Storybook Addon Themes

Greatly inspired by @storybook/addon-backgrounds.

This Storybook Theme Decorator can be used to add a custom HTML class or classes to the preview in Storybook.

Compatibility

This version is compatible with storybook version 6.0.x.

Installation

1npm i -D storybook-addon-themes

Getting started

Then activate the addon by adding it to the storybook main.js file (located in the Storybook config directory):

1module.exports = {
2  addons: [
3    // Maybe other addons here...
4    'storybook-addon-themes'
5    // Or here...
6  ],
7};

See the storybook documentation for more informations.

Parameters

The themes parameter accept an array of Theme object.

Each Theme is an object with the following properties:

• name (string): Name of the theme
• class (string | string[] - optional): HTML class(es) associated with the theme
• color (string): The color of the badge in the theme selector
• default [deprecated] (boolean - optional): Is the theme selected by default?

The themes parameter also accept an object with the following properties:

• default (string - optional): Name of theme selected by default
• list (Theme[] - required): The list of themes
• clearable (boolean - optional - default is true): Can the user clear the selected theme ?
• disable (boolean - optional): Disable the addon for a story
• Decorator (Component - optional): A component to use as the decorator component (see below for more information)
• onChange ((themeName: Theme) => void - optional): A callback that will be executed when the theme changes
• target (string - optional): Target element selected with document.querySelector() to which classes are applied. Defaults to body, root if classes should be applied to documentElement.

Configuration

Globally

You can configure the themes globally in the storybook preview.js file:

1export const parameters = {
2  themes: {
3    default: 'twitter',
4    list: [
5      { name: 'twitter', class: 'theme-twt', color: '#00aced' },
6      { name: 'facebook', class: 'theme-fb', color: '#3b5998' }
7    ],
8  },
9};

For backward compatibility default (boolean) can also be set directly on Theme object. This has been deprecated because of the difficulty of changing the default theme due to the need to redefine all Theme objects.

1// deprecated
2export const parameters = {
3  themes: [
4      { name: 'twitter', class: 'theme-twt', color: '#00aced', default: true },
5      { name: 'facebook', class: 'theme-fb', color: '#3b5998' }
6  ],
7};

See the storybook documentation for more informations.

In story (Component Story Format)

Or configure the themes in your story file like this:

1export default {
2  title: 'CSF|Button',
3  component: Button,
4  parameters: {
5    themes: {
6      default: 'twitter',
7      list: [
8        { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
9        { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
10      ],
11    },
12  },
13};

If you only want to activate the addon or override the themes for a specific story you can write:

1export default {
2  title: 'CSF|Button',
3  component: Button,
4};
5
6export const withText = () => <Button onClick={action('clicked')}>Hello Button</Button>;
7withText.story = {
8  parameters: {
9    themes: {
10      default: 'twitter',
11      list: [
12        { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
13        { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
14      ],
15    },
16  },
17};

In story (StoriesOf API)

Alternatively with the old StoriesOf API:

1import { storiesOf } from '@storybook/react'; // <- or your storybook framework
2
3storiesOf('StoriesOf|Button', module)
4  .addParameters({
5    themes: {
6      default: 'twitter',
7      list: [
8        { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
9        { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
10      ],
11    },
12  })
13  .add('with text', () => <button>Click me</button>);

And for a single story:

1import { storiesOf } from '@storybook/react';
2
3storiesOf('StoriesOf|Button', module)
4  .add('with text', () => <button>Click me</button>, {
5    themes: {
6      list: [
7        { name: 'red', class: 'theme-red', color: 'rgba(255, 0, 0)' },
8      ],
9    },
10  });
11

Overwriting single properties

You can also only override a single key on the themes parameter, for instance to set a different default value for a single story:

1export default {
2  title: 'CSF|Button',
3  component: Button,
4};
5
6export const withText = () => <Button onClick={action('clicked')}>Hello Button</Button>;
7withText.story = {
8  parameters: {
9    themes: {
10      default: 'facebook',
11    },
12  },
13};

Usage with decorator

By default the classes will be added to the body element or the element configured with target.

