Seventeen) 

Yesterday - Block B

Tina - MASC

  My First and Last & Dunk Shot - NCT Dream

 Roar & Jungle Game - SF9

 Circle’s Dream & Strawberry - Subin (Dalshabet)

  Dance With Me - VAV

  Drought - W Project

 The Song - Zion.T

Strays

Tablo & Eric Nam have a Gallant-less go at Cave Me In.

  How do Seventeen manage to keep improving when they already seemed perfect?

All AKMU is good AKMU. 

 Dreamcatcher literally did a cute concept cover a day after releasing this Maroon 5 gay anthem. 

[runawaywidow]

For the past several summers I have put my United States passport to good use and traveled around the world.  I’ve shared photos and posts about some exciting places but my most popular post is about a small town in upstate New York, 17 things to do in Ithaca.

Like many, I am hesitant about traveling this summer. We are now entering phase 3 post pandemic, so some places are opening up here in New York but I will not be going too far away. In fact, with an abundance of outdoor opportunities on Long Island, I will share my summer bucket list with my fellow islanders.

While the state parks do charge an entrance fee of $10, the Empire Pass can be purchased for the year for $80 and with this summer of limited travel, it is well worth the investment.

1.  Robert Moses, Field 5

Yesterday I drove myself over the bridge to Robert Moses ocean beach on Fire Island.  Clean, soft sand, refreshing salt water with moderate waves, qualified life guards and open bathrooms make this beach a true pleasure. If your ideal day is to sit in a chair under an umbrella and read or to take a long walk along the shore, visit the lighthouse and maybe stroll into the small beach village of Kismet, this can all be done in a day trip. Walking east along the shore I will warn you that some bathers prefer not to wear swim suits.   Just remember to wear your mask in the bathrooms at the beach.

Parking $10 or Empire pass. https://parks.ny.gov/parks/7/

2.  Montauk

The eastern most point of Long Island has this amazingly, still quaint fishing village. The cost of hotel rooms has sky rocketed in recent years but since you save money on air fare and time and the hassle of driving through New York City, it can be worth the splurge.  More ocean beaches, fishing trips, fresh seafood, hiking trails, cliffs, surfers and a light house to climb are just some reasons people keep coming out year after year to visit. My friend has made 2 visits already this summer with her kids to watch the sunrise at what is called THE END – and breakfast spots are open for the early birds too.

Hotel rooms are available but the average price per night is around $500 with a 3 night minimum on weekends. Day trip or a little getaway;  I’ll be planning my trip out east soon.

Montauk – Budget Friendly Vacation  

Montauk Point lighthouse

3.  Sunken Meadow State Park

What I love about this park is the 2 mile boardwalk along the beach for walking and riding bikes.  This park has hiking trails through the woods, and a public golf course with a driving range.  You must reserve a tee time in advance.  In addition, I like to visit this location as it is where we got married on the beach last June and had a fun celebration with family and friends.  We’ve been back a few times this spring and always enjoy some time outside.

Parking $10 or Empire pass: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/37/

4. Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve

This scenic park is located on the North Shore in Lloyd Harbor.  The old estate and buildings are still standing on the hill above the Long Island Sound and active horse stables give the feel of being a guest at a country estate.  The three mile paved and shaded trail is available to pedestrians and bicycles only.  No dogs allowed.

Parking $10 or Empire pass: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx

5. Cold Spring Harbor hiking trail

This one is Free.  Simply park by the library on Harbor Road in Cold Spring Harbor and you will see the sign to the entrance.  This is the north end of the 19 mile Nassau-Suffolk trail and does have some hills to climb.  People often bring dogs along on a leash.   I would highly recommend spraying for ticks before you head out on this trail or any trails on Long Island and be sure to check carefully when you return home as well.

https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7029784/cold-spring-harbor-state-park-out-and-back

6.  Huntington Village

The restaurants in town are most creative as they set up outdoor dining tables on side walks and alleys.  Musicians on the street, music coming from the restaurants and people walking around make us forget that we have been sheltering in place for 3 months.  The waitstaff is required to wear masks and you have the option to wear a mask as well.  Walking around the town, getting an ice cream and seeing people again can make us all remember we are part of a bigger community.  And when you go out to eat, you can feel good about supporting the local economy too!

7. Planting Fields, Oyster Bay

If you prefer gardens, this former Gold Coast estate features 409 acres of gardens.  The Coe house and greenhouses are currently closed but the grounds are open for walking and enjoying the outdoor gardens and architecture from the early 1900’s.

https://plantingfields.org/plan-your-visit/

8.  Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Located on the south shore in Great River, the grounds are open everyday except on Mondays.  The trail along the river is lined with a variety of trees and plants in an informal setting.  The house is closed currently but this is a beautiful park to visit and learn more about the types of plants in this area.

https://bayardcuttingarboretum.com/

9.  Long Island Aquarium

A favorite place to visit with families is the aquarium in Riverhead.  The sea otters, penguins and sea lion exhibits are outdoors.  Sting rays and sharks are indoors and masks are required.  Due to reduced guest capacity, reservations must be made in advance.

https://www.longislandaquarium.com/purchase-tickets/pricing/

10. Fire Island by Ferry

I grew up on the south shore in Sayville, known as the “friendliest town in America”.  This is really a great little town with restaurants and small shops along a quaint Main Street that often closes for town events like car shows and summer festivals.  Following Foster Avenue south towards the Great South Bay and turning left at the end, you will see the docks for the ferries.  Two of my first jobs were cleaning houses at Fire Island Pines and making pizzas at Cherry Grove. Both awesome little beach communities that do not allow cars, homes are connected only by boardwalks and the vibes from the New York City gay community are alive and vibrant.

The ferry to Sailors Haven and Sunken Forest also leaves from the same dock area and while homes are not available to rent and only a concession stand is available for dining, this natural setting makes for a great day trip for families.

Ferries cost $16-18 round trip and you can pay to bring your dog as well.  Ferries leave approximately every 2 hours.

http://www.sayvilleferry.com/schedule-pines.php

10. ROBERT MOSES, Field 2

The western most end of Fire Island National seashore has a 3 par 9 hole golf course right there at the beach.  No reservations necessary as it is first come, first served. Perfect for beginners and beach lovers.  Pack a lunch or dinner, play golf and take a long walk around the point or hop in for a swim in the sea.

$10 parking fee or  Empire Pass.

11.  Jones Beach, Field 6

Although the concerts have been cancelled this summer, the iconic boardwalk at Jones Beach is still a treasure.  I prefer field 6 on the eastern most part of the park as it is the shortest walk to the water and right on the boardwalk.  Also a great place to walk with a stroller.  The playground may be opening soon and a there is a small 9 hole pitch and putt golf course along the boardwalk as well.  My grandmother and mom used to tell stories of going to the pool located in the building during the summer and the many evenings they spent dancing to music outside at the bandshell.

$10 parking fee or Empire Pass

https://parks.ny.gov/parks/jonesbeach/

12.  Kayak River Rentals

I have heard wonderful tales of kayaking the Nissequogue River starting in Smithtown near the bull (It’s a famous statue here on Long Island).  So you make a reservation and meet the group – sign some papers and board the kayak.  Double kayaks and canoes cost about $60 for the approximately 3 hour tour down the river toward the Long Island sound. Nature, birds, and water are the best, just prepare for the sun, bugs and hydration on your adventure.  A bus even brings you back to your car. This summer I will definitely try this.

http://www.canoerentals.com/

13. Motor Boat Rentals

Living near the beach, I have always had either a sailboat or a motor boat… except for this summer.  While I am happy to save on the expense of maintenance and repairs, I will miss going out in a boat.

Having friends with boats is always a good alternative.  But if your friends don’t have a boat, it is possible to rent boats for a day or even half a day.  I did this last winter in Florida with my sister and her family and we had a blast. So as a consolation to staying home this summer without a boat, I have been looking into day rentals and am considering two. For a boat that could accommodate 8 people, for the day it is about $1000.

In Freeport, the rental shop offers hourly rentals starting at 2 hours for about $300.

https://summerboatrental.com/

In Port Washington, Long Island Boat Rentals offers deals for small boats as well as captained boats for the day.

https://liboatrentals.com/

I am looking forward to trying out one or both of these places this summer.  Who’s in?

I am grateful to live in such a beautiful place and to have the summer off.  I can not imagine what the fall will bring for me as a teacher but I know that I have today to get out and enjoy.  Keep safe, wear a mask if you will be near people and have a great summer!

