How to Add a Code Box with a Copy Button: A Comprehensive Guide

Add a Code Box with a Copy Button: A Comprehensive Guide

In today's digital age, it is crucial to have a well-designed and functional website, especially if you are a software developer, web designer, or a blogger. Displaying code snippets on your website can help illustrate a point, or provide examples for your readers. However, simply copying and pasting code into your website can result in messy and hard-to-read code blocks.


This is where a code box with a copy button comes in handy. A code box with a copy button provides a neat and organized way to display code snippets on your website while also allowing your readers to easily copy the code for their own use. In this article, we will guide you through the process of adding a code box with a copy button to your website.

Step 1: Choose a Code Highlighter

The first step to adding a code box with a copy button is to choose a code highlighter. A code highlighter is a tool that can format and highlight code snippets, making them easier to read and understand. There are many code highlighters available, both free and paid. Some popular code highlighters include:

  • PrismJS
  • Highlight.js
  • Ace

Choose the code highlighter that best suits your needs and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Download and Include the Code Highlighter in Your Website

Once you have chosen a code highlighter, download it and include it in your website. You can do this by adding the necessary files to your website's code. Most code highlighters come with comprehensive instructions on how to do this.

Step 3: Add a Code Box to Your Website

With the code highlighter included in your website, you can now add a code box. To do this, you will need to wrap your code in the appropriate code highlighter syntax. For example, using PrismJS, you would wrap your code in the following syntax:

Code Box
<p><pre><code class="language-javascript">
  Your code goes here
</code></pre>
 </p>

Step 4: Add a Copy Button

The final step is to add a copy button to your code box. There are several ways to do this, including using JavaScript, jQuery, and other libraries. To keep things simple, we will use a library called ClipboardJS. ClipboardJS is a lightweight library that makes it easy to add a copy button to your code box.

First, you will need to download and include ClipboardJS in your website. You can do this by adding the following code to your website:

ClipboardJS
<p><script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/clipboard@2/dist/clipboard.min.js"></script> </p>


Next, you will need to add the following JavaScript code to your website:

JavaScript
<p>
<script>
  var btn = document.getElementById("copy-button");
  var clipboard = new ClipboardJS(btn);
</script> </p>


And finally, add the following HTML code to your code box:

HTML
<p><button class="btn" id="copy-button" data-clipboard-target="#code-box">
  Copy
</button>
 </p>

That's it! You now have a code box with a copy button on your website. Your readers can easily copy your code snippets with just one click.

To display HTML or Javascript code properly in a pre-tag, you need to parse the code before adding it. You can use a free HTML parsing tool to convert the code and then paste it inside the pre-tag.

Conclusion

Adding a code box with acopy button to your website can greatly improve the user experience and functionality of your site. Whether you're a software developer, web designer, or blogger, displaying code snippets in a neat and organized way can help illustrate a point or provide examples for your readers. The process of adding a code box with a copy button is relatively straightforward, as long as you have a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We hope that this comprehensive guide has been helpful in showing you how to add a code box with a copy button to your website. Happy coding!

 
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