infiniteHits

Shows search results with a button to load more.

Signature

infiniteHits({
  container: string | HTMLElement,
  // Optional parameters
  escapeHTML?: boolean,
  showPrevious?: boolean,
  templates?: object,
  cssClasses?: object,
  transformItems?: function,
  cache?: object,
});

Import

Package manager

import { infiniteHits } from 'instantsearch.js/es/widgets';

const { infiniteHits } = instantsearch.widgets;
// or directly use instantsearch.widgets.infiniteHits()

See this widget in action

Preview this widget and its behavior.

About this widget

The infiniteHits widget displays a list of results with a “Show more” button at the bottom of the list. As an alternative to this approach, the infinite scroll guide describes how to create an automatically scrolling infinite hits experience.

To configure the number of hits to show, use the hitsPerPage widget or the configure widget.

See also: Searches without results

Examples

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  container: "#infinite-hits",
  templates: {
    item(hit, { html, components }) {
      return html`
        <h2>${components.Highlight({ attribute: "name", hit })}</h2>
        <p>${hit.description}</p>
      `;
    },
  },
});

Options

container · string | HTMLElement · required

The CSS Selector or HTMLElement to insert the widget into.

string

infiniteHits({
  container: '#infinite-hits',
});

infiniteHits({
  container: document.querySelector("#infinite-hits"),
});

escapeHTML · boolean · default: true

Escapes HTML entities from hits string values.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  escapeHTML: false,
});

showPrevious · boolean · default: false

Enable the button to load previous results.

The button is only displayed if the routing option is enabled in instantsearch and users aren’t on the first page. Override this behavior with connectors.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  showPrevious: true,
});

templates · object

The templates to use for the widget.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    // ...
  },
});

cssClasses · object · default: "{}"

The CSS classes you can override:

• root. The widget’s root element.
• emptyRoot. The root container without results.
• list. The list of results.
• item. The list item.
• loadPrevious. The “Show previous” button.
• loadMore. The “Show more” button.
• disabledLoadPrevious. The disabled “Show previous” button.
• disabledLoadMore. The disabled “Show more” button.
• bannerRoot. The root element of the banner.
• bannerImage. The image element of the banner.
• bannerLink. The anchor element of the banner.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  cssClasses: {
    root: "MyCustomInfiniteHits",
    list: ["MyCustomInfiniteHits", "MyCustomInfiniteHits--subclass"],
  },
});

transformItems · function · default: "items => items"

A function that receives the list of items before they are displayed. It should return a new array with the same structure. Use this to transform, filter, or reorder the items.

The function also has access to the full results data, including all standard response parameters and parameters from the helper, such as disjunctiveFacetsRefinements.

If you transform an attribute used in the highlight widget, you must also transform the corresponding item._highlightResult[attribute].value.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  transformItems(items) {
    return items.map((item) => ({
      ...item,
      name: item.name.toUpperCase(),
    }));
  },
});

// or, combined with results
infiniteHits({
  // ...
  transformItems(items, { results }) {
    return items.map((item, index) => ({
      ...item,
      position: { index, page: results.page },
    }));
  },
});

cache · object

The widget caches all loaded hits. By default, it uses its own internal in-memory cache implementation. Alternatively, use sessionStorage to retain the cache even if users reload the page.

You can also implement your own cache object with read and write methods. This can be handy if you need to persist the data across sessions or if you expect the cached data to grow larger than the browser’s 5 MB allowed storage.

Package manager

import {
  createInfiniteHitsSessionStorageCache
} from 'instantsearch.js/es/lib/infiniteHitsCache';

const sessionStorageCache = createInfiniteHitsSessionStorageCache();

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  cache: sessionStorageCache,
});

const { createInfiniteHitsSessionStorageCache } = instantsearch;
// or directly use instantsearch.createInfiniteHitsSessionStorageCache()

const sessionStorageCache = createInfiniteHitsSessionStorageCache();

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  cache: sessionStorageCache,
});

const customCache = {
  read({ state }) {
    const { cachedKey, cachedHits } = // read from your cache
    const currentKey = convertStateToKey(state);
    if (isEqual(cachedKey, currentKey)) {
      return cachedHits;
    } else {
      return null;
    }
  },
  write({ state, hits }) {
    const currentKey = convertStateToKey(state);
    // write in your cache
  },
}

function isEqual(obj1, obj2) {
  // perform deep equal
}

function convertStateToKey(state) {
  const { page, ...rest } = state || {};
  // Regardless of the `page`,
  // check if the rest of the state is the same.
  return rest;
}

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  cache: customCache
});

Templates

You can customize parts of a widget’s UI using the Templates API.