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        14 Awesome Things to do this Summer on Long Island For the past several summers I have put my United States passport to good use and traveled around the world. 

[healthyogii]

Andy Allo Workout Routine and Diet Plan [2020]

Andy Allo Workout Routine and Diet Plan [2020]

Andy Allo Workout Routine and Diet Plan: Andy Allo is a singer, songwriter, and actress that got known after she released her first album in 2009 after that she started reaching fame slowly and steadily and even reached a point where Andy Allo starred in movies like the Hero, Pitch perfect 3, etc.

Currently, she starred with the Flash in the Amazon original series called Upload. Another thing…

[holytheoristtastemaker]

Spinners and loaders have traditionally been the way to tell users that content is going to take a while to load. While this approach is great, it’s quickly becoming obsolete in modern development. Skeleton screens are becoming the perfect replacement for traditional loaders because they focus on progress rather than wait times, hence reducing loading-time frustration. In this article, we won’t be going through the basics of CSS React or JavaScript syntax, so you don’t have to be an expert in either of these languages to follow along.

The difference between a loader and a skeleton screen UI (Large preview)

UI and UX experts teach us that, while users wait for content to load on a page, we should keep them engaged. The idea behind using spinners to engage users before content loads is great; however, the result can be less than ideal because most users will get bored staring at a dummy animated spinner like it’s a clock. Luke Wroblewski elaborates on this. Skeleton screens offer a better user experience by reducing loading-time frustration. By focusing on progress instead of wait times, it create the illusion for users that information will be incrementally displayed on the screen. Bill Chung in his research confirms this.

What Is a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton screen is a version of the UI that doesn’t contain actual content; instead, it mimics the page’s layout by showing its elements in a shape similar to the actual content as it is loading and becoming available (i.e. when network latency allows). A skeleton screen is essentially a wireframe of the page, with placeholder boxes for text and images.

What’s Unique About a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton UI resembles the page’s actual UI, so users will understand how quickly the web or mobile app will load even before the content has shown up. Here are a couple of reasons why you might want to consider using skeleton screens in your next project:

mimicking a page’s layout is easier with a skeleton screen,

contents loads progressively (not all at once).

Skeleton screens are also referred to as:

ghost elements,

content placeholders,

content loaders.

Blockchain.com, YouTube, Facebook, Medium, and other big tech companies display skeleton screens while their content loads to boost the UX.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com’s partially loaded state (notice how a skeleton is used in the graph analytics) (Large preview)

Medium

Medium’s skeleton UI (Large preview)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s home feed loading state in 2018 (Large preview)

Types of Skeleton Screens

There are different kinds of skeleton screens. The major ones are text placeholders and image (or color) placeholders. Most developers prefer to use text placeholders as the skeleton UI on their pages because they’re easy to build, and the developer doesn’t require any details about the substance of the actual content; instead the skeleton mimics the UI. Color placeholders are harder to build because they require details about the content. Some popular packages make implementing skeleton screens in web apps easier. Let’s take a closer look at both of them:

React Placeholder

React Loading Skeleton

We’ll look at the pros and cons of each package, before considering which to use for our application.

React Placeholder

Pros

Placeholder components are used to create a custom skeleton UI.

Pulse animation (i.e. motion effect on an element) is supported.

It comes with a component-based API.

Cons

Skeleton components are maintained separately, so updating styles of a component possibly requires updating the skeleton component as well.

The learning curve is not linear because there are multiple components for different needs.

The following is an example of a skeleton component using the react-placeholder package:

import { TextBlock, RectShape } from 'react-placeholder/lib/placeholders'; import ReactPlaceholder from 'react-placeholder'; const GhostPlaceholder = () => ( <div className='my-placeholder'> <RectShape color='gray' style= /> <TextBlock rows={6} color='blue'/> </div> ); <ReactPlaceholder ready={ready} customPlaceholder={<GhostPlaceholder />}> <MyComponent /> </ReactPlaceholder>

Importing TextBlock and RectShape from react-placeholder/lib/placeholder and ReactPlaceholder from react-placeholder, we’ve created a functional component named GhostPlaceholder. GhostPlaceholder has a div, and inside the div we’ve used the RectShape component, which describes the dimensions of a rectangle, passes the value of any color, and defines the rectangle’s styles. Next, we used the TextBlock component to set the values for the rows and color. The TextBlock component defines the number of rows and color of text. We pass MyComponent as a child of the ReactPlaceholder component, which receives ready and the GhostPlaceholder component as values for its ready and customPlaceholder props. The MyComponent will load when the skeleton screen UI is shown. To learn more, check the documentation.

React Loading Skeleton

Pros

It is API-based, and it has one component with props for all customization.

It can be used as a separate skeleton component and also inside any component directly, so it’s flexible.

It supports theming and Pulse animation.

Cons

It’s easy to implement for a simple skeleton UI, but complicated for more complex skeletons.

Having a separate skeleton component will make it harder to maintain when the UI and styles change.

The following is an example of React Loading Skeleton:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonComponent = () => ( <SkeletonTheme color="#202020" highlightColor="#444"> <section> <Skeleton height={50} width={50} /> </section> </SkeletonTheme> );

We’ve imported Skeleton and SkeletonTheme from the react-loading-skeleton library, then created a functional component that renders the SkeletonTheme component, with color and hightlightColor as properties. The SkeletonTheme component is used for theming (for example, adding color effects to the skeleton UI). Finally, inside the section, we define the Skeleton component, with height and width properties and their appropriate values passed in.

Building a YouTube-Like Skeleton Screen UI

Let’s create a YouTube-like skeleton screen, using React Loading Skeleton, to show how a skeleton UI works.

Set Up React

The easiest way to set up React is to use Create React App, which is “an officially supported way to create single-page React applications. It offers a modern build setup with no configuration.” We’ll use it to bootstrap the application that we’ll be building. From your terminal, run the command below:

npx create-react-app skeleton-screens && cd skeleton-screens

Once the installation has completed, start the React server by running npm start:

React welcome page (Large preview)

Create the YouTube UI Without a Skeleton Screen

First, let’s input YouTube dummy data. Real endpoints would normally be used instead of dummy data, but in this tutorial we will use dummy data. Create a file in your src/ folder, and name it data.js, add the following code to it.

const dummyData= [ { section: "Recommended", channel: "CNN", items: [ { id: "fDObf2AeAP4", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/fDObf2AeAP4/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "75 million Americans ordered to stay home", views: "1.9M views", published: "3 days agos" }, { id: "3AzIgAa0Cm8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/3AzIgAa0Cm8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Gupta: The truth about using chloroquine to fight coronavirus pandemic", views: "128K views", published: "4 hours ago" }, { id: "92B37aXykYw", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/92B37aXykYw/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Willie Jones STUNS Simon Cowell In Pitch Perfect Performance of 'Your Man'!", views: "2.47 million views", published: "1 month ago" }, { id: "J6rVaFzOEP8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/J6rVaFzOEP8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Guide To Becoming A Self-Taught Software Developer", views: "104K views", published: "17 days ago" }, { id: "Wbk8ZrfU3EM", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/Wbk8ZrfU3EM/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus", views: "600k views", published: "1 week ago" }, { id: "ikHpFgKJax8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ikHpFgKJax8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Faces Of Africa- The Jerry Rawlings story", views: "2.3 million views", published: "2014" } ] }, { section: "Breaking News", channel: "CGTN America", items: [ { id: "tRLDPy1A8pI", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/tRLDPy1A8pI/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Is Trump blaming China for COVID-19? You decide.", views: "876k views", published: "9 days ago" }, { id: "2ulH1R9hlG8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/2ulH1R9hlG8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Journalist still goes to office during pandemic, see her daily routine", views: "873 views", published: "3 hours ago" }, { id: "\_TkfQ9MaIgU", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/_TkfQ9MaIgU/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "How are small businesses going to survive the economic downturn of the COVID-19 era?", views: "283 views", published: "4 day ago" } ] } ]; export default dummyData;

To replicate YouTube’s format, we’ve created dummy data that has an array of objects, with properties such as ID, image, title, number of views, and publication date. Next, let’s create our YouTube UI. We will have three components:

Card Holds the details of the video’s thumbnail, title, number of views, publication date, and channel. CardList Returns all cards in a row. App Mounts our dummyData object, loads the skeleton UI for two seconds, and returns the CardList component.

