Svelte Sortable List

A package to create accessible sortable lists in Svelte.

Live demo:

• Netlify
• Vercel

Table of contents

• Features
• Get started
  • Install it
  • Import it
  • Use it
• Keyboard navigation
• Components
  • <SortableList> props
  • <SortableList> events
  • <SortableItem> props
• Utilities
• Types
• Styles
  • Selectors
  • Custom properties
• Motivation

Features

• Accessibility focused (keyboard navigation and screen reader support).
• Drag and drop.
• Handle.
• Drop marker.
• Varying heights.
• Vertical and horizontal direction.
• Lockable axis.
• Remove on drop outside.
• Touch screen support.
• RTL support.
• Un-opinionated styling.
• Typescript definitions.
• No dependencies.

Get started

Install it

pnpm install @rodrigodagostino/svelte-sortable-list

npm install @rodrigodagostino/svelte-sortable-list

yarn add @rodrigodagostino/svelte-sortable-list

Import it

<script lang="ts">
	import { SortableList, sortItems, type SortableListProps } from 'svelte-sortable-list';
</script>

Use it

<script lang="ts">
	import { SortableItem, SortableList, sortItems } from '$lib/index.js';
	import type { SortableItemData } from '$lib/types/index.js';
	import '$lib/styles.css';

	let items: SortableItemData[] = [
		{
			id: 'list-item-1',
			text: 'List item 1',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-2',
			text: 'List item 2',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-3',
			text: 'List item 3',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-4',
			text: 'List item 4',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-5',
			text: 'List item 5',
		},
	];

	function handleSort(event: CustomEvent<SortEventDetail>) {
		const { prevItemIndex, nextItemIndex } = event.detail;
		items = sortItems(items, prevItemIndex, nextItemIndex);
	}
</script>

<SortableList on:sort={handleSort}>
	{#each items as item, index (item.id)}
		<SortableItem id={item.id} {index}>
			<div class="ssl-item__content">
				{item.text}
			</div>
		</SortableItem>
	{/each}
</SortableList>

Keyboard navigation

The following is a list of steps to navigate and operate the Sortable List:

1. Press tab to focus the list.
2. Press arrow up, arrow left, arrow down or arrow right to focus the first item in the list.
3. Press arrow up or arrow left to move the focus to the previous item.
4. Press arrow down or arrow right to move the focus to the next item.
5. Press space to lift or drop an item.
6. Press arrow up or arrow left to move the lifted item to the previous position.
7. Press arrow down or arrow right to move the lifted item to the next position.
8. Press escape to cancel the lift and return the item to its initial position.

Components

The following is a list of the available components inside the package:

Component	Description
<SortableList>	The primary container. Provides the main structure, drag-and-drop interactions and emits the available events.
<SortableItem>	An individual item within <SortableList>. Holds the data and content for each list item, as well as the <Handle> and <Remove> components when needed.
<Handle>	An element that limits the draggable area of a list item to itself. Including it inside a <SortableItem> will directly activate the handle functionality for that item.
<Remove>	A <button> element that (when pressed) removes an item. Including it inside a <SortableItem> will directly allow it to dispatch the remove event for that item.
<IconHandle>	A grip icon. Since it doesn’t include any kind of interactivity, you can use your own icon instead.
<IconRemove>	An x mark icon. Since it doesn’t include any kind of interactivity, you can use your own icon instead.

