Creating a menu in a VKontakte group. How to create a dynamic menu on VKontakte with a navigation effect

Now VKontakte groups and public pages use visual design tools. Thanks to this feature, the appearance and design of the group becomes more aesthetically pleasing. This material will describe in detail how to make a menu in a VKontakte group.

Why do you need a group menu?

First of all, the menu is a useful element for commercial groups. With its help, users will not have problems with navigation. All necessary information will be placed in this block. On the VKontakte social network, group management is structured in such a way that all previously published material is contained in the feed. The only one possibility for sorting is to create topics in the “Discussion” section. But this is also not entirely convenient, because the topic is not limited to one post, where all the information is collected, and to find the necessary post, you need to scroll through the pages for a long time.

It is much more convenient to build a clear structure where all useful information will be collected and divided into separate thematic blocks. This screenshot is a good example of a graphical interactive menu, where all useful posts are placed in a separate block. This is convenient and does not require the user to perform additional actions on the page.

To sum it up, we can conclude that the menu is a necessity for a developing community. It's convenient navigation aid, which allows users to find the necessary information without scrolling through the feed and quickly gain access to the desired section of the group. It is preferable to use a clickable menu for groups selling goods and services.

Closed and open menu

At the moment, the VKontakte menu can be divided into several types and types, then we will consider each of them in more detail.

Types:

text (the structure is text links);
graphic (uses multimedia, active buttons, etc.).

Types:

Create a text menu

This type of menu does not require any knowledge or additional tools. Making a text menu in a group on VK is quite simple; for this we will use the functionality of the social network. It doesn't use buttons, styles, etc. The text menu is a list that consists of anchor links.

Step by step instructions:

The procedure for creating a text menu does not require special knowledge and skills. Therefore, this option is most suitable for inexperienced users. Before placing a section on the main page, be sure to test it and optimize it so that navigation works smoothly.

Graphic menu

Let's move on to one of the more complex creation methods. To do this, we will need to use additional tools - the graphic editor Photoshop. Next, we will give a detailed description of the step-by-step process of creating a graphical menu using additional software.

Step by step instructions:

First you need to launch the Photoshop graphics editor;
then click “File” and “ Create" We specify the following parameters: “Width” (Wight) 610 pixels, “Height” (Height) 450 pixels and “Resolution” (Resolution) 100 pixels per inch;
After this, a new document will appear where you need to drag the background image;
you will then need to stretch the image to cover the white area;
further in the panel " Layers"Right-click on the image and in the context window select " MergeVisible» (merge visible ones);
Rectangle» and create buttons by moving the cursor to the picture and drawing the boundaries of the figure;
in the upper part of the work area, you can select a fill for the button, the “Fill” parameter;
after that, go back to the toolbar and select “ Text»;
then click on the button to add a text input field and enter a name for the button. At your discretion, you can choose the font, its size and color to make the section look more stylish;
to center text from the picture, select the layer with the text and the desired image by holding down the “Ctrl” key and alternately clicking the alignment buttons on the top toolbar;
after this we need to cut the resulting image;
on the toolbar select " Cropping"(Crop) and "Cutting";
Select each button and open “File”, “Export”, “Save for Web”. Set the saved file format to “PNG24”;

This completes the work in the graphic editor. We return to the text editor of the social network, where we configured the text menu in the previous section.

Instructions for working with the VKontakte graphic menu:

The created menu is pinned like a regular entry. By clicking the Pin button.

Wiki Markup Basics

Next, we’ll look at the basics of using Wiki markup in developing a menu for a group on a social network. VKontakte wiki markup is a language that is used to format text on websites and allows easier access to the capabilities of the HTML language. Next, let's look at the main commands that are available for use on the social network.

Menu design using multimedia

The text command for multimedia files is as follows: “[]. Let's look at it in more detail: “mediaXXXX_YYYY” (the file itself), “options” (specified parameters), “link” (is a pop-up text that will be displayed when you hover the cursor over an object).

Options for multimedia are shown in the screenshot:

Options for video look like this:

Headings (H1, H2, H3)

In order to add a title, you must put the following “==” signs at the beginning and end of the text. See the screenshot for an example:

Formatting the text

For text formatting, VKontakte offers the following options: bold, italic, right and left align, middle alignment, bulleted list, headings, superscript, subscript, underline and strikethrough. More detailed settings are presented in the screenshot.

Quotes

To attract the attention of the audience, you can use quotes; the tag for this parameter looks like this: “”.

Example of use in the VKontakte text editor:

Lists

Users can use both bulleted and numbered lists. A numbered list is indicated by a "#" followed by a "*".

Example numbered list:

Example labeled list:

How to indent

Everything here is quite simple, you need to add a “:” sign before the desired word. The more characters are placed, the larger the indentation will be.

Internal links

Internal links are transitions to other elements of the social network: user profile, third-party community, chat, photo, video, article, etc. Adding an internal link is done using the “[] tag. Let's take a closer look: “link” is a link, “text” is the displayed text.

Example:

How to create a table

Using wiki markup, users can create table object, the following commands are used for this:

Adding a spoiler

This element can hide information that will be revealed by clicking on a special button. This option for posting information is perfect for the group section “Rules”, “Frequently Asked Questions”, etc.