Each template includes an html function, which you can use as a tagged template. This function safely renders templates as HTML strings and works directly in the browser—no build step required. For details, see Templating your UI.

The html function is available in InstantSearch.js version 4.46.0 or later.

empty · string | function

The template to use when there are no results. It exposes the results object.

function

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    empty(results, { html }) {
      return html`<p>No results <q>${results.query}</q></p>`;
    },
  },
});

// String-based templates are deprecated, use functions instead.
infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    empty: "No results for <q>{{ query }}</q>",
  },
});

item · string | function

The template to use for each result. This template receives an object containing a single record. The record has a new property __hitIndex for the relative position of the record in the list of displayed hits. You can use Algolia’s highlighting feature with the highlight function, directly from the template.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    item(hit, { html, components }) {
      return html`
        <h2>
          ${hit.__hitIndex}:
          ${components.Highlight({ attribute: 'name', hit })}
        </h2>
        <p>${hit.description}</p>
      `;
    },
  },
});

banner · string | function

The template to use for the banner. This template receives an object containing the banner data returned within the renderingContent property from the Algolia API response and a className string representing the CSS classes provided to the widget. It is rendered above the results.

function

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    banner({ banner }, { html }) {
      return html`<img src="${banner.image.urls[0].url}" />`;
    },
  },
});

// String-based templates are deprecated, use functions instead.
infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    banner: `<img src="${banner.image.urls[0].url}" />`,
  },
});

showPreviousText · string | function · default: "Show previous results"

The template to use for the “Show previous” label.

function

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    showPreviousText(data, { html }) {
      return html`<span>Show previous</span>`;
    },
  },
});

// String-based templates are deprecated, use functions instead.
infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    showPreviousText: "Show previous",
  },
});

showMoreText · string | function · default: "Show more results"

The template to use for the “Show more” label.

function

infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    showMoreText(data, { html }) {
      return html`<span>Show more</span>`;
    },
  },
});

// String-based templates are deprecated, use functions instead.
infiniteHits({
  // ...
  templates: {
    showMoreText: "Show more",
  },
});

HTML output

HTML

<div class="ais-InfiniteHits">
  <button class="ais-InfiniteHits-loadPrevious">Show previous</button>
  <aside class="ais-InfiniteHits-banner">
    <a class="ais-InfiniteHits-banner-link">
      <img class="ais-InfiniteHits-banner-image" />
    </a>
  </aside>
  <ol class="ais-InfiniteHits-list">
    <li class="ais-InfiniteHits-item">...</li>
    <li class="ais-InfiniteHits-item">...</li>
    <li class="ais-InfiniteHits-item">...</li>
  </ol>
  <button class="ais-InfiniteHits-loadMore">Show more</button>
</div>

Customize the UI with connectInfiniteHits

If you want to create your own UI of the infiniteHits widget, you can use connectors.

To use connectInfiniteHits, you can import it with the declaration relevant to how you installed InstantSearch.js.

Package manager

import { connectInfiniteHits } from 'instantsearch.js/es/connectors';

const { connectInfiniteHits } = instantsearch.connectors;
// or directly use instantsearch.connectors.connectInfiniteHits()

Then it’s a 3-step process:

JavaScript

// 1. Create a render function
const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  // Rendering logic
};

// 2. Create the custom widget
const customInfiniteHits = connectInfiniteHits(renderInfiniteHits);

// 3. Instantiate
search.addWidgets([
  customInfiniteHits({
    // instance params
  }),
]);

Create a render function

This rendering function is called before the first search (init lifecycle step) and each time results come back from Algolia (render lifecycle step).

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const {
    items,
    currentPageHits,
    results,
    banner,
    sendEvent,
    isFirstPage,
    isLastPage,
    showPrevious,
    showMore,
    widgetParams,
  } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    // Do some initial rendering and bind events
  }

  // Render the widget
};

Rendering options

items · object[]

The matched hits from the Algolia API. This returns the combined hits for all the pages that have been requested so far. You can use Algolia’s highlighting feature with the highlight function, directly from the connector’s render function.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector('#infinite-hits').innerHTML = `
    <ul>
      ${items
        .map(
          item =>
            `<li>
              ${instantsearch.highlight({ attribute: 'name', hit: item })}
            </li>`
        )
        .join('')}
    </ul>
  `;
};

currentPageHits · object[]

