Mastering Embla Carousels in Next.js: Creating Stunning Interactive Sliders

Introduction

Embla Carousel is a powerful, lightweight, and flexible carousel library that works exceptionally well with Next.js applications. In this article, we’ll explore how to implement and customize Embla Carousels in your Next.js projects, providing you with the skills to create beautiful, interactive sliders.

Why chose Embla Carousel 🤔

Choosing the right carousel library is like picking the perfect pair of sneakers — you want something lightweight, smooth, and built to last.

Embla Carousel is an excellent choice because it combines simplicity with powerful features. It’s lightweight, which ensures your application stays fast, and highly customizable, giving you full control over its behavior and design.

lets see how to create a simple slider

Installation

First, install Embla Carousel in your Next.js project:

yarn install embla-carousel-react

# if using bun 
bun install embla-carousel-react

Basic Carousel Implementation

Here’s a simple example of a basic image carousel:

import React from 'react';
import useEmblaCarousel from 'embla-carousel-react';
const ImageCarousel = () => {
     const [emblaRef] = useEmblaCarousel({
     loop: true,
     align: 'center',
     skipSnaps: false,
     });
    const images = [
     '/image1.jpg',
     '/image2.jpg',
     '/image3.jpg',
     '/image4.jpg',
     ];
      return (
         <div className="embla" ref={emblaRef}>
           <div className="embla__container">
           {images.map((image, index) => (
             <div key={index} className="embla__slide">
               <img 
               src={image} 
               alt={`Slide ${index + 1}`} 
               className="embla__slide__img" 
               />
             </div>
           ))}
           </div>
         </div>
       );
};
export default ImageCarousel;

### CSS for Basic Carousel
.embla {
 overflow: hidden;
}
.embla__container {
 display: flex;
}
.embla__slide {
 flex: 0 0 auto;
 width: 100%;
 max-width: 100%;
 padding: 0 10px;
}
.embla__slide__img {
 width: 100%;
 height: 400px;
 object-fit: cover;
}

Key Features of Embla Carousel.😏

1. Lightweight: Extremely small bundle size
2. Flexible: Works with various content types
3. Customizable: Extensive configuration options
4. Performance: Optimized for smooth scrolling
5. Framework Agnostic: Works great with React and Next.js

you can have a look here

A lightweight carousel library with fluid motion and great swipe precision

Best Practices 🫡

• Always use `ref` with Embla Carousel
  - Implement responsive designs
  - Use `useCallback` for event handlers
• useCallback ensures the function remains stable across renders unless dependencies change.

how to implement responsive design in embla its by wrapping the embla ref container and adding a flex basis for it which can be controlled by media query

Conclusion

Embla Carousel provides a smooth and low memory consumption solution for creating interactive and responsive carousels in Next.js applications. With its flexibility and ease of use, you can create stunning sliders that enhance your user interface. it uses less javascript compared to others.