If you’re building a site, it’s even more important to ensure passwords are as secure as they can be. You can present a checklist to those using your site and ensure their password meets your requirements before you accept it.

Learn how to implement a password checklist using Next.js.

Why Use a Password Checklist?

There are many reasons why you might want to use a password checklist.

First, it can help you ensure that your users’ passwords are strong and unique. By having a checklist of requirements, you can be sure that each password meets a certain standard.

Your users may not thank you for it, but you’ll be doing them a favor. By encouraging strong passwords, you’ll make it less likely that a hacker will gain access to one of your users’ accounts.

Second, a password checklist can help to convey a sense of security. By publishing requirements, you’re telling your users that you take password security seriously.

You should be aware, however, that a password checklist is not a miracle solution to password problems. In fact, if you make your passwords too restrictive, you can make it easier for hackers to narrow down their options and brute-force a password. Ultimately, secure and unique passwords that users store in a password manager are best.

How to Create a Password Checklist

There are two ways to create a password checklist in Next.js. You can either use the in-built features or you can use an external module.

What You Will Need

To create a password checklist in Next.js, you will need the following:

Node. js Installed A text editor A Next. js project

Method 1: Using Built-In Features

Next.js comes with built-in features like hooks and context. There are different types of hooks that you can use to create a password checklist.

First, create a new file in your Next.js app and name it passwordChecklist.js. In this file, you can take password input from users, and you can check if the password meets the requirements.

In the above code, you first need to take password input from users. You can do this using the useState hook. This hook allows you to create a state variable and a function to update that variable. In this case, the state variable is password and the function to update it is setPassword.

Next, you need to create a function to handle the form submission. This function will prevent the default action of the form (which is to submit the form) and it will check if the password meets the requirements.

The password requirements are that it must:

be at least eight characters long contain at least one uppercase letter contain at least one lowercase letter contain at least one number

You can use the every method to check if a password meets all the requirements. If it does, the password is valid. Otherwise, the code will display an error message.

Method 3: Using the react-password-checklist Module

Another way to create a password checklist in Next.js is by using the react-password-checklist module. This module is easy to use, and it comes with a lot of features.

First, install the module using the following command:

Then, import the module in your passwordChecklist.js file:

This code passes the props minLength, specialChar, number, and capital to the PasswordChecklist component. The component will use these props to check if the password meets the requirements.

You can also add translated messages to the component by passing the messages prop. These strings override the default errors so you can use them for other languages or variations.

In the above code, the messages prop stores alternative error messages. The component will display these messages when the password does not meet the requirements.

This method is more convenient because you don’t have to write the code to check if the password meets the requirements. There are also many other benefits of using this module such as:

Displaying the password strength: react-password-checklist can display the password strength so that users can see how strong their password is. Displaying the error message: react-password-checklist can also display the error message if the password is not valid. Styling: You don’t have to add any extra styling to the checklist. The module provides default styling that you can use in your app. If you want to add some additional styling, then you can use normal CSS or other styling frameworks like tailwind CSS.

Improve User Safety With a Password Checklist

A strong password is a key to online safety. It’s important to have a strong and unique password for each online account. By using a password checklist, you can be sure that each password meets a certain standard.

Your app users will also appreciate being able to see the password strength. This way, they can be sure that their passwords are strong enough. This will improve the user experience of your app and it will also improve the safety of your app users. Similarly, you can also validate the forms in your Next.js app.