React: Create a new html element on click - html

Question

I've used React for a couple of weeks now but I have this simple problem that I can't seem to wrap my head around. It's about creating new html elements.
I would just like to know in general if the way that I went about it, is the "right way" or is there another preferred way to create new html element with a click function.
For some reason this problem took awhile for me to figure out and it still feels a bit strange, that's why I'm asking.
Thanks in advance!
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import './Overview.css';
import Project from './Project';
class Overview extends Component {
constructor() {
super()
this.state = {
itemArray: []
}
}
createProject() {
const item = this.state.itemArray;
item.push(
<div>
<h2>Title</h2>
<p>text</p>
</div>
)
this.setState({itemArray: item})
//console.log(this.state)
}
render() {
return (
<div className="Overview">
<p>Overview</p>
<button onClick={this.createProject.bind(this)}>New Project</button>
<Project />
<div>
{this.state.itemArray.map((item, index) => {
return <div className="box" key={index}>{item}</div>
})}
</div>
</div>
);
}
}
export default Overview;

Answer 1

No, this is not a correct approach. You shouldn't be generating HTML elements like that, nor keep them in state - it is against React to manipulate DOM like that. You won't be able to utilize Virtual DOM is the first thing that I can think of.
What you should do instead is keep all data that is needed for rendering in state and then generate the HTML element from there, for instance
createProject() {
const item = this.state.itemArray;
const title = '';
const text = '';
item.push({ title, text })
this.setState({itemArray: item})
}
render() {
return (
<div className="Overview">
<p>Overview</p>
<button onClick={this.createProject.bind(this)}>New Project</button>
<Project />
<div>
{this.state.itemArray.map((item, index) => {
return (
<div className="box" key={index}>
<div>
<h2>{item.title}</h2>
<p>{item.text}</p>
</div>
</div>
)
})}
</div>
</div>
);
}