To create an object, use the following construct:

((Hider|Title Text ))

How to delete a menu

Removal occurs as follows:

Removal via page formatting:

How to make the VKontakte group menu useful

How to create a VKontakte group menu: technical stage

So, we’ve figured out the purpose of the group menu, let’s move on to the technical part. Go to settings: Community Management>Materials>Connect:

Save the changes and go to the group. The “Latest News” tab will appear under the group description; let’s start editing it:

Switch to the “Editing” tab (1), change the menu name (2), enter your information (3), save it and return to the page (4).

Since 2011 editing VKontakte group menu became much easier, VK admins added a visual editor, so it became even easier to understand. I will make a reservation that VK servers may not work as smoothly as you would like, or when working with the code you may forget something, so save the source code in text files on your PC. To do this, go to “Source Code” and copy the result code.

If something is missing or you want to go back a few steps, go to the “History” tab and return to the desired save:

As I said above, we will start studying wiki markup a little later, but now we will fill out our VKontakte group menu to the minimum. I’ll show you using my group as an example. I need traffic, so the content of the group menu is as follows:

As you can see, I prepared the information in a Word document, edited the text (highlights), added links and simply inserted this text into the “Editing” menu of VKontakte groups.

We can stop here, but we remember that the user does not really want to leave his “warm little place” and go to the pages of our site. Therefore, for the comfort of our readers, we will add internal pages of the group that will lead to the article. Let this article not be complete, but before going to our site, a person needs to understand that he wants this, and we are not “dragging” him there, i.e. you need intrigue and interest.

If you go to the menu of my VKontakte group, you will see that some links lead to internal pages (2), others to external ones (1):

I’ll add in real time one more internal page:

So we have a new (internal) page in our VKontakte group. Now we need to fill it out:

Click the “Fill with content” button.
Filling the group with content. Let's edit it.
Configuring “Page Access”. If you mark “only group members can view the page,” this will motivate visitors to join the group. Save the page.
We copy the necessary numbers in the address bar of the page that we just saved. To do this, go to the “View” mode and copy the page ID - these will be the numbers that we need.
We return to the “Source Code” page of the VKontakte group menu (I recommend not closing it while you are creating a new page... although you should have it open anyway) and insert the numbers into the correct line. Between the link text (Marina Lazareva (video)) and the link itself (43820829), set the “|” icon (it is on the English keyboard layout, the key combination is Shift+\).

beautiful design of the VKontakte group

This is the video after watching which I realized how to make a VKontakte group menu on one's own. The author uses a real example to show how to create a VKontakte group menu.

A little later we will delve into the wiki markup of VKontakte groups in more detail, but for now make your groups as functional and useful as possible.

Dropbox, read about it on the DragonBlog.

With Respect and Love, !

Today we are returning again to the topic of designing VKontakte groups. We have already learned before. Today we will learn how to make graphic menu with fixed top banner and a link to an internal page with expanded menu items. In general, any information can be on the internal page. It is especially convenient to place there, for example, catalogs with a range of products. Both drop-down menus and sticky menus have their pros and cons. The main disadvantage of a drop-down menu is that it is in the closed state by default. But you can place several links on it at once.

Pinned menu it looks more impressive due to the overall impression, but it can only have one link leading either to the internal VKontakte page or to an external site (and the link to the external site will not come from the picture, but from the text link under the picture). Also, one of the obvious disadvantages is that on mobile devices the graphic menu is presented as a regular entry in the feed, standing on top, and not as pinned next to the avatar. In general, when choosing a design you should take these nuances into account. So let's see how to create a sticky top menu with a link to an internal page.

I create VKontakte groups
High-quality design of VK groups and public pages, pinned menu, drop-down menu, internal graphic menu, catalogs, internal navigation - prices And portfolio.

Step 1
Create a new document in Photoshop approximately 900x700 pixels in size and fill it with white. Now we need to cut out two windows in the layer, through which the actual graphic design itself will be visible. First, select a rectangle measuring 200x500 pixels (avatar) and press Del. Then select a rectangle measuring 510x352 (align it to the bottom line of the avatar and make the distance between the shapes 50 pixels) and also press Del.
After the next design update by VKontakte (October 31, 2016), the banner dimensions became 510x307 (not 510x352).

Step 2
Now, below the white layer, we place some single picture, which will form the basis of the design.

Step 3
After that, we supplement the picture with various elements - a logo, text inscriptions and a button inviting you to click on the menu. Then we save two separate pictures on the computer - one is an avatar (on the right), the second is a menu with a click button (on the left).

Step 4
We also create a graphic menu in Photoshop consisting of several items. The width of this menu should be 600 pixels, the height is optional, depending on the number of items. To help, use the lesson ““.

Step 5
We cut our menu into several horizontal strips in accordance with the number of menu items. Save as separate files.

Step 6
We go to our VKontakte group, click “Community Management” (clicking on the three dots under the author opens a drop-down menu) and check that the settings are correct. The group should be open and the materials should also be open.