But in this case your theme will not be visible by other addons (like @storybook/addon-storyshots).

To fix this you can add the withThemes decorator in your stories.

But the decorator method is not available for all frameworks

See here for the list of supported framework.

Globally

Setup the decorator globally in the preview.js file:

1import { addDecorator } from '@storybook/react'; // <- or your storybook framework
2import { withThemes } from 'storybook-addon-themes/react'; // <- or your storybook framework
3
4addDecorator(withThemes);
5
6export const parameters = {
7  actions: { argTypesRegex: "^on[A-Z].*" },
8  themes: {
9    default: 'twitter',
10    list: [
11      { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
12      { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
13    ],
14  },
15};

In story (Component Story Format)

Or in your story file (for all stories in that file):

1export default {
2  title: 'CSF|Button',
3  component: Button,
4  decorators: [ withThemes ],
5  parameters: {
6    themes: {
7      default: 'twitter',
8      list: [
9        { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
10        { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
11      ],
12    },
13  },
14};

Or just for a specific story:

1export const withText = () => <Button onClick={action('clicked')}>Hello Button</Button>;
2withText.story = {
3  decorators: [ withThemes ],
4  parameters: {
5    themes: {
6      default: 'twitter',
7      list: [
8        { name: 'twitter', class: ['theme-twt', 'light-mode'], color: '#00aced' },
9        { name: 'facebook', class: ['theme-fb', 'dark-mode'], color: '#3b5998' },
10      ],
11    },
12  },
13};

In story (StoriesOf API)

And alternatively with the old StoriesOf API:

1import { storiesOf } from '@storybook/react'; // <- or your storybook framework
2import { withThemes } from 'storybook-addon-themes/react';
3
4storiesOf('StoriesOf|Button', module)
5  .addDecorator(withThemes)
6  .add('with text', () => <button>Click me</button>);

Custom decorator

General

You can provide a component that will be used as decorator using the Decorator option in the theme parameter.

The decorator will get the following properties :

• theme: The selected theme or undefined if none is selected.
• themes: The list of themes as provided in the list option of the theme parameter.
• themeClasses: The formatted theme classes of the selected theme (if the class option exists on the selected theme).
• themeName: The name of the selected theme (equal to none if none is selected).

Don't forget to render the story using the children prop (React/HTML) or the <slot></slot> element (Vue/Svelte).

HTML example

To manage reactivity with the HTML storybook your decorator must return an array containing two elements :

• the HTML element to display in the story
• An update callback that will be called when the theme change. Like the decorator, the callback will receive the same props (without children).

Example of a customized decorator that use a CSS file for changing the theme:

1function getOrCreate(id) {
2  const elementOnDom = document.getElementById(id);
3  if (elementOnDom) {
4    return elementOnDom;
5  }
6
7  const element = document.createElement('link');
8  element.setAttribute('id', id);
9  element.setAttribute('rel', 'stylesheet');
10  return element;
11}
12
13function Decorator(props) {
14  const { children } = props;
15
16  function setStyles({ theme, themeName }) {
17    const link = getOrCreate('theme-stylesheet');
18    if (!theme) {
19      link.parentNode && link.parentNode.removeChild(link);
20    } else {
21      link.href = themeName === 'facebook' ? 'Button-fb.css' : 'Button-twt.css';
22      children.appendChild(link);
23    }
24  }
25  setStyles(props);
26
27  return [children, setStyles];
28}

React example

Same example as above for React:

1function Decorator(props) {
2  const { children, themeName } = props;
3  return (
4    <>
5      {children}
6      {themeName === 'twitter' && <link rel="stylesheet" href="twitter.css"/>}
7      {themeName === 'facebook' && <link rel="stylesheet" href="facebook.css"/>}
8    </>
9  );
10};

Framework Support Table

	React	React Native	Vue	Angular	Polymer	Mithril	HTML	Marko	Svelte	Riot	Ember	Preact
Usage without decorator	+		+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Usage with decorator	+		+				+		+