The matched hits from the Algolia API for the current page. Unlike the hits parameter, this only returns the hits for the currently requested page. This can be useful if you want to handle how the new page of hits is going to be added to the list of search results. You can use Algolia’s highlighting feature with the highlight function, directly from the connector’s render function.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { currentPageHits } = renderOptions;
  const container = document.querySelector('#infinite-hits');

  if (isFirstRender) {
    const ul = document.createElement('ul');
    container.appendChild(ul);

    return;
  }

  container.querySelector('ul').insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', currentPageHits
    .map(
      hit =>
        `<li>
          ${instantsearch.highlight({ attribute: 'name', hit: item })}
        </li>`
    )
    .join(''));
};

results · object

The complete response from the Algolia API. It contains the hits, metadata about the page, the number of hits, and so on. Unless you need to access metadata, use items instead. You should also consider the stats widget if you want to build a widget that displays metadata about the search.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { results } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    return;
  }

  document.querySelector('#infinite-hits').innerHTML = `
    <ul>
      ${results.hits.map(item => `<li>${item.name}</li>`).join('')}
    </ul>
  `;
};

banner · object

The banner data returned within the renderingContent property from the Algolia API response. It is rendered above the results by default and can be used to display promotional content.

JavaScript

const renderHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, banner } = renderOptions;
  document.querySelector('#infinite-hits').innerHTML = `
    <img src="${banner.image.urls[0].url}" />
    <ul>
      ${items
        .map(
          item =>
            `<li>
              ${instantsearch.highlight({ attribute: 'name', hit: item })}
            </li>`
        )
        .join('')}
    </ul>
  `;
};

sendEvent · (eventType, hit, eventName) => void

The function to send click or conversion events. The view event is automatically sent when this connector renders items.

• eventType: 'click' | 'conversion'
• hit: Hit | Hit[]
• eventName: string

For more information about these events, see the insights middleware documentation.

JavaScript

// For example,
sendEvent('click', hit, 'Product Added');
// or
sendEvent('conversion', hit, 'Order Completed');

/*
  A payload like the following will be sent to the `insights` middleware.
  {
    eventType: 'click',
    insightsMethod: 'clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch',
    payload: {
      eventName: 'Product Added',
      index: '<index-name>',
      objectIDs: ['<object-id>'],
      positions: [<position>],
      queryID: '<query-id>',
    },
    widgetType: 'ais.infiniteHits',
  }
*/

isFirstPage · boolean

Indicates whether the first page of hits has been reached.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, isFirstPage } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector('#infinite-hits').innerHTML = `
    <button ${isFirstPage ? 'disabled' : ''}>
      Static "Show previous" button
    </button>
    <ul>
      ${items.map(item => `<li>${item.name}</li>`).join('')}
    </ul>
  `;
};

isLastPage · boolean

Indicates whether the last page of hits has been reached.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, isLastPage } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector('#infinite-hits').innerHTML = `
    <ul>
      ${items.map(item => `<li>${item.name}</li>`).join('')}
    </ul>
    <button ${isLastPage ? 'disabled' : ''}>
      Static "Show more" button
    </button>
  `;
};

showPrevious · function

Loads the previous page of hits.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, showPrevious } = renderOptions;
  const container = document.querySelector('#infinite-hits');

  if (isFirstRender) {
    const ul = document.createElement('ul');
    const button = document.createElement('button');
    button.textContent = 'Show previous';

    button.addEventListener('click', () => {
      showPrevious();
    });

    container.appendChild(button);
    container.appendChild(ul);

    return;
  }

  container.querySelector('ul').innerHTML = `
    ${items.map(item => `<li>${item.name}</li>`).join('')}
  `;
};

showMore · function

Loads the next page of hits.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, showMore } = renderOptions;
  const container = document.querySelector('#infinite-hits');

  if (isFirstRender) {
    const ul = document.createElement('ul');
    const button = document.createElement('button');
    button.textContent = 'Show more';

    button.addEventListener('click', () => {
      showMore();
    });

    container.appendChild(ul);
    container.appendChild(button);

    return;
  }

  container.querySelector('ul').innerHTML = `
    ${items.map(item => `<li>${item.name}</li>`).join('')}
  `;
};

widgetParams · object

All original widget options forwarded to the render function.

JavaScript

const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { widgetParams } = renderOptions;

  widgetParams.container.innerHTML = '...';
};

// ...

search.addWidgets([
  customInfiniteHits({
    container: document.querySelector('#infinite-hits'),
  })
]);

Create and instantiate the custom widget

First, create your custom widgets using a rendering function. Then, instantiate them with parameters.

There are two kinds of parameters you can pass:

• Instance parameters. Predefined options that configure Algolia’s behavior.
• Custom parameters. Parameters you define to make the widget reusable and adaptable.

Inside the renderFunction, both instance and custom parameters are accessible through connector.widgetParams.

