In this article, I will show how to create an identicon generator using Vue.js in codepen. First of all, an identicon is a graphical image that is generated by text input. This is useful as a substitute for photo images for site users.

For example, when I type “Chris Nielsen Code Walk”, the identicon generator creates the image seen here:

The identicon is generated via an external library called “jdenticon”. In codepen, we first need to go to the JS settings and pull in two libraries:

https://cdn.rawgit.com/dmester/jdenticon/5bbdf8cb/dist/jdenticon.min.js
and
https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vue/2.6.11/vue.min.js

These can be found by clicking the settings icon next to JS and typing in “jdenticon” or “vue” and selecting one of the CDN results. For example:

Starting with the HTML section in codepen, all we need for this Vue.js app is a single div with the id of the app. For example:

<div id="app"></div>

The rest of the code will be in the JavaScript section. First we need a new Vue constructor:

new Vue({

});

Then we need to tell Vue what div in the HTML to target. This can be done with an el: 'target'. For example:

new Vue({
  el: '#app',

});

In the Vue constructor, we can set up our data object, methods, computed section, and template. For example:

new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  data: { // key-value pairs
    textInput: ''
  },
  computed: { // Turn our data into viewable values with these functions
    identicon: function() {
      return jdenticon.toSvg(this.textInput, 200);
    }
  },
  methods: { // Use these functions to change data
    onInput: function(event) {
      // console.log(event.target.value);
      this.textInput = event.target.value;
    }
  },
  template: `
    <div>
      <h3>Identicon Generator</h3>
      <div>
        Input: 
        <input v-on:input="onInput"/>
        <!-- The above line is a vue "directive" -->
        <!-- v-on = event handler -->
        <!-- The event is input -->
        <!-- onInput is the vue method that is called -->
      </div>

      <div>
        Output: 
        <!-- {{ identicon }} -->
        <div v-html="identicon"></div>
      </div>
    </div>
  `
});

The complete app can be seen in my codepen:

See the Pen Vue Identicon Generator by Chris Nielsen (@Chris_Nielsen) on CodePen.