Inside your src folder, create a folder and name it components. Inside the components folder, create a Card.js file, add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; const Card = ({ item, channel }) => { return ( <li className="card"> <a href={`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${item.id}`} target="\_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="card-link" > <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="card-image" /> <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="channel-image" /> <h4 className="card-title">{item.title}</h4> <p className="card-channel"> <i>{channel}</i> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> {item.views} • {item.published} </div> </a> </li> ); }; export default Card;

We created a Card component. Inside it, we imported React from react, and we deconstructed the item and channel props so that they can be used across the Card component. Each Card item component that displays one video will show the thumbnail, number of views, publication date, and title.

CardList Component

Inside the components folder, create a CardList.js file and add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; import Card from "./Card"; const CardList = ({ list }) => { return ( <ul className="list"> {list.items.map((item, index) => { return <Card key={index} item={item} channel={list.channel} />; })} </ul> ); }; export default CardList;

In this component, we’ve imported the Card component that we created. The card accepts the item and channel props, which we get by mapping through the list.items. We then export this component as CardList, because we’ll be making use of it in our App component. Note: The items array that is mapped in this component is the array of objects in our dummyData.

App Component

Inside the app.js file in the src/ directory, delete the code that is there and add the following to it.

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react"; import "./App.css"; import dummyData from "./data"; import CardList from "./components/CardList"; const App = () => { const [videos, setVideos] = useState([]); const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false); useEffect(() => { setLoading(true); const timer = setTimeout(() => { setVideos(dummyData); setLoading(false); }, 5000); return () => clearTimeout(timer); }, []); return ( <div className="App"> { videos.map((list, index) => { return ( <section key={index}> <h2 className="section-title">{list.section}</h2> <CardList list={list} /> <hr /> </section> ); })} </div> ); }; export default App;

In this component, we’ve imported the useState and useEffect hooks alongside React and the other files that we’ve created and that will be needed in the App component. Because our data is dummy data, we need to mock it up like the API data by loading the content after a two-second timeout, using the JavaScript setTimeout method. Next, in the App component, we create a video state, and set the state to an empty array using useState. To load our dummy data, we’ll use the useEffect hook. In our hook, we create a variable timer that holds the setTimeout() function. Inside the function, we set our video state to our dummyData object, and we ensure that the data loads after two seconds, and, lastly, we cancel the timer while unmounting. Finally, we map through our video state and return the section element that contains the list-section and the CardList component with its list props.

Adding CSS

Until now, we’ve used a lot of classes without actual CSS. Inside the src folder, delete everything in App.css and replace it with the following code;

.App { max-width: 960px; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 16px; } .list { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; list-style: none; padding: 0; } .section-title { margin-top: 30px; } .card { width: calc(33% - 10px); margin: 20px 0; } .card-link { color: inherit; text-decoration: none; } .card-image { width: 100%; } .channel-image { border-radius: 100%; padding: 0, 10px, 0, 0; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .card-title { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0; } .card-channel { margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size: 14px; } /* Tablets */ @media (max-width: 1000px) { .App { max-width: 600px; } .card { width: calc(50% - 22px); } } /* Mobiles \*/ @media (max-width: 640px) { .App { max-width: 100%; padding: 0 15px; } .card { width: 100%; } }

Let’s see what our YouTube UI looks like without the skeleton screen. You can see that when the page loads, a white screen appears for two seconds, and then the data loads promptly.

YouTube-Like UI without skeleton screen (Large preview)

Using React Loading Skeleton

Unlike other libraries in which you would meticulously craft a skeleton screen to match the font sizes, line heights and margins of your content, the Skeleton component is designed to be used directly in your components, in place of the content that is loading. Let’s go over a few reasons why we’ve chosen React Loading Skeleton over others.

Theming

React Loading Skeleton supports theming. Thus, you can easily change the colors of all skeleton components by using SkeletonTheme and pass values to the color props. Below is an example showing how it works:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; <SkeletonTheme color="grey" highlightColor="#444"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme> <SkeletonTheme color="#990" highlightColor="#550"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme>

Theming effect in action (Large preview)

Duration

In addition to the height, width, and color props, we can also specify a duration prop.

<Skeleton duration={2} />

The duration defaults to 1.2. This determines how long it takes to do one cycle of the skeleton animation. To learn more, check out the documentation.

Implementing Skeleton Screen UI

Now, we’ll install react-loading-skeleton. Run the following command in your terminal to install the package:

npm install react-loading-skeleton

Skeleton Component

Let’s create a skeleton component for our video data. Inside our components folder, create a SkeletonCard.js file, and add the following code:

import React from "react"; import Skeleton from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonCard = () => { return ( <section> <h2 className="section-title"> <Skeleton height={30} width={300} /> </h2> <ul className="list"> {Array(9) .fill() .map((item, index) => ( <li className="card" key={index}> <Skeleton height={180} /> <h4 className="card-title"> <Skeleton circle={true} height={50} width={50} />   <Skeleton height={36} width={`80%`} /> </h4> <p className="card-channel"> <Skeleton width={`60%`} /> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> <Skeleton width={`90%`} /> </div> </li> ))} </ul> </section> ); }; export default SkeletonCard;

We’ve created an unordered list. Inside it, we’ve used the Array.fill() method. Because we have nine items of dummy data, we’ve used the Array.fill() method to loop through the length of our items object and filled it with no index value, hence making our array empty. See the Array.fill documentation to learn how it works. Next, we mapped through our empty array to return a list containing the skeleton properties, and we specified the value of each of the skeleton properties. Here, height connotes the length of a skeleton rectangle, and width refers to the breadth, while circle creates the rounded part of the skeleton UI. React Loading Skeleton comes with default Pulse animation, which makes it handy. You could create Pulse animation to suit your project, but if you ask me, I would stick with the default. Finally, the complete source code is available. We now have a fully functional skeleton screen UI. Our example shows the skeleton for five seconds before showing the content. Let’s see our result thus far:

Our YouTube-like skeleton UI (Large preview)

Conclusion

Skeleton screens tremendously improve the user experience by avoiding the frustration of facing an entirely blank screen and giving the user an impression of what content will look like before it loads. If you aren’t comfortable with any of the packages we’ve looked at, you can create your own skeleton UI by making rectangles and circles that mimic the page’s layout. Please do share your feedback and experience with in the comments section below. I’d love to see what you come up with!

[laurelkrugerr]

Implementing Skeleton Screens In React

About The Author

Blessing Krofegha is a Software Engineer Based in Lagos Nigeria, with a burning desire to contribute to making the web awesome for all, by writing and building … More about Blessing …

In this tutorial, you’ll learn what a skeleton screen UI is and some types of skeleton screen libraries, along with their pros and cons. We’ll build a YouTube-like skeleton screen UI using React Loading Skeleton. Then, you can experiment on your own with the skeleton screen React package of your choice.

Spinners and loaders have traditionally been the way to tell users that content is going to take a while to load. While this approach is great, it’s quickly becoming obsolete in modern development. Skeleton screens are becoming the perfect replacement for traditional loaders because they focus on progress rather than wait times, hence reducing loading-time frustration.

In this article, we won’t be going through the basics of CSS React or JavaScript syntax, so you don’t have to be an expert in either of these languages to follow along.

The difference between a loader and a skeleton screen UI (Large preview)

UI and UX experts teach us that, while users wait for content to load on a page, we should keep them engaged.

The idea behind using spinners to engage users before content loads is great; however, the result can be less than ideal because most users will get bored staring at a dummy animated spinner like it’s a clock. Luke Wroblewski elaborates on this.

Skeleton screens offer a better user experience by reducing loading-time frustration. By focusing on progress instead of wait times, it create the illusion for users that information will be incrementally displayed on the screen. Bill Chung in his research confirms this.

What Is a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton screen is a version of the UI that doesn’t contain actual content; instead, it mimics the page’s layout by showing its elements in a shape similar to the actual content as it is loading and becoming available (i.e. when network latency allows).

A skeleton screen is essentially a wireframe of the page, with placeholder boxes for text and images.

What’s Unique About a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton UI resembles the page’s actual UI, so users will understand how quickly the web or mobile app will load even before the content has shown up. Here are a couple of reasons why you might want to consider using skeleton screens in your next project:

mimicking a page’s layout is easier with a skeleton screen,

contents loads progressively (not all at once).

Skeleton screens are also referred to as:

ghost elements,

content placeholders,

content loaders.