JavaScript

const customInfiniteHits = connectInfiniteHits(
  renderInfiniteHits
);

search.addWidgets([
  customInfiniteHits({
    // Optional parameters
    escapeHTML: boolean,
    showPrevious: boolean,
    transformItems: function,
  })
]);

Instance options

escapeHTML · boolean · default: true

Escapes HTML entities from hits string values.

JavaScript

customInfiniteHits({
  escapeHTML: false,
});

showPrevious · boolean · default: false

Enable the button to load previous results.

JavaScript

customInfiniteHits({
  showPrevious: true,
});

transformItems · function · default: "items => items"

A function that receives the list of items before they are displayed. It should return a new array with the same structure. Use this to transform, filter, or reorder the items.

The function also has access to the full results data, including all standard response parameters and parameters from the helper, such as disjunctiveFacetsRefinements.

If you transform an attribute used in the highlight widget, you must also transform the corresponding item._highlightResult[attribute].value.

JavaScript

customInfiniteHits({
  transformItems(items) {
    return items.map((item) => ({
      ...item,
      name: item.name.toUpperCase(),
    }));
  },
});

// or: combined with results
customInfiniteHits({
  transformItems(items, { results }) {
    return items.map((item, index) => ({
      ...item,
      position: { index, page: results.page },
    }));
  },
});

Full example

HTML

<div id="infinite-hits"></div>

// Create the render function
const renderInfiniteHits = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const {
    items,
    widgetParams,
    showPrevious,
    isFirstPage,
    showMore,
    isLastPage,
  } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    const ul = document.createElement("ul");
    const previousButton = document.createElement("button");
    previousButton.className = "previous-button";
    previousButton.textContent = "Show previous";

    previousButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
      showPrevious();
    });

    const nextButton = document.createElement("button");
    nextButton.className = "next-button";
    nextButton.textContent = "Show more";

    nextButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
      showMore();
    });

    widgetParams.container.appendChild(previousButton);
    widgetParams.container.appendChild(ul);
    widgetParams.container.appendChild(nextButton);

    return;
  }

  widgetParams.container.querySelector(".previous-button").disabled =
    isFirstPage;
  widgetParams.container.querySelector(".next-button").disabled = isLastPage;

  widgetParams.container.querySelector("ul").innerHTML = `
    ${items
      .map(
        (item) =>
          `<li>
            ${instantsearch.highlight({ attribute: "name", hit: item })}
          </li>`,
      )
      .join("")}
  `;
};

// Create the custom widget
const customInfiniteHits = connectInfiniteHits(renderInfiniteHits);

// Instantiate the custom widget
search.addWidgets([
  customInfiniteHits({
    container: document.querySelector("#infinite-hits"),
    showPrevious: true,
  }),
]);

Click and conversion events

If the insights option is true, the infiniteHits widget automatically sends a click event with the following shape to the Insights API when a user clicks on a hit.

JSON

{
  "eventType": "click",
  "insightsMethod": "clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch",
  "payload": {
    "eventName": "Hit Clicked"
    // ...
  },
  "widgetType": "ais.infiniteHits"
}

To customize this event, use the sendEvent function in your item template and send a custom click event.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  templates: {
    item(hit, { html, components, sendEvent }) {
      return html`
        <div onClick="${() => sendEvent("click", hit, "Product Clicked")}">
          <h2>${components.Highlight({ attribute: "name", hit })}</h2>
          <p>${hit.description}</p>
        </div>
      `;
    },
  },
});

The sendEvent function also accepts an object as a fourth argument to send directly to the Insights API. You can use it, for example, to send special conversion events with a subtype.

JavaScript

infiniteHits({
  templates: {
    item(hit, { html, components, sendEvent }) {
      return html`
        <div>
          <h2>${components.Highlight({ attribute: "name", hit })}</h2>
          <p>${hit.description}</p>
          <button
            onClick=${() =>
              sendEvent("conversion", hit, "Added To Cart", {
                // Special subtype
                eventSubtype: "addToCart",
                // An array of objects representing each item added to the cart
                objectData: [
                  {
                    // The discount value for this item, if applicable
                    discount: hit.discount || 0,
                    // The price value for this item (minus the discount)
                    price: hit.price,
                    // How many of this item were added
                    quantity: 2,
                  },
                ],
                // The total value of all items
                value: hit.price * 2,
                // The currency code
                currency: "USD",
              })}
          >
            Add to cart
          </button>
        </div>
      `;
    },
  },
});

Use strings to represent monetary values in major currency units (for example, ‘5.45’). This avoids floating-point rounding issues, especially when performing calculations.

See also: Send click and conversion events with InstantSearch.js