You can create your own <Remove> component if you require it that way. Do so by importing the dispatch() function from this package (or create your own dispatcher), and make sure to use the event name and detail included in the example:

<script lang="ts">
	import { dispatch } from '@rodrigodagostino/svelte-sortable-list';
	import { Button } from '$lib/components';

	function handleRemove(event: MouseEvent) {
		const target = event.target as HTMLElement;
		if (target) dispatch(target, 'removestart', { item: target.closest('.ssl-item') });
	};
</script>

<Button on:click={handleRemove}>Remove</Button>

<SortableList> props

Prop	Type	Default	Possible values	Description
gap	Number	12	Number equal to or above 0.	Separation between items (in pixels).
direction	String	'vertical'	'vertical' or 'horizontal'	Orientation in which items will be arranged.
swapThreshold	Number	1	Number between 0.5 and 2.	Portions of the dragged item and the target item that need to overlap for the items to switch positions. This value will be honored as long as there is only one item colliding with the dragged item. Otherwise, the item with the most covered area by the dragged item will be marked as the target. For example, 0.5 stands for half of the dragged and target item, 1 for the full size, 2 for double the size.
transitionDuration	Number	320	Number equal to or above 0.	Time the transitions for the ghost (dropping) and items (translation, addition, removal) take to complete (in milliseconds). Assign it a value of 0 to remove animations.
hasDropMarker	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, displays a position marker representing where the dragged item will be positioned when drag-and-dropping.
hasLockedAxis	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, prevents the dragged item from moving away from the main axis.
hasBoundaries	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, items will only be draggable inside the list limits.
hasRemoveOnDropOut	Boolean	false	true or false	if true, items will be removed when dragged and dropped outside of the list boundaries. This needs to be coupled with the on:remove event handler for it to complete the removal process.
isLocked	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, will allow every item in the list to be focused, but will prevent them from being dragged (both through pointer and keyboard). Interactive elements inside will operate normally.
isDisabled	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, will allow every item in the list to be focused, but will prevent them from being dragged (both through pointer and keyboard) and change its appearance to be dimmed. Interactive elements inside will be disabled.

<SortableList> events

Name	Type	Trigger	Returns
on:sort	CustomEvent<SortEventDetail>	An item switches position.	event: {   detail: {     prevItemId: string,     prevItemIndex: number,     nextItemId: string,     nextItemIndex: number   } }
on:remove	CustomEvent<RemoveEventDetail>	An item is removed.	event: {   detail: {     itemId: string,     itemIndex: number   } }

<SortableItem> props

Prop	Type	Default	Possible values	Description
id	String	undefined	Unique string.	Unique identifier for each item.
index	Number	undefined	Unique number.	Position of the item in the list.
isLocked	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, will prevent the item from being dragged.
isDisabled	Boolean	false	true or false	If true, will prevent the item from being dragged and change its appearance to be dimmed.

Utilities

Function	Description
sortItems()	Provides an easy mechanism to reorder items (should be used in combination with the on:sort event).
removeItem()	Provides an easy mechanism to remove an item from your list (should be used in combination with the on:remove event).

Example:

<script lang="ts">
	import {
		SortableList,
		SortableItem,
		Remove,
		IconRemove,
		removeItem,
		sortItems,
	} from '$lib/index.js';
	import type { SortableItemData } from '$lib/types/index.js';

	let items: SortableItemData[] = [
		{
			id: 'list-item-1',
			text: 'List item 1',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-2',
			text: 'List item 2',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-3',
			text: 'List item 3',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-4',
			text: 'List item 4',
		},
		{
			id: 'list-item-5',
			text: 'List item 5',
		},
	];

	function handleSort(event: CustomEvent<SortEventDetail>) {
		const { prevItemIndex, nextItemIndex } = event.detail;
		items = sortItems(items, prevItemIndex, nextItemIndex);
	}

	function handleRemove(event: CustomEvent<RemoveEventDetail>) {
		const { itemIndex } = event.detail;
		items = removeItem(items, itemIndex);
	}
</script>

<SortableList on:sort={handleSort} on:remove={handleRemove}>
	{#each items as item, index (item.id)}
		<SortableItem id={item.id} {index}>
			<div class="ssl-item__content">
				{item.text}
			</div>
			<Remove>
				<IconRemove />
			</Remove>
		</SortableItem>
	{/each}
</SortableList>

Types

Type	Description
SortableItemData	Provides definitions for your list of items.