Blockchain.com, YouTube, Facebook, Medium, and other big tech companies display skeleton screens while their content loads to boost the UX.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com’s partially loaded state (notice how a skeleton is used in the graph analytics) (Large preview)

Medium

Medium’s skeleton UI (Large preview)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s home feed loading state in 2018 (Large preview)

Types of Skeleton Screens

There are different kinds of skeleton screens. The major ones are text placeholders and image (or color) placeholders.

Most developers prefer to use text placeholders as the skeleton UI on their pages because they’re easy to build, and the developer doesn’t require any details about the substance of the actual content; instead the skeleton mimics the UI.

Color placeholders are harder to build because they require details about the content.

Some popular packages make implementing skeleton screens in web apps easier. Let’s take a closer look at both of them:

We’ll look at the pros and cons of each package, before considering which to use for our application.

React Placeholder

Pros

Placeholder components are used to create a custom skeleton UI.

Pulse animation (i.e. motion effect on an element) is supported.

It comes with a component-based API.

Cons

Skeleton components are maintained separately, so updating styles of a component possibly requires updating the skeleton component as well.

The learning curve is not linear because there are multiple components for different needs.

The following is an example of a skeleton component using the react-placeholder package:

import { TextBlock, RectShape } from 'react-placeholder/lib/placeholders'; import ReactPlaceholder from 'react-placeholder'; const GhostPlaceholder = () => ( <div className='my-placeholder'> <RectShape color='gray' style= /> <TextBlock rows={6} color='blue'/> </div> ); <ReactPlaceholder ready={ready} customPlaceholder={<GhostPlaceholder />}> <MyComponent /> </ReactPlaceholder>

Importing TextBlock and RectShape from react-placeholder/lib/placeholder and ReactPlaceholder from react-placeholder, we’ve created a functional component named GhostPlaceholder. GhostPlaceholder has a div, and inside the div we’ve used the RectShape component, which describes the dimensions of a rectangle, passes the value of any color, and defines the rectangle’s styles.

Next, we used the TextBlock component to set the values for the rows and color. The TextBlock component defines the number of rows and color of text.

We pass MyComponent as a child of the ReactPlaceholder component, which receives ready and the GhostPlaceholder component as values for its ready and customPlaceholder props.

The MyComponent will load when the skeleton screen UI is shown.

To learn more, check the documentation.

React Loading Skeleton

Pros

It is API-based, and it has one component with props for all customization.

It can be used as a separate skeleton component and also inside any component directly, so it’s flexible.

It supports theming and Pulse animation.

Cons

It’s easy to implement for a simple skeleton UI, but complicated for more complex skeletons.

Having a separate skeleton component will make it harder to maintain when the UI and styles change.

The following is an example of React Loading Skeleton:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonComponent = () => ( <SkeletonTheme color="#202020" highlightColor="#444"> <section> <Skeleton height={50} width={50} /> </section> </SkeletonTheme> );

We’ve imported Skeleton and SkeletonTheme from the react-loading-skeleton library, then created a functional component that renders the SkeletonTheme component, with color and hightlightColor as properties.

The SkeletonTheme component is used for theming (for example, adding color effects to the skeleton UI).

Finally, inside the section, we define the Skeleton component, with height and width properties and their appropriate values passed in.

Building a YouTube-Like Skeleton Screen UI

Let’s create a YouTube-like skeleton screen, using React Loading Skeleton, to show how a skeleton UI works.

Set Up React

The easiest way to set up React is to use Create React App, which is “an officially supported way to create single-page React applications. It offers a modern build setup with no configuration.”

We’ll use it to bootstrap the application that we’ll be building. From your terminal, run the command below:

npx create-react-app skeleton-screens && cd skeleton-screens

Once the installation has completed, start the React server by running npm start:

React welcome page (Large preview)

Create the YouTube UI Without a Skeleton Screen

First, let’s input YouTube dummy data. Real endpoints would normally be used instead of dummy data, but in this tutorial we will use dummy data.

Create a file in your src/ folder, and name it data.js, add the following code to it.

const dummyData= [ { section: "Recommended", channel: "CNN", items: [ { id: "fDObf2AeAP4", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/fDObf2AeAP4/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "75 million Americans ordered to stay home", views: "1.9M views", published: "3 days agos" }, { id: "3AzIgAa0Cm8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/3AzIgAa0Cm8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Gupta: The truth about using chloroquine to fight coronavirus pandemic", views: "128K views", published: "4 hours ago" }, { id: "92B37aXykYw", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/92B37aXykYw/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Willie Jones STUNS Simon Cowell In Pitch Perfect Performance of 'Your Man'!", views: "2.47 million views", published: "1 month ago" }, { id: "J6rVaFzOEP8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/J6rVaFzOEP8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Guide To Becoming A Self-Taught Software Developer", views: "104K views", published: "17 days ago" }, { id: "Wbk8ZrfU3EM", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/Wbk8ZrfU3EM/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus", views: "600k views", published: "1 week ago" }, { id: "ikHpFgKJax8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ikHpFgKJax8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Faces Of Africa- The Jerry Rawlings story", views: "2.3 million views", published: "2014" } ] }, { section: "Breaking News", channel: "CGTN America", items: [ { id: "tRLDPy1A8pI", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/tRLDPy1A8pI/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Is Trump blaming China for COVID-19? You decide.", views: "876k views", published: "9 days ago" }, { id: "2ulH1R9hlG8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/2ulH1R9hlG8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Journalist still goes to office during pandemic, see her daily routine", views: "873 views", published: "3 hours ago" }, { id: "\_TkfQ9MaIgU", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/_TkfQ9MaIgU/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "How are small businesses going to survive the economic downturn of the COVID-19 era?", views: "283 views", published: "4 day ago" } ] } ]; export default dummyData;

To replicate YouTube’s format, we’ve created dummy data that has an array of objects, with properties such as ID, image, title, number of views, and publication date.

Next, let’s create our YouTube UI. We will have three components:

CardHolds the details of the video’s thumbnail, title, number of views, publication date, and channel.CardListReturns all cards in a row.AppMounts our dummyData object, loads the skeleton UI for two seconds, and returns the CardList component.

Inside your src folder, create a folder and name it components. Inside the components folder, create a Card.js file, add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; const Card = ({ item, channel }) => { return ( <li className="card"> <a href={`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${item.id}`} target="\_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="card-link" > <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="card-image" /> <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="channel-image" /> <h4 className="card-title">{item.title}</h4> <p className="card-channel"> <i>{channel}</i> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> {item.views} • {item.published} </div> </a> </li> ); }; export default Card;

We created a Card component. Inside it, we imported React from react, and we deconstructed the item and channel props so that they can be used across the Card component. Each Card item component that displays one video will show the thumbnail, number of views, publication date, and title.

CardList Component

Inside the components folder, create a CardList.js file and add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; import Card from "./Card"; const CardList = ({ list }) => { return ( <ul className="list"> {list.items.map((item, index) => { return <Card key={index} item={item} channel={list.channel} />; })} </ul> ); }; export default CardList;

In this component, we’ve imported the Card component that we created. The card accepts the item and channel props, which we get by mapping through the list.items. We then export this component as CardList, because we’ll be making use of it in our App component.

Note: The items array that is mapped in this component is the array of objects in our dummyData.

App Component

Inside the app.js file in the src/ directory, delete the code that is there and add the following to it.

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react"; import "./App.css"; import dummyData from "./data"; import CardList from "./components/CardList"; const App = () => { const [videos, setVideos] = useState([]); const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false); useEffect(() => { setLoading(true); const timer = setTimeout(() => { setVideos(dummyData); setLoading(false); }, 5000); return () => clearTimeout(timer); }, []); return ( <div className="App"> { videos.map((list, index) => { return ( <section key={index}> <h2 className="section-title">{list.section}</h2> <CardList list={list} /> <hr /> </section> ); })} </div> ); }; export default App;

In this component, we’ve imported the useState and useEffect hooks alongside React and the other files that we’ve created and that will be needed in the App component.

Because our data is dummy data, we need to mock it up like the API data by loading the content after a two-second timeout, using the JavaScript setTimeout method.

Next, in the App component, we create a video state, and set the state to an empty array using useState.

To load our dummy data, we’ll use the useEffect hook. In our hook, we create a variable timer that holds the setTimeout() function. Inside the function, we set our video state to our dummyData object, and we ensure that the data loads after two seconds, and, lastly, we cancel the timer while unmounting.

Finally, we map through our video state and return the section element that contains the list-section and the CardList component with its list props.

