TL;DR ✨ We'll learn how to build a custom Google Maps marker using any React component. 💅 We'll learn how to create animation and user interaction with our custom marker. 🚀 We'll discuss how to avoid compilation error during build time in Next.js. I was curious about making . markers on Google Maps like Airbnb These markers pack much more functionalities than the default markers from Google Maps. Besides custom styling, each marker displays dynamic pricing and . When you interact with them, you'll see custom React components rendered with data. states I find it very fun and useful so let's unpack it together! We'll be building a proof of concept to create customer markers using any React component. Let's go. Setting up The Project The demo is . Feel free to fork it🚀 available on GitHub I integrated the Google Maps API in a project by following the . The tutorial explains in detail how to render Google Maps and markers in React applications. Next.js official tutorial There are a few more integrations included in the project: : to fetch hotel listings as our dataset. RapidAPI - Priceline com Provider : to provide css styles. Tailwind CSS : to apply animations on React components. Framer Motion The default marker from Google Maps looks like this: Customizing Markers Using Google Maps Overlay Google Maps API offers an to place DOM elements on the map. We can use the to place the container of a on the map and render a custom react component into the container. OverlayView class OverlayView React Portal Following , we'll implement the three basic methods: the official tutorial to create a custom Overlay class : to append our portal container to the target . onAdd pane : to position the container. draw : to remove the container from the DOM. onRemove Overlay.ts export class Overlay extends google.maps.OverlayView {
  container: HTMLElement
  pane: keyof google.maps.MapPanes
  position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral

  constructor(
    container: HTMLElement,
    pane: keyof google.maps.MapPanes,
    position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral
  ) {
    super()
    this.container = container
    this.pane = pane
    this.position = position
  }

  onAdd(): void {
    const pane = this.getPanes()?.[this.pane]
    pane?.appendChild(this.container)
  }

  draw(): void {
    const projection = this.getProjection()
    const point = projection.fromLatLngToDivPixel(this.position)

    if (point === null) {
      return
    }

    this.container.style.transform = `translate(${point.x}px, ${point.y}px)`
  }

  onRemove(): void {
    if (this.container.parentNode !== null) {
      this.container.parentNode.removeChild(this.container)
    }
  }
} Connecting Google Maps and React Now that we have our custom class, we can create a React component to: Overlay create a container, instantiate class, Overlay add the overlay into the map instance, and create a React portal to render components in the container. OverlayView.tsx import { PropsWithChildren, useEffect, useMemo } from 'react'
import { createPortal } from 'react-dom'
import { Overlay } from './Overlay'

type OverlayProps = PropsWithChildren<{
  position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral
  pane?: keyof google.maps.MapPanes
  map: google.maps.Map
  zIndex?: number
}>

export default function OverlayView({
  position,
  pane = 'floatPane',
  map,
  zIndex,
  children,
}: OverlayProps) {
  const container = useMemo(() => {
    const div = document.createElement('div')
    div.style.position = 'absolute'
    return div
  }, [])

  const overlay = useMemo(() => {
    return new Overlay(container, pane, position)
  }, [container, pane, position])

  useEffect(() => {
    overlay?.setMap(map)
    return () => overlay?.setMap(null)
  }, [map, overlay])

  // to move the container to the foreground and background
  useEffect(() => {
    container.style.zIndex = `${zIndex}`
  }, [zIndex, container])

  return createPortal(children, container)
} Let's create a marker using the component and a button. OverlayView CustomMarker.tsx import { useMemo } from "react";
import { Hotel } from "../../types/hotel";
import OverlayView from "../OverlayView";

interface CustomMarkerProps {
  hotel: Hotel;
  map?: google.maps.Map;
}

export default function CustomMarker({
  hotel,
  map,
}: CustomMarkerProps) {
  const price = useMemo(() => {
    return `$ ${hotel.ratesSummary.minPrice.replace(/\.(.*?\d*)/g, '')}`
  }, [hotel])

  return (
    <>
      {map && (
        <OverlayView
          position={{
            lat: hotel.location.latitude as number,
            lng: hotel.location.longitude as number,
          }}
          map={map}
          styles={{
            backgorundColor: 'DarkGray',
            color: 'white',
          }}
        >
          {/* use a button as the marker */}
          <button onClick={handleClick}>{price}</button>
        </OverlayView>
      )}
    </>
  )
} Resolving Error in Next.js If you've started your dev server or tried to build the project, you might see a saying : Reference Error "google is not defined" This is because Webpack doesn't recognize "google" at build time. At build time, Google Maps JavaScript API is not yet loaded so Webpack is not able to evaluate the class at the module level. What we can do is to wrap the class in a to resolve the build error. Overlay factory function Overlay.ts export function createOverlay(
  container: HTMLElement,
  pane: keyof google.maps.MapPanes,
  position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral
) {
  class Overlay extends google.maps.OverlayView {
    container: HTMLElement
    pane: keyof google.maps.MapPanes
    position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral

