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From this article you will learn how to create a dynamic VK cover, what information is recommended to be displayed there, and how to design the header to make it attractive to community subscribers.
What information does a dynamic cover contain?
Practice shows that it is most rational to display the following data:
- Counter of time remaining until a certain event;
- Text via a link from the Internet – statistics of traffic to your site, quotes from publications, etc.;
- A bot that answers typical questions from group members or provides other assistance;
- Number of group members;
- The last few subscribers who joined the group;
- The most active community members are those who gave the most likes or wrote the most comments;
- Information on the competition held in the public;
- Exchange rates;
- Weather in a certain region;
- The state of traffic jams in a large city;
- Information about donations and the latest activity of donors, with an active button for collecting funds.
As you can see, such a tool has a lot of possibilities. If you set everything up correctly, you can get the most out of your subscribers.
Dynamic cover in the VK community
Let's look at the creation process using a specific example.
Attention! Before you begin to implement your plan, you need to make a simple static cover in the community, which will then be replaced with a new element.
- First, we select a service for creating dynamic elements for VK communities. There are currently several services available that allow you to add all kinds of widgets to the cover. An exhaustive list of such widgets will be given in the next section of the article. In this case, the work will be carried out in the Dycover.ru service.
- At the top of the screen, find the “Try for free” button.
- We log into the service through a VK account, allowing access to the profile.
- Click the “Update list of groups” button, and then click on the hyperlink below “Community not connected”.
- By clicking on the green “Connect” button, we connect the community to the service.
- In the dialog box we allow access to the community.
- Now you can proceed directly to creating the cover. To do this, indicate its name and select a test template. Click the “Create” button.
- Upload the background, add widgets and design the cover according to your wishes.
- In preview mode, you can familiarize yourself with the resulting cover and make adjustments if necessary.
- When the finished element meets all expectations, it will need to be saved using the button of the same name.
- Next, select the desired cover and click the “Apply” button.
We recommend: How to write a message to a group on VKontakte
The entire process of creating a simple dynamic cover takes no more than five minutes. In order to make a more complex and beautiful element it will take a little more time. However, the result will please even professional SMM masters.
Ways to create a dynamic cover
There are several ways to create such a design. They do not require outstanding design or programming skills.
Dynamic VK cover designer
The first step is to create a page header. It is not necessary to work with Photoshop and write scripts yourself. There are several well-known services with which you can quickly create a design from ready-made templates. And even if the widget you need is not on the list, specialists can create it for a reasonable fee. Essentially, the template is a PSD file in which text information is dynamically updated.
VK dynamic cover script
However, for such a cover to work, a special script is required that will pull the necessary information from the Internet. This script should be stored somewhere:
- On your own computer - the cover will not update if the device is turned off:
- On the hosting provider’s server – it may be difficult to configure it;
- On the service provider’s server, specialists will help you set up everything, and renting server space is usually cheaper.
If you run several communities, each of which needs a dynamic cover, then you will need separate templates and scripts.
DyCover service
Since 2021, the platform provides the opportunity to create an attractive cover in a few clicks of the mouse, providing the user with the appropriate script. With the free plan, the functionality and number of widgets provided are limited. For the service to work properly, it must be given full access to your VKontakte account.
LETSCOVER service
A similar service, but without a free plan. With the support of several groups, the user receives a 30% discount. There is a free trial period of 24 hours.
How to make a live cover in a VK group
A live VK cover is added to a VK group absolutely simply and easily by pressing a few buttons. But in order to add it to the group, you need to create it in a graphic editor. To do this, you and I will use my favorite service, Canva (it is absolutely free).
Sign up for Canva
We go to the Canva service on the main page and in the upper right corner, click on the “ Custom Dimensions ” button and enter the dimensions of our image there (1080*1920) and click on the “ Create Design ” button:
An empty template appears on which we can overlay various images that are located on the left in the panel:
In order to add images to the template, we click on any picture you like on the left, and it appears immediately on the template:
Now we can edit this template as we want. You can change or add text, you can remove unnecessary symbols and texts, you can change colors and add other elements to the template.