Step 7
Now we upload a new avatar. Move your mouse to the location of the avatar and select “Update photo” from the pop-up menu. Load the right photo from Step 3, stretch the selection area up and down to the edges of the picture, click “Save” and then select the area for the round thumbnail.

Step 8
Now you need to create an internal page. How to do this is described in detail in the lesson. Another alternative way to create an internal page is described in the lesson “” in Steps 5 and 6.

Step 9
Once we have created the internal page, we can go to it. To do this, you need to click on the drop-down menu of the group (by default this item is called “Latest News” - I renamed it to “Menu”) and there click on the “Menu” link. After this we will go to the newly created blank page.

Step 10
Now we need to create a graphical menu of five items. To do this, we upload our five pictures from Step 5 to the group album. We click on the camera icon and upload the cut pictures from the computer. The pictures will be stored somewhere on VKontakte servers with reference to the group, so it is not necessary to create a separate album for cut-out pictures. You need to upload pictures in Wiki markup mode.

Step 11
Now in wiki markup mode we will create a graphical menu. It is very important to create in the wiki markup mode (the icon in the upper right corner of two triangular brackets), and not in the visual editing mode. More information about creating code in wiki markup is described in Step 4 and Step 5 of the lesson ““. There is also a code template for insertion. If everything is done correctly, you should get a ready-made graphical menu, as in the figure below.

Step 12
Now we return to the main page of the group, take the URL of our internal page (it should be like this https://vk.com/page-78320145_49821289) and paste it into the window where news is created. A window with a link to this very internal page should automatically be attached. After that, we move the cursor to the “Attach” inscription and attach a photo to the post, namely our picture on the left from Step 3. After that, we erase the line from the URL of the internal page, leaving empty space. Important! At this step, you need to check the box (if you have such rights, this mainly applies to groups with an open wall) in the “On behalf of the group” checkbox. If you do not check this box, the entry will not be pinned. Finally, click “Submit”.

Step 13
Move the cursor to the three dots next to the post title and select “Pin” in the drop-down window. Accordingly, the news is also detached, if necessary.

Step 14
There is one caveat. Sometimes, after you unpin a news story, it goes far down the feed, according to the date of creation, and it can be quite difficult to find it again. Therefore, it is better to immediately write down the URL of the pinned news somewhere. To do this, move the cursor to the time the news was created and click on the link.

Step 15
Now we update the main page of the group. Our graphic menu will be located at the top next to the avatar. And when we click on the picture, we are taken to an internal page with a menu of five items.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: this article is very outdated, since a special service has appeared MenuMake, which allows you to create a menu for a group automatically. The manual approach is no longer necessary. However, I leave this article for history.

Groups in VKontakte are the place where their users gather the largest concentration. That is why many are trying to design them better in order to attract the maximum number of them. It is best for the creator to think about graphic design before the immediate one, simultaneously with the development of the future.

It is important to understand that the design of a group is its face, which a new user sees immediately as soon as he enters the page, only after that he begins to get acquainted with the content. This sentence, in fact, reflects all its weight. In addition, the graphic menu is also a group functionality, as it allows you to quickly and conveniently find the information you need.

Let's talk about ideology

Before you start drawing and laying out anything, it's important to think about what should your menu say? To understand this, it is also worth deciding on the main purpose of the group - to entertain, inform or sell. The appearance and functionality of the future menu largely depends on this.

Menu to attract visitors

If you plan to publish entertaining, informational, educational content, you should create a menu that will display the main topics. For example, these could be sections: the latest publications, the most popular, about fashion, healthy food, children, etc. This will serve to increase loyalty, because it will be convenient for users to navigate through the mass of content.

Sales Menu

On the contrary, if the goal of the page is to sell, the menu should help users navigate among a huge number of products. It is best to place sections in it that direct the visitor to the catalog or a specific part of it, talk about delivery, contacts, company, promotions and, of course, to the contact page.

The first stage – we work in Photoshop

Menus for contacts are starting to be created not on a social network, but with the help of graphic editors. For this, it is best to use Photoshop, despite the fact that even minimal knowledge is quite enough for this. Therefore, open the program and create a menu template. The size of the new document directly depends on the number of sections you need.

Next you will need a background. It could be just a white background, or a color, or a specific picture. Download from the Internet and paste into the template. Next, write the menu items you have planned on the background image. These labels will later turn into links that direct the user to a specific section.

But in order for this image to be transformed and easily made into links, it must be cut. This is done in the same Photoshop using the “cutting” tool.

But to do this smoothly and beautifully, it is important to use auxiliary lines, which are activated by the CTRL+R key combination. Blue lines will appear that you can drag to set the boundaries for the cut. Next, click on the “Cutting” tool and select “fragments along guides” in the top menu, as a result of which the picture is clearly divided into several separate menu sections.

Hello my dears!

Today I will tell you in detail, how to make a menu for a VKontakte group. In my experience menu in the group in contact increases the number of calls and requests by 20%. It is important to take a responsible approach to creating a group menu. Therefore, I have prepared a menu PSD template for you to make your work easier.

Let me start with the fact that today there are two menu options:

Option 1: Closed group menu

Closed menu, opens