Using Font Awesome Icons in Vue.js 3 - Lesson 6

Introduction

Font Awesome is a versatile icon library that offers a wide range of scalable vector icons. Integrating Font Awesome icons into your Vue.js 3 project can significantly enhance the visual appeal and user experience of your web applications. This guide will walk you through the process of using Font Awesome icons in your Vue.js 3 project, step by step.

Step 1: Choose Your Font Awesome Version

Font Awesome offers two main versions: Free and Pro. The Free version includes a wide range of icons suitable for most projects, while the Pro version offers additional icons and features. For this guide, we’ll focus on the Free version, which is more than sufficient for most needs.

Step 2: Install Font Awesome

To include Font Awesome in your project, you’ll need to use npm. Open your terminal, navigate to your project directory, and run the following command to install Font Awesome:

1
2
npm install @fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core @fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons
@fortawesome/vue-fontawesome

This command installs the core Font Awesome library, the free solid icons, and the Vue Font Awesome component that allows you to use Font Awesome icons in your Vue.js components.

Step 3: Import Font Awesome Icons

After installing Font Awesome, you need to import the icons you want to use into your project. You can do this in your main.js file or in any specific component where you need the icons.

For example, to import the faUser icon, you would add the following lines to your main.js file:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
// main.js
import { createApp } from "vue";
import { library } from "@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core";
import { faUser } from "@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons";
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from "@fortawesome/vue-fontawesome";

library.add(faUser);

const app = createApp(App);
app.component("font-awesome-icon", FontAwesomeIcon);
app.mount("#app");

Step 4: Use Font Awesome Icons in Your Components

To use the imported icons in your Vue.js components, you’ll need to use the FontAwesomeIcon component provided by Font Awesome. Since we’ve already registered the FontAwesomeIcon component globally in the main.js file, you can directly use it in your components:

1
2
3
4
5
<template>
  <div>
    <font-awesome-icon icon="user" />
  </div>
</template>

Step 5: Customizing Font Awesome Icons

Font Awesome icons can be customized using props. For example, you can change the size, color, and other properties of an icon. Here’s how you can customize the faUser icon:

1
2
3
4
5
<template>
  <div>
    <font-awesome-icon icon="user" size="2x" color="blue" />
  </div>
</template>

Step 6: Using Font Awesome Icons with Vue Router

If you’re using Vue Router in your project, you can also use Font Awesome icons in your navigation links. Simply use the FontAwesomeIcon component in your router links:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
<template>
  <nav>
    <router-link to="/home">
      <font-awesome-icon icon="home" /> Home
    </router-link>
    <router-link to="/about">
      <font-awesome-icon icon="info-circle" /> About
    </router-link>
  </nav>
</template>

Conclusion

Integrating Font Awesome icons into your Vue.js 3 project is straightforward and enhances the visual appeal of your web applications. By following these steps, you can easily add scalable, customizable icons to your project, improving the user experience and making your application more visually appealing.