Understanding Variables in Framer

Welcome to the fascinating world of Framer. This tool offers a powerful approach to designing interactive UIs, with a key feature being the use of variables. If you're fairly new to the concept, don't worry, this writeup is your one-stop guide to understanding and implementing variables in Framer.

In the basic sense, variables are the means through which you pass properties to components. Let's say, for your blog post component, you want different titles, descriptions, images, and more. To put this into action, each of these must be defined as variables. To do so, step into the master component, select the title, and create a new variable using the content settings. You might want to stick to plain text for starters.

However, it's important to remember that variables aren't merely conduits for passing text. They harbour a significant amount of flexibility, with a diverse range of types available to choose from in Framer. These include a variety of options such as plain text, formatted text, link, image, color, toggle, option, number, event, and even date.

The Power of Formatted Text

An upgrade from the plain text variable is the formatted text variable. This option opens up an avenue to shape and format the text you pass on to components. You can customise text styles on a case-by-case basis, based on the specific text type you're working with. This may include options to bold or italicise text, or even linking text to specific elements. For example, if you want to make certain text look like a link, you can create a link variable and style it accordingly in the master component.

Formatted text type is versatile, meant to complement different kinds of text content. It can even be used with nested components; a great example would be switching between author components. Add a Boolean variable, and you can even toggle the visibility of the author information.

Scalars, Boolean and Other Variable Types

One thing to understand about variables is that they are scoped to the specific component they are associated with. This means, a variable assigned to one component will not be visible or accessible in another. However, this compartmentalisation provides the right kind of control and flexibility while working with Framervariables, as evidenced in Success Stories.

To further illustrate the power of variables, let's consider the addition of an image. Back in the master component, introduce an image variable to represent the fill setting of the image placeholder. When you return to the main page, you can now pass any chosen image to the blog post component using the special variable cover.

Special Case: Date Variable

If you're wondering whether Framer has a variable that can handle dates, it certainly does. While adding such a variable, it may seem like your options are limited to plain or formatted text types. However, Framer has a specific date type intended just for this purpose. Simply create a new date type variable and assign it to your date text element. You then can opt for the 'format date' function to represent the variable information in a user-friendly format.

The detailed Framer Tutorials further break down every step, allowing you to explore the vibrant possibilities of using variables in Framer.