Fixing Blank Page Issues in React Apps After Deployment

Introduction
Imagine this: You’ve built a React application, tested it thoroughly on localhost , and everything works like a charm. But once you upload it to the server, boom! A blank page stares at you, with only the navbar and footer showing. This is a common issue that many developers face when deploying their React apps. If you're struggling with routing problems after deployment, I’ve got you covered. Let me walk you through how I fixed this in my own project.

The Problem
When I uploaded my React build files to the server, the routing didn’t work as expected. I was getting a blank page except for the navbar and footer. This issue is often caused by the way routing works in single-page applications (SPAs) and how servers handle the routes.

If your server doesn't serve the index.html file for routes other than the root, it can lead to broken navigation. Here’s how I solved this.

Step 1: Using React Router’s HashRouter
Initially, I was using BrowserRouter from React Router, which works perfectly in development. However, when it comes to deployment on certain servers, BrowserRouter can cause issues because the server needs to handle dynamic routes by serving the same HTML file. This is not the case with HashRouter, which works by appending a hash (#) to the URL, ensuring that the routing is client-side and the server doesn't interfere.

To fix the issue, I switched from BrowserRouter to HashRouter:

jsCopy codeimport { HashRouter as Router } from 'react-router-dom';

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      {/* Your Routes Here */}
    </Router>
  );
}

Step 2: Leveraging Outlets for Layouts
Another issue I faced was the navbar and footer showing on the page, but not the actual content. To solve this, I used the concept of Outlets from React Router. I shifted the Nav and Footer components to a RootLayout file and placed the Outlet under the main section, which allows the dynamic content to be injected properly based on the routes.

Here’s what it looks like:

jsCopy codeimport { Outlet } from 'react-router-dom';
import Nav from './components/Nav';
import Footer from './components/Footer';

function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Nav />
      <main>
        <Outlet />
      </main>
      <Footer />
    </div>
  );
}

Step 3: Rebuilding and Deploying
After making these changes, I built the application again using:

npm run build

Then, I uploaded the build folder to the server. This time, the routing worked perfectly, and I didn’t encounter the blank page issue anymore!

Conclusion
If you ever face routing issues in your React app after deployment, try using HashRouter instead of BrowserRouter. And if your layout components like navbar and footer are showing but not the dynamic content, shifting them into a RootLayout with Outlet can save the day.

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