Adding CSS

Until now, we’ve used a lot of classes without actual CSS. Inside the src folder, delete everything in App.css and replace it with the following code;

.App { max-width: 960px; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 16px; } .list { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; list-style: none; padding: 0; } .section-title { margin-top: 30px; } .card { width: calc(33% - 10px); margin: 20px 0; } .card-link { color: inherit; text-decoration: none; } .card-image { width: 100%; } .channel-image { border-radius: 100%; padding: 0, 10px, 0, 0; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .card-title { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0; } .card-channel { margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size: 14px; } /* Tablets */ @media (max-width: 1000px) { .App { max-width: 600px; } .card { width: calc(50% - 22px); } } /* Mobiles \*/ @media (max-width: 640px) { .App { max-width: 100%; padding: 0 15px; } .card { width: 100%; } }

Let’s see what our YouTube UI looks like without the skeleton screen. You can see that when the page loads, a white screen appears for two seconds, and then the data loads promptly.

YouTube-Like UI without skeleton screen (Large preview)

Using React Loading Skeleton

Unlike other libraries in which you would meticulously craft a skeleton screen to match the font sizes, line heights and margins of your content, the Skeleton component is designed to be used directly in your components, in place of the content that is loading.

Let’s go over a few reasons why we’ve chosen React Loading Skeleton over others.

Theming

React Loading Skeleton supports theming. Thus, you can easily change the colors of all skeleton components by using SkeletonTheme and pass values to the color props.

Below is an example showing how it works:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; <SkeletonTheme color="grey" highlightColor="#444"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme> <SkeletonTheme color="#990" highlightColor="#550"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme>

Theming effect in action (Large preview)

Duration

In addition to the height, width, and color props, we can also specify a duration prop.

<Skeleton duration={2} />

The duration defaults to 1.2. This determines how long it takes to do one cycle of the skeleton animation.

To learn more, check out the documentation.

Implementing Skeleton Screen UI

Now, we’ll install react-loading-skeleton. Run the following command in your terminal to install the package:

npm install react-loading-skeleton

Skeleton Component

Let’s create a skeleton component for our video data. Inside our components folder, create a SkeletonCard.js file, and add the following code:

import React from "react"; import Skeleton from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonCard = () => { return ( <section> <h2 className="section-title"> <Skeleton height={30} width={300} /> </h2> <ul className="list"> {Array(9) .fill() .map((item, index) => ( <li className="card" key={index}> <Skeleton height={180} /> <h4 className="card-title"> <Skeleton circle={true} height={50} width={50} /> <Skeleton height={36} width={`80%`} /> </h4> <p className="card-channel"> <Skeleton width={`60%`} /> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> <Skeleton width={`90%`} /> </div> </li> ))} </ul> </section> ); }; export default SkeletonCard;

We’ve created an unordered list. Inside it, we’ve used the Array.fill() method. Because we have nine items of dummy data, we’ve used the Array.fill() method to loop through the length of our items object and filled it with no index value, hence making our array empty. See the Array.fill documentation to learn how it works.

Next, we mapped through our empty array to return a list containing the skeleton properties, and we specified the value of each of the skeleton properties.

Here, height connotes the length of a skeleton rectangle, and width refers to the breadth, while circle creates the rounded part of the skeleton UI.

React Loading Skeleton comes with default Pulse animation, which makes it handy. You could create Pulse animation to suit your project, but if you ask me, I would stick with the default.

Finally, the complete source code is available.

We now have a fully functional skeleton screen UI. Our example shows the skeleton for five seconds before showing the content.

Let’s see our result thus far:

Our YouTube-like skeleton UI (Large preview)

Conclusion

Skeleton screens tremendously improve the user experience by avoiding the frustration of facing an entirely blank screen and giving the user an impression of what content will look like before it loads.

If you aren’t comfortable with any of the packages we’ve looked at, you can create your own skeleton UI by making rectangles and circles that mimic the page’s layout.

Please do share your feedback and experience with in the comments section below. I’d love to see what you come up with!

The supporting repo for this article is available on Github.

References

(ks, il, al)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/implementing-skeleton-screens-in-react/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/04/implementing-skeleton-screens-in-react.html

[riichardwilson]

Implementing Skeleton Screens In React

About The Author

Blessing Krofegha is a Software Engineer Based in Lagos Nigeria, with a burning desire to contribute to making the web awesome for all, by writing and building … More about Blessing …

In this tutorial, you’ll learn what a skeleton screen UI is and some types of skeleton screen libraries, along with their pros and cons. We’ll build a YouTube-like skeleton screen UI using React Loading Skeleton. Then, you can experiment on your own with the skeleton screen React package of your choice.

Spinners and loaders have traditionally been the way to tell users that content is going to take a while to load. While this approach is great, it’s quickly becoming obsolete in modern development. Skeleton screens are becoming the perfect replacement for traditional loaders because they focus on progress rather than wait times, hence reducing loading-time frustration.

In this article, we won’t be going through the basics of CSS React or JavaScript syntax, so you don’t have to be an expert in either of these languages to follow along.

The difference between a loader and a skeleton screen UI (Large preview)

UI and UX experts teach us that, while users wait for content to load on a page, we should keep them engaged.

The idea behind using spinners to engage users before content loads is great; however, the result can be less than ideal because most users will get bored staring at a dummy animated spinner like it’s a clock. Luke Wroblewski elaborates on this.

Skeleton screens offer a better user experience by reducing loading-time frustration. By focusing on progress instead of wait times, it create the illusion for users that information will be incrementally displayed on the screen. Bill Chung in his research confirms this.

What Is a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton screen is a version of the UI that doesn’t contain actual content; instead, it mimics the page’s layout by showing its elements in a shape similar to the actual content as it is loading and becoming available (i.e. when network latency allows).

A skeleton screen is essentially a wireframe of the page, with placeholder boxes for text and images.

What’s Unique About a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton UI resembles the page’s actual UI, so users will understand how quickly the web or mobile app will load even before the content has shown up. Here are a couple of reasons why you might want to consider using skeleton screens in your next project:

mimicking a page’s layout is easier with a skeleton screen,

contents loads progressively (not all at once).

Skeleton screens are also referred to as:

ghost elements,

content placeholders,

content loaders.

Blockchain.com, YouTube, Facebook, Medium, and other big tech companies display skeleton screens while their content loads to boost the UX.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com’s partially loaded state (notice how a skeleton is used in the graph analytics) (Large preview)

Medium

Medium’s skeleton UI (Large preview)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s home feed loading state in 2018 (Large preview)

Types of Skeleton Screens

There are different kinds of skeleton screens. The major ones are text placeholders and image (or color) placeholders.

Most developers prefer to use text placeholders as the skeleton UI on their pages because they’re easy to build, and the developer doesn’t require any details about the substance of the actual content; instead the skeleton mimics the UI.

Color placeholders are harder to build because they require details about the content.

Some popular packages make implementing skeleton screens in web apps easier. Let’s take a closer look at both of them:

We’ll look at the pros and cons of each package, before considering which to use for our application.

React Placeholder

Pros

Placeholder components are used to create a custom skeleton UI.

Pulse animation (i.e. motion effect on an element) is supported.

It comes with a component-based API.

Cons

Skeleton components are maintained separately, so updating styles of a component possibly requires updating the skeleton component as well.

The learning curve is not linear because there are multiple components for different needs.

The following is an example of a skeleton component using the react-placeholder package:

import { TextBlock, RectShape } from 'react-placeholder/lib/placeholders'; import ReactPlaceholder from 'react-placeholder'; const GhostPlaceholder = () => ( <div className='my-placeholder'> <RectShape color='gray' style= /> <TextBlock rows={6} color='blue'/> </div> ); <ReactPlaceholder ready={ready} customPlaceholder={<GhostPlaceholder />}> <MyComponent /> </ReactPlaceholder>

Importing TextBlock and RectShape from react-placeholder/lib/placeholder and ReactPlaceholder from react-placeholder, we’ve created a functional component named GhostPlaceholder. GhostPlaceholder has a div, and inside the div we’ve used the RectShape component, which describes the dimensions of a rectangle, passes the value of any color, and defines the rectangle’s styles.

Next, we used the TextBlock component to set the values for the rows and color. The TextBlock component defines the number of rows and color of text.

We pass MyComponent as a child of the ReactPlaceholder component, which receives ready and the GhostPlaceholder component as values for its ready and customPlaceholder props.

The MyComponent will load when the skeleton screen UI is shown.

To learn more, check the documentation.