Example:

<script lang="ts">
	import type { SortableItemData } from '$lib/types/index.js';

	let items: SortableItemData[] = [
	{
		id: 'list-item-1',
		text: 'List item 1',
		isDisabled: false,
	},
	{
		id: 'list-item-2',
		text: 'List item 2',
		isDisabled: true,
	},
	{
		id: 'list-item-3',
		text: 'List item 3',
		isDisabled: true,
	},
	{
		id: 'list-item-4',
		text: 'List item 4',
		isDisabled: false,
	},
	{
		id: 'list-item-5',
		text: 'List item 5',
		isDisabled: false,
	},
];
</script>

Styles

If you want to make use of the styles present in the demo pages, import them in your project like so:

import 'svelte-sortable-list/styles.css';

Selectors

To customize the appearance of the list items and not cause any conflicts or interferences with the core styles and transitions, the usage of the .ssl-item selector must be avoided, pointing instead to .ssl-item__inner, which is the direct child of the aforementioned selector.

This is a list of the selectors you can use to style the list and the list items to your heart’s desire:

Selector	Points to
.ssl-list	The <SortableList> main container.
.ssl-list.has-drop-marker	The <SortableList> main container while hasDropMarker is enabled.
.ssl-list.has-remove-on-drop-out	The <SortableList> main container while hasRemoveOnDropOut is enabled.
.ssl-list.is-locked	The <SortableList> that is locked.
.ssl-list.is-disabled	The <SortableList> that is disabled.
.ssl-item	Each <SortableItem> main container.
.ssl-item.is-pointer-dragging	The <SortableItem> that is being dragged by a pointing device.
.ssl-item.is-pointer-dropping	The <SortableItem> that is being dropped by a pointing device.
.ssl-item.is-keyboard-dragging	The <SortableItem> that is being dragged by the keyboard.
.ssl-item.is-keyboard-dropping	The <SortableItem> that is being dropped by the keyboard.
.ssl-item.is-locked	Each <SortableItem> that is locked.
.ssl-item.is-disabled	Each <SortableItem> that is disabled.
.ssl-item[aria-disabled="true"]	Each <SortableItem> that is disabled.
.ssl-item.is-removing	The <SortableItem> that is being removed by dropping it outside the list limits by a pointing device.
.ssl-item__inner	The content wrapper element inside each <SortableItem>.
.ssl-ghost	The shadow element displayed under the pointer when dragging.
.ssl-ghost.is-dragging	The shadow element while it’s being dragged by a pointing device.
.ssl-ghost.is-dropping	The shadow element while it’s being dropped by a pointing device.
.ssl-ghost.is-between-bounds	The shadow element while it’s inside the list limits.
.ssl-ghost.is-out-of-bounds	The shadow element while it’s outside the list limits.
.ssl-handle	The <Handle> main container.
.ssl-remove	The <Remove> main container.

Custom properties

Custom property	Description
--transition-duration	Time the transitions for the ghost (dropping) and items (translation, addition, removal) take to complete (in milliseconds).

Motivation

While working on a SvelteKit project, I ran into the need of adding drag-and-drop capabilities to a couple of items lists, for which I decided to make use of SortableJS, which is certainly a popular option. I implemented it through a Svelte Action and it provided just what I needed, or so it seemed. After a while I realized I was not only missing touch screen support (since it was built with the HTML Drag and Drop API), but also accessibility was nowhere to be seen, and seems there are no plans to work on it.

I was not able to find any other suitable option, so this problem felt like a good opportunity to build my own package. And so while doing some research to try and understand the implications of such feature, I ran into a very interesting article and a very interesting talk by Vojtech Miksu which really guided me through the different paths available, their advantages, pain points and limitations to create a drag-and-drop system, putting particular focus on accessibility and touch screen support.

Even though React Movable was built for React, it served as my main inspiration when building this package. So thank you again, Vojtech :)