I receive error 404 on refreshing browser using React router in Laravel Mix

Question

I know there are several posts with similar questions but different approaches which do not seem understandable. I want to learn more and be able to develop several applications using React.js and Laravel.

Header.js: import files

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import {
    BrowserRouter as Router,
    Link,
    Switch,
    Route
} from 'react-router-dom';
import Home from './Home';
import About from './About';
import Dashboard from '../admins/Dashboard';
import Contact from './Contact';

The router (BrowserRouter)

<Router>
       <div>
            <nav className="navbar navbar-expand-lg  navbar-dark bg-dark navbar-fixed-top">
            <button className="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarSupportedContent" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
                <span className="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
            </button>

            <div className="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarSupportedContent">
                <ul className="navbar-nav mr-auto">
                    <li className="nav-item active">
                        <Link className="nav-link"  to="/" exact

                        >Home</Link>
                    </li>
                    <li className="nav-item">
                        <Link className="nav-link" to="/about">About Us</Link>
                    </li>

                    <li className="nav-item">
                        <Link className="nav-link" to="/contact">Contact</Link>
                    </li>
                </ul>
                <form className="form-inline my-2 my-lg-0">
                <input className="form-control mr-sm-2" type="search" placeholder="Search" aria-label="Search" />
                <button className="btn btn-outline-success my-2 my-sm-0" type="submit">Search</button>
                </form>
            </div>
            </nav>
            <Switch>
                    <Route  exact path='/'  component={Home}/>
                    <Route  exact path="/about" component={About}/>
                    <Route  path='/contact' component={Contact}/>
                    <Route  path='/admins/dashboard' component={Dashboard}/>
            </Switch>
       </div>
       </Router>

When I click on the link, it displays the link but whenever I retry to refresh the page it displays error. I have tried possible example but nothing seems to be working. I don't know if I am doing it wrongly. I have been trying to see how to figure it out. I came across an article that says createBrowserHistory is deprecated and not supported on react-router v4, even I was struggling to implement the example. Is there a better away to handle this?

I have multiple pages (components).

Index.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import {
    BrowserRouter as Router,

} from 'react-router-dom';
import Header from './Header';
import Footer from './Footer';



export default class Index extends Component {

    render() {
        return (
            <div>
                <Header />

                <Footer/>
            </div>
        );
    }
}

if (document.getElementById('app')) {
    ReactDOM.render(<Index />, document.getElementById('app'));
}

about.js

import React, { Component }from 'react';
import { Redirect } from 'react-router-dom';
class About extends Component {

    constructor(props)
    {
        super(props);
    }

    render(){
        return (
            <div className="jumbotron">
                <h2>About Us</h2>
            </div>
        );
    }
}



export default About;

app.js

/**
 * First we will load all of this project's JavaScript dependencies which
 * includes React and other helpers. It's a great starting point while
 * building robust, powerful web applications using React + Laravel.
 */

require('./bootstrap');

/**
 * Next, we will create a fresh React component instance and attach it to
 * the page. Then, you may begin adding components to this application
 * or customize the JavaScript scaffolding to fit your unique needs.
 */

require('./components/Index');

Answer 1

For the knowledge sake, I think you are doing the whole thing wrong. Your index.js need to include import { BrowserRouter, Switch, Route } from 'react-router-dom' with your routes defined within the anchor tags of BrowswerRouter i.e. beneath the i.e.

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import { BrowserRouter, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom'
import Header from './Header';
import Footer from './Footer';
import Home from './Home';
import About from './About';
import Dashboard from '../admins/Dashboard';
import Contact from './Contact';


    export default class Index extends Component {

        render() {
            return (
                <BrowserRouter>
                    <div>
                   <Header/>
                    <Switch>
                        <Route  exact path='/'  component={Home}/>
                        <Route  exact path='/about' component={About}/>
                        <Route  path='/contact' component={Contact}/>
                        <Route  path='/admins/dashboard' component={Dashboard}/>
                    </Switch>
                   <Footer/>
                </div>
                </BrowserRouter>

            );
        }
    }

    if (document.getElementById('app')) {
        ReactDOM.render(<Index />, document.getElementById('app'));
    }

Since this is a Laravel Mix, presetting reactjs, go to your web.php under your routes to change to Route::view('/{path?}', 'welcome'); which implies that you are restricting the view to a page but rendering several components from your view.

In your welcome.blade.php, ensure to avoid absolute paths, use something like this instead href="{{ asset('css/app.css') }}"

In your Header.js, remove unnecessary import files. import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';

If you are having any challenge understanding the arrangement, you can send your complete header.js, welcome.blade.php etc to help out