    constructor(
      container: HTMLElement,
      pane: keyof google.maps.MapPanes,
      position: google.maps.LatLng | google.maps.LatLngLiteral
    ) {
      super()
      this.container = container
      this.pane = pane
      this.position = position
    }

    onAdd(): void {
      const pane = this.getPanes()?.[this.pane]
      pane?.appendChild(this.container)
    }

    draw(): void {
      const projection = this.getProjection()
      const point = projection.fromLatLngToDivPixel(this.position)

      if (point === null) {
        return
      }

      this.container.style.transform = `translate(${point.x}px, ${point.y}px)`
    }

    onRemove(): void {
      if (this.container.parentNode !== null) {
        this.container.parentNode.removeChild(this.container)
      }
    }
  }
  return new Overlay(container, pane, position)
} Let's refactor the component accordingly: OverlayView OverlayView.tsx - import { Overlay } from './Overlay'
+ import { createOverlay } from './Overlay'

export default function OverlayView({
  position,
  pane = 'floatPane',
  map,
  zIndex,
  children,
}: OverlayProps) {

  const overlay = useMemo(() => {
-   return new Overlay(container, pane, position)
+   return createOverlay(container, pane, position)
  }, [container, pane, position])

} Now we should be able to see our map again and our custom markers without error! Adding Animations and User Interactions Since our custom markers are React components, we can define the user experience and use the available tooling in the React ecosystem. Let's implement: a soft animation to transition the marker's appearance, and a click event handler to toggle the button state and a card component that displays hotel details. CustomMarker.tsx import { useCallback, useMemo } from 'react'
import { Hotel } from '../../types/hotel'
import OverlayView from '../OverlayView'
import { motion } from 'framer-motion'

interface CustomMarkerProps {
  hotel: Hotel
  map?: google.maps.Map
  onClick: (payload: Hotel) => void
  highlight?: boolean
}

export default function CustomMarker({
  hotel,
  map,
  onClick,
  highlight,
}: CustomMarkerProps) {
  const price = useMemo(() => {
    return `$ ${hotel.ratesSummary.minPrice.replace(/\.(.*?\d*)/g, '')}`
  }, [hotel])

  const handleClick = useCallback(() => {
    onClick(hotel)
  }, [onClick, hotel])

  return (
    <>
      {map && (
        <OverlayView
          position={{
            lat: hotel.location.latitude as number,
            lng: hotel.location.longitude as number,
          }}
          map={map}
          // when users select it, move the marker to the foreground
          zIndex={highlight ? 99 : 0}
        >
          {/* appearance transition */}
          <motion.div
            initial={{ opacity: 0 }}
            animate={{ opacity: 1 }}
            exit={{ opacity: 0 }}
            transition={{
              type: 'spring',
              stiffness: 400,
              damping: 20,
              delay: Math.random() * 0.3,
            }}
          >
            <button
              onClick={handleClick}
              // button state toggle
              styles={{
                backgorundColor: highlight ? 'white' : 'DarkGray',
                color: highlight ? 'black' : 'white',
              }}
            >
              {price}
            </button>
          </motion.div>
        </OverlayView>
      )}
    </>
  )
} The animation looks like this: The button state toggle and the card toggle are also in place: Final Thoughts It looks like a lot of code to create a custom marker but the mental model is actually straightforward: We render a DOM element as the container in the map through an overlay instance. In the overlay, we can position the container at the right place on the map. The container is also the destination of a React portal. When a React marker component is ready to render, we portal the component to the container in the map. References Website: Adding a Map and Markers to a React Application Website: Google Maps JavaScript API - Markers Website: Google Maps JavaScript API - Custom Markers Website: Google Maps JavaScript API - OverlayView class Website: Google Maps JavaScript API - Custom Overlays Website: Google Maps JavaScript API - MapPanes interface Website: Airbnb Website: Designing States for Buttons & UI Interactions - Adobe XD Ideas Website: Framer Motion Website: React Portals Website: Next.js Website: RapidAPI - Priceline com Provider Website: Factory Pattern - patterns GitHub: Google Maps JavaScript API React Wrapper GitHub: react-google-maps-marker-demo This post is originally posted on . Daw-Chih’s website

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