To understand how to use Canva, watch the video tutorial below:
So, you and I have edited the template the way we need it and now we need to download it to the computer in order to later add it to our VK group. In order to download the finished template, we click on the “ Publish ” button at the top right and immediately on the “ Download ” button:
At the bottom left you have a download file, you click “ Open in Folder ” and save this image to a separate folder.
To add a live cover, we need to create 5 such images. In the same window where you created the first image, you can make subsequent images. To do this, you simply remove unnecessary elements, add others, or completely change to another template.
If you don't know how to use Canva, watch this video tutorial.
Peculiarities
To work with the cover group, these and similar services use the VKontakte API - the most secure method of integrating third-party applications. Contrary to the fears of some users, the platform, having gained access to the account, does not send spam or engage in any other activity other than that specified in the offer.
Overall, a dynamic header is an effective tool for promoting your community. Despite the fact that such functionality has been available for several years, for some reason it is rarely used. This means that this will help the public stand out from the rest and attract new subscribers.
What are dynamic covers?
Before you move on to creating your own public design, you need to understand what a dynamic cover in the VK community actually is.
Under standard conditions, group administrators are able to set a small picture as an avatar, which will become the face of the account. Using a special service will make the oxbow cap more informative, livelier and more interesting. As a result, users will not be greeted by a boring picture, but by a voluminous block of information informing about news, updates and other important innovations and rules.
It is important to remember that restrictions in specifying and adding information are minimal, so the administrator can implement the most unexpected and bright ideas that will contribute to the growth of an active audience.
Live VK cover, quick and easy
Today we’ll talk about where a live VK cover is visible, and how to quickly make it.
Dynamic covers are primarily designed for mobile devices. They are 4 times larger than usual - static ones. With their help, you can provide basic, selling information about your product or service. VKontakte allows you to add 5 pictures that will work as a slide show, music or 5 short videos.
Here are the official recommendations from VKontakte itself:
Upload up to five 1080x1920px images
Vertical format with 16:9 proportions.
Upload up to five videos, they can be with or without sound.
The total duration is no more than 30 seconds, MP4 format and size up to 30 MB.
But I want to share my experience
If you use only photographs, then there is a clear “jump” between them; there is no smooth transition. Therefore, this type of live cover is good for online stores, with promotions, discounts, and new arrivals of goods.
I needed a live VK cover on the topic: phytodesign, phytomodules, phytowalls, flowers for every taste, landscape design. And all these types of services had to be shown in the header. We didn’t shoot a special video - we took several of those that were on the site and plus 4 pictures of the landscape.
As the popular song says, I made it out of what I had. For work, videos were only 1920x1080 px in size, there were no vertical ones! Therefore, I took advantage of what I had and the video editor Camtasia Studio. The text was created in the Supa service on a green background!
Then this color was perfectly removed using the eyedropper tool in Camtasia itself. I really wanted the text to appear letter by letter.
To make the live VK cover more dynamic. And at the same time, she demonstrated all the services one by one and as “tasty” as possible, using the editor’s “Zoom-and-Pan”. In other words, it brought closer or removed various objects in the video source.
To be honest, I had to work a little with the pictures, not only enlarging or reducing them, but also adding transitions. Because maximum dynamics were needed.
The text was placed strictly in the middle and so that it appeared slightly above the center. In this case, it will not be layered on the group buttons.
It was displayed in a horizontal format, VKontakte captured the center, exactly the way I wanted.
Live VK cover, installation
We carry out all the work in a group on a computer, go to “Community Management”. Next we need “Settings” and a button “Community Cover: Management”.
Then, already in the settings window, we load our cover fragments one by one. Actually, you can have one video up to 30 seconds.
I got three, but I tried to make each one dynamic and as short as possible. But you can do it for 150 seconds, as you like.
Don't forget to save your changes in the Community Settings section. And you can admire “your update” on your phone, and if you click on it, the cover will open in full screen and sound will appear.
For those who need professional photos and footage (free short videos), they can be found here. It’s better to download music from the YouTube channel’s library to avoid copyright claims. Then place it on the third track in Camtasia Studio.
PS I hope you liked the idea of creating a live cover for the VKontakte community!
PPS Need help working with services, please contact us!
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