React Loading Skeleton

Pros

It is API-based, and it has one component with props for all customization.

It can be used as a separate skeleton component and also inside any component directly, so it’s flexible.

It supports theming and Pulse animation.

Cons

It’s easy to implement for a simple skeleton UI, but complicated for more complex skeletons.

Having a separate skeleton component will make it harder to maintain when the UI and styles change.

The following is an example of React Loading Skeleton:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonComponent = () => ( <SkeletonTheme color="#202020" highlightColor="#444"> <section> <Skeleton height={50} width={50} /> </section> </SkeletonTheme> );

We’ve imported Skeleton and SkeletonTheme from the react-loading-skeleton library, then created a functional component that renders the SkeletonTheme component, with color and hightlightColor as properties.

The SkeletonTheme component is used for theming (for example, adding color effects to the skeleton UI).

Finally, inside the section, we define the Skeleton component, with height and width properties and their appropriate values passed in.

Building a YouTube-Like Skeleton Screen UI

Let’s create a YouTube-like skeleton screen, using React Loading Skeleton, to show how a skeleton UI works.

Set Up React

The easiest way to set up React is to use Create React App, which is “an officially supported way to create single-page React applications. It offers a modern build setup with no configuration.”

We’ll use it to bootstrap the application that we’ll be building. From your terminal, run the command below:

npx create-react-app skeleton-screens && cd skeleton-screens

Once the installation has completed, start the React server by running npm start:

React welcome page (Large preview)

Create the YouTube UI Without a Skeleton Screen

First, let’s input YouTube dummy data. Real endpoints would normally be used instead of dummy data, but in this tutorial we will use dummy data.

Create a file in your src/ folder, and name it data.js, add the following code to it.

const dummyData= [ { section: "Recommended", channel: "CNN", items: [ { id: "fDObf2AeAP4", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/fDObf2AeAP4/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "75 million Americans ordered to stay home", views: "1.9M views", published: "3 days agos" }, { id: "3AzIgAa0Cm8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/3AzIgAa0Cm8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Gupta: The truth about using chloroquine to fight coronavirus pandemic", views: "128K views", published: "4 hours ago" }, { id: "92B37aXykYw", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/92B37aXykYw/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Willie Jones STUNS Simon Cowell In Pitch Perfect Performance of 'Your Man'!", views: "2.47 million views", published: "1 month ago" }, { id: "J6rVaFzOEP8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/J6rVaFzOEP8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Guide To Becoming A Self-Taught Software Developer", views: "104K views", published: "17 days ago" }, { id: "Wbk8ZrfU3EM", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/Wbk8ZrfU3EM/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus", views: "600k views", published: "1 week ago" }, { id: "ikHpFgKJax8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ikHpFgKJax8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Faces Of Africa- The Jerry Rawlings story", views: "2.3 million views", published: "2014" } ] }, { section: "Breaking News", channel: "CGTN America", items: [ { id: "tRLDPy1A8pI", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/tRLDPy1A8pI/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Is Trump blaming China for COVID-19? You decide.", views: "876k views", published: "9 days ago" }, { id: "2ulH1R9hlG8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/2ulH1R9hlG8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Journalist still goes to office during pandemic, see her daily routine", views: "873 views", published: "3 hours ago" }, { id: "\_TkfQ9MaIgU", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/_TkfQ9MaIgU/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "How are small businesses going to survive the economic downturn of the COVID-19 era?", views: "283 views", published: "4 day ago" } ] } ]; export default dummyData;

To replicate YouTube’s format, we’ve created dummy data that has an array of objects, with properties such as ID, image, title, number of views, and publication date.

Next, let’s create our YouTube UI. We will have three components:

Card Holds the details of the video’s thumbnail, title, number of views, publication date, and channel. CardList Returns all cards in a row. App Mounts our dummyData object, loads the skeleton UI for two seconds, and returns the CardList component.

Inside your src folder, create a folder and name it components. Inside the components folder, create a Card.js file, add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; const Card = ({ item, channel }) => { return ( <li className="card"> <a href={`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${item.id}`} target="\_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="card-link" > <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="card-image" /> <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="channel-image" /> <h4 className="card-title">{item.title}</h4> <p className="card-channel"> <i>{channel}</i> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> {item.views} • {item.published} </div> </a> </li> ); }; export default Card;

We created a Card component. Inside it, we imported React from react, and we deconstructed the item and channel props so that they can be used across the Card component. Each Card item component that displays one video will show the thumbnail, number of views, publication date, and title.

CardList Component

Inside the components folder, create a CardList.js file and add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; import Card from "./Card"; const CardList = ({ list }) => { return ( <ul className="list"> {list.items.map((item, index) => { return <Card key={index} item={item} channel={list.channel} />; })} </ul> ); }; export default CardList;

In this component, we’ve imported the Card component that we created. The card accepts the item and channel props, which we get by mapping through the list.items. We then export this component as CardList, because we’ll be making use of it in our App component.

Note: The items array that is mapped in this component is the array of objects in our dummyData.

App Component

Inside the app.js file in the src/ directory, delete the code that is there and add the following to it.

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react"; import "./App.css"; import dummyData from "./data"; import CardList from "./components/CardList"; const App = () => { const [videos, setVideos] = useState([]); const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false); useEffect(() => { setLoading(true); const timer = setTimeout(() => { setVideos(dummyData); setLoading(false); }, 5000); return () => clearTimeout(timer); }, []); return ( <div className="App"> { videos.map((list, index) => { return ( <section key={index}> <h2 className="section-title">{list.section}</h2> <CardList list={list} /> <hr /> </section> ); })} </div> ); }; export default App;

In this component, we’ve imported the useState and useEffect hooks alongside React and the other files that we’ve created and that will be needed in the App component.

Because our data is dummy data, we need to mock it up like the API data by loading the content after a two-second timeout, using the JavaScript setTimeout method.

Next, in the App component, we create a video state, and set the state to an empty array using useState.

To load our dummy data, we’ll use the useEffect hook. In our hook, we create a variable timer that holds the setTimeout() function. Inside the function, we set our video state to our dummyData object, and we ensure that the data loads after two seconds, and, lastly, we cancel the timer while unmounting.

Finally, we map through our video state and return the section element that contains the list-section and the CardList component with its list props.

Adding CSS

Until now, we’ve used a lot of classes without actual CSS. Inside the src folder, delete everything in App.css and replace it with the following code;

.App { max-width: 960px; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 16px; } .list { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; list-style: none; padding: 0; } .section-title { margin-top: 30px; } .card { width: calc(33% - 10px); margin: 20px 0; } .card-link { color: inherit; text-decoration: none; } .card-image { width: 100%; } .channel-image { border-radius: 100%; padding: 0, 10px, 0, 0; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .card-title { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0; } .card-channel { margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size: 14px; } /* Tablets */ @media (max-width: 1000px) { .App { max-width: 600px; } .card { width: calc(50% - 22px); } } /* Mobiles \*/ @media (max-width: 640px) { .App { max-width: 100%; padding: 0 15px; } .card { width: 100%; } }

Let’s see what our YouTube UI looks like without the skeleton screen. You can see that when the page loads, a white screen appears for two seconds, and then the data loads promptly.

YouTube-Like UI without skeleton screen (Large preview)

Using React Loading Skeleton

Unlike other libraries in which you would meticulously craft a skeleton screen to match the font sizes, line heights and margins of your content, the Skeleton component is designed to be used directly in your components, in place of the content that is loading.

Let’s go over a few reasons why we’ve chosen React Loading Skeleton over others.

Theming

React Loading Skeleton supports theming. Thus, you can easily change the colors of all skeleton components by using SkeletonTheme and pass values to the color props.

Below is an example showing how it works:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; <SkeletonTheme color="grey" highlightColor="#444"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme> <SkeletonTheme color="#990" highlightColor="#550"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme>

Theming effect in action (Large preview)

Duration

In addition to the height, width, and color props, we can also specify a duration prop.

<Skeleton duration={2} />

The duration defaults to 1.2. This determines how long it takes to do one cycle of the skeleton animation.

To learn more, check out the documentation.

Implementing Skeleton Screen UI

Now, we’ll install react-loading-skeleton. Run the following command in your terminal to install the package:

npm install react-loading-skeleton

Skeleton Component

Let’s create a skeleton component for our video data. Inside our components folder, create a SkeletonCard.js file, and add the following code:

import React from "react"; import Skeleton from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonCard = () => { return ( <section> <h2 className="section-title"> <Skeleton height={30} width={300} /> </h2> <ul className="list"> {Array(9) .fill() .map((item, index) => ( <li className="card" key={index}> <Skeleton height={180} /> <h4 className="card-title"> <Skeleton circle={true} height={50} width={50} />   <Skeleton height={36} width={`80%`} /> </h4> <p className="card-channel"> <Skeleton width={`60%`} /> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> <Skeleton width={`90%`} /> </div> </li> ))} </ul> </section> ); }; export default SkeletonCard;

We’ve created an unordered list. Inside it, we’ve used the Array.fill() method. Because we have nine items of dummy data, we’ve used the Array.fill() method to loop through the length of our items object and filled it with no index value, hence making our array empty. See the Array.fill documentation to learn how it works.

Next, we mapped through our empty array to return a list containing the skeleton properties, and we specified the value of each of the skeleton properties.

Here, height connotes the length of a skeleton rectangle, and width refers to the breadth, while circle creates the rounded part of the skeleton UI.

React Loading Skeleton comes with default Pulse animation, which makes it handy. You could create Pulse animation to suit your project, but if you ask me, I would stick with the default.

Finally, the complete source code is available.

We now have a fully functional skeleton screen UI. Our example shows the skeleton for five seconds before showing the content.

Let’s see our result thus far:

Our YouTube-like skeleton UI (Large preview)

Conclusion

Skeleton screens tremendously improve the user experience by avoiding the frustration of facing an entirely blank screen and giving the user an impression of what content will look like before it loads.

If you aren’t comfortable with any of the packages we’ve looked at, you can create your own skeleton UI by making rectangles and circles that mimic the page’s layout.

Please do share your feedback and experience with in the comments section below. I’d love to see what you come up with!

The supporting repo for this article is available on Github.

References

(ks, il, al)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/implementing-skeleton-screens-in-react/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/615952968737570816

[scpie]

Implementing Skeleton Screens In React

About The Author

Blessing Krofegha is a Software Engineer Based in Lagos Nigeria, with a burning desire to contribute to making the web awesome for all, by writing and building … More about Blessing …

In this tutorial, you’ll learn what a skeleton screen UI is and some types of skeleton screen libraries, along with their pros and cons. We’ll build a YouTube-like skeleton screen UI using React Loading Skeleton. Then, you can experiment on your own with the skeleton screen React package of your choice.

Spinners and loaders have traditionally been the way to tell users that content is going to take a while to load. While this approach is great, it’s quickly becoming obsolete in modern development. Skeleton screens are becoming the perfect replacement for traditional loaders because they focus on progress rather than wait times, hence reducing loading-time frustration.

In this article, we won’t be going through the basics of CSS React or JavaScript syntax, so you don’t have to be an expert in either of these languages to follow along.

The difference between a loader and a skeleton screen UI (Large preview)

UI and UX experts teach us that, while users wait for content to load on a page, we should keep them engaged.

The idea behind using spinners to engage users before content loads is great; however, the result can be less than ideal because most users will get bored staring at a dummy animated spinner like it’s a clock. Luke Wroblewski elaborates on this.

Skeleton screens offer a better user experience by reducing loading-time frustration. By focusing on progress instead of wait times, it create the illusion for users that information will be incrementally displayed on the screen. Bill Chung in his research confirms this.

What Is a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton screen is a version of the UI that doesn’t contain actual content; instead, it mimics the page’s layout by showing its elements in a shape similar to the actual content as it is loading and becoming available (i.e. when network latency allows).

A skeleton screen is essentially a wireframe of the page, with placeholder boxes for text and images.

What’s Unique About a Skeleton Screen?

A skeleton UI resembles the page’s actual UI, so users will understand how quickly the web or mobile app will load even before the content has shown up. Here are a couple of reasons why you might want to consider using skeleton screens in your next project:

mimicking a page’s layout is easier with a skeleton screen,

contents loads progressively (not all at once).

Skeleton screens are also referred to as:

ghost elements,

content placeholders,

content loaders.

Blockchain.com, YouTube, Facebook, Medium, and other big tech companies display skeleton screens while their content loads to boost the UX.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com’s partially loaded state (notice how a skeleton is used in the graph analytics) (Large preview)

Medium

Medium’s skeleton UI (Large preview)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s home feed loading state in 2018 (Large preview)

Types of Skeleton Screens

There are different kinds of skeleton screens. The major ones are text placeholders and image (or color) placeholders.

Most developers prefer to use text placeholders as the skeleton UI on their pages because they’re easy to build, and the developer doesn’t require any details about the substance of the actual content; instead the skeleton mimics the UI.

Color placeholders are harder to build because they require details about the content.

Some popular packages make implementing skeleton screens in web apps easier. Let’s take a closer look at both of them:

We’ll look at the pros and cons of each package, before considering which to use for our application.

React Placeholder

Pros

Placeholder components are used to create a custom skeleton UI.

Pulse animation (i.e. motion effect on an element) is supported.

It comes with a component-based API.

Cons

Skeleton components are maintained separately, so updating styles of a component possibly requires updating the skeleton component as well.

The learning curve is not linear because there are multiple components for different needs.

The following is an example of a skeleton component using the react-placeholder package:

import { TextBlock, RectShape } from 'react-placeholder/lib/placeholders'; import ReactPlaceholder from 'react-placeholder'; const GhostPlaceholder = () => ( <div className='my-placeholder'> <RectShape color='gray' style= /> <TextBlock rows={6} color='blue'/> </div> ); <ReactPlaceholder ready={ready} customPlaceholder={<GhostPlaceholder />}> <MyComponent /> </ReactPlaceholder>

Importing TextBlock and RectShape from react-placeholder/lib/placeholder and ReactPlaceholder from react-placeholder, we’ve created a functional component named GhostPlaceholder. GhostPlaceholder has a div, and inside the div we’ve used the RectShape component, which describes the dimensions of a rectangle, passes the value of any color, and defines the rectangle’s styles.

Next, we used the TextBlock component to set the values for the rows and color. The TextBlock component defines the number of rows and color of text.

We pass MyComponent as a child of the ReactPlaceholder component, which receives ready and the GhostPlaceholder component as values for its ready and customPlaceholder props.

The MyComponent will load when the skeleton screen UI is shown.

To learn more, check the documentation.

React Loading Skeleton

Pros

It is API-based, and it has one component with props for all customization.

It can be used as a separate skeleton component and also inside any component directly, so it’s flexible.

It supports theming and Pulse animation.

Cons

It’s easy to implement for a simple skeleton UI, but complicated for more complex skeletons.

Having a separate skeleton component will make it harder to maintain when the UI and styles change.

The following is an example of React Loading Skeleton:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonComponent = () => ( <SkeletonTheme color="#202020" highlightColor="#444"> <section> <Skeleton height={50} width={50} /> </section> </SkeletonTheme> );

We’ve imported Skeleton and SkeletonTheme from the react-loading-skeleton library, then created a functional component that renders the SkeletonTheme component, with color and hightlightColor as properties.

The SkeletonTheme component is used for theming (for example, adding color effects to the skeleton UI).

Finally, inside the section, we define the Skeleton component, with height and width properties and their appropriate values passed in.

Building a YouTube-Like Skeleton Screen UI

Let’s create a YouTube-like skeleton screen, using React Loading Skeleton, to show how a skeleton UI works.

Set Up React

The easiest way to set up React is to use Create React App, which is “an officially supported way to create single-page React applications. It offers a modern build setup with no configuration.”

We’ll use it to bootstrap the application that we’ll be building. From your terminal, run the command below:

npx create-react-app skeleton-screens && cd skeleton-screens

Once the installation has completed, start the React server by running npm start:

React welcome page (Large preview)

Create the YouTube UI Without a Skeleton Screen

First, let’s input YouTube dummy data. Real endpoints would normally be used instead of dummy data, but in this tutorial we will use dummy data.

Create a file in your src/ folder, and name it data.js, add the following code to it.

const dummyData= [ { section: "Recommended", channel: "CNN", items: [ { id: "fDObf2AeAP4", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/fDObf2AeAP4/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "75 million Americans ordered to stay home", views: "1.9M views", published: "3 days agos" }, { id: "3AzIgAa0Cm8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/3AzIgAa0Cm8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Gupta: The truth about using chloroquine to fight coronavirus pandemic", views: "128K views", published: "4 hours ago" }, { id: "92B37aXykYw", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/92B37aXykYw/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Willie Jones STUNS Simon Cowell In Pitch Perfect Performance of 'Your Man'!", views: "2.47 million views", published: "1 month ago" }, { id: "J6rVaFzOEP8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/J6rVaFzOEP8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Guide To Becoming A Self-Taught Software Developer", views: "104K views", published: "17 days ago" }, { id: "Wbk8ZrfU3EM", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/Wbk8ZrfU3EM/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus", views: "600k views", published: "1 week ago" }, { id: "ikHpFgKJax8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ikHpFgKJax8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Faces Of Africa- The Jerry Rawlings story", views: "2.3 million views", published: "2014" } ] }, { section: "Breaking News", channel: "CGTN America", items: [ { id: "tRLDPy1A8pI", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/tRLDPy1A8pI/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Is Trump blaming China for COVID-19? You decide.", views: "876k views", published: "9 days ago" }, { id: "2ulH1R9hlG8", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/2ulH1R9hlG8/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "Journalist still goes to office during pandemic, see her daily routine", views: "873 views", published: "3 hours ago" }, { id: "\_TkfQ9MaIgU", image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/_TkfQ9MaIgU/maxresdefault.jpg", title: "How are small businesses going to survive the economic downturn of the COVID-19 era?", views: "283 views", published: "4 day ago" } ] } ]; export default dummyData;

To replicate YouTube’s format, we’ve created dummy data that has an array of objects, with properties such as ID, image, title, number of views, and publication date.

Next, let’s create our YouTube UI. We will have three components:

Card Holds the details of the video’s thumbnail, title, number of views, publication date, and channel. CardList Returns all cards in a row. App Mounts our dummyData object, loads the skeleton UI for two seconds, and returns the CardList component.

Inside your src folder, create a folder and name it components. Inside the components folder, create a Card.js file, add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; const Card = ({ item, channel }) => { return ( <li className="card"> <a href={`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${item.id}`} target="\_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="card-link" > <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="card-image" /> <img src={item.image} alt={item.title} className="channel-image" /> <h4 className="card-title">{item.title}</h4> <p className="card-channel"> <i>{channel}</i> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> {item.views} • {item.published} </div> </a> </li> ); }; export default Card;

We created a Card component. Inside it, we imported React from react, and we deconstructed the item and channel props so that they can be used across the Card component. Each Card item component that displays one video will show the thumbnail, number of views, publication date, and title.

CardList Component

Inside the components folder, create a CardList.js file and add the following code to it:

import React from "react"; import Card from "./Card"; const CardList = ({ list }) => { return ( <ul className="list"> {list.items.map((item, index) => { return <Card key={index} item={item} channel={list.channel} />; })} </ul> ); }; export default CardList;

In this component, we’ve imported the Card component that we created. The card accepts the item and channel props, which we get by mapping through the list.items. We then export this component as CardList, because we’ll be making use of it in our App component.

Note: The items array that is mapped in this component is the array of objects in our dummyData.

App Component

Inside the app.js file in the src/ directory, delete the code that is there and add the following to it.

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react"; import "./App.css"; import dummyData from "./data"; import CardList from "./components/CardList"; const App = () => { const [videos, setVideos] = useState([]); const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false); useEffect(() => { setLoading(true); const timer = setTimeout(() => { setVideos(dummyData); setLoading(false); }, 5000); return () => clearTimeout(timer); }, []); return ( <div className="App"> { videos.map((list, index) => { return ( <section key={index}> <h2 className="section-title">{list.section}</h2> <CardList list={list} /> <hr /> </section> ); })} </div> ); }; export default App;

In this component, we’ve imported the useState and useEffect hooks alongside React and the other files that we’ve created and that will be needed in the App component.

Because our data is dummy data, we need to mock it up like the API data by loading the content after a two-second timeout, using the JavaScript setTimeout method.

Next, in the App component, we create a video state, and set the state to an empty array using useState.

To load our dummy data, we’ll use the useEffect hook. In our hook, we create a variable timer that holds the setTimeout() function. Inside the function, we set our video state to our dummyData object, and we ensure that the data loads after two seconds, and, lastly, we cancel the timer while unmounting.

Finally, we map through our video state and return the section element that contains the list-section and the CardList component with its list props.

Adding CSS

Until now, we’ve used a lot of classes without actual CSS. Inside the src folder, delete everything in App.css and replace it with the following code;

.App { max-width: 960px; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 16px; } .list { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; list-style: none; padding: 0; } .section-title { margin-top: 30px; } .card { width: calc(33% - 10px); margin: 20px 0; } .card-link { color: inherit; text-decoration: none; } .card-image { width: 100%; } .channel-image { border-radius: 100%; padding: 0, 10px, 0, 0; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .card-title { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0; } .card-channel { margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size: 14px; } /* Tablets */ @media (max-width: 1000px) { .App { max-width: 600px; } .card { width: calc(50% - 22px); } } /* Mobiles \*/ @media (max-width: 640px) { .App { max-width: 100%; padding: 0 15px; } .card { width: 100%; } }

Let’s see what our YouTube UI looks like without the skeleton screen. You can see that when the page loads, a white screen appears for two seconds, and then the data loads promptly.

YouTube-Like UI without skeleton screen (Large preview)

Using React Loading Skeleton

Unlike other libraries in which you would meticulously craft a skeleton screen to match the font sizes, line heights and margins of your content, the Skeleton component is designed to be used directly in your components, in place of the content that is loading.

Let’s go over a few reasons why we’ve chosen React Loading Skeleton over others.

Theming

React Loading Skeleton supports theming. Thus, you can easily change the colors of all skeleton components by using SkeletonTheme and pass values to the color props.

Below is an example showing how it works:

import Skeleton, { SkeletonTheme } from "react-loading-skeleton"; <SkeletonTheme color="grey" highlightColor="#444"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme> <SkeletonTheme color="#990" highlightColor="#550"> <p> <Skeleton height={250} width={300} count={1} /> </p> </SkeletonTheme>

Theming effect in action (Large preview)

Duration

In addition to the height, width, and color props, we can also specify a duration prop.

<Skeleton duration={2} />

The duration defaults to 1.2. This determines how long it takes to do one cycle of the skeleton animation.

To learn more, check out the documentation.

Implementing Skeleton Screen UI

Now, we’ll install react-loading-skeleton. Run the following command in your terminal to install the package:

npm install react-loading-skeleton

Skeleton Component

Let’s create a skeleton component for our video data. Inside our components folder, create a SkeletonCard.js file, and add the following code:

import React from "react"; import Skeleton from "react-loading-skeleton"; const SkeletonCard = () => { return ( <section> <h2 className="section-title"> <Skeleton height={30} width={300} /> </h2> <ul className="list"> {Array(9) .fill() .map((item, index) => ( <li className="card" key={index}> <Skeleton height={180} /> <h4 className="card-title"> <Skeleton circle={true} height={50} width={50} />   <Skeleton height={36} width={`80%`} /> </h4> <p className="card-channel"> <Skeleton width={`60%`} /> </p> <div className="card-metrics"> <Skeleton width={`90%`} /> </div> </li> ))} </ul> </section> ); }; export default SkeletonCard;

We’ve created an unordered list. Inside it, we’ve used the Array.fill() method. Because we have nine items of dummy data, we’ve used the Array.fill() method to loop through the length of our items object and filled it with no index value, hence making our array empty. See the Array.fill documentation to learn how it works.

Next, we mapped through our empty array to return a list containing the skeleton properties, and we specified the value of each of the skeleton properties.

Here, height connotes the length of a skeleton rectangle, and width refers to the breadth, while circle creates the rounded part of the skeleton UI.

React Loading Skeleton comes with default Pulse animation, which makes it handy. You could create Pulse animation to suit your project, but if you ask me, I would stick with the default.

Finally, the complete source code is available.

We now have a fully functional skeleton screen UI. Our example shows the skeleton for five seconds before showing the content.

Let’s see our result thus far:

Our YouTube-like skeleton UI (Large preview)

Conclusion

Skeleton screens tremendously improve the user experience by avoiding the frustration of facing an entirely blank screen and giving the user an impression of what content will look like before it loads.

If you aren’t comfortable with any of the packages we’ve looked at, you can create your own skeleton UI by making rectangles and circles that mimic the page’s layout.

Please do share your feedback and experience with in the comments section below. I’d love to see what you come up with!

The supporting repo for this article is available on Github.

References

(ks, il, al)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/implementing-skeleton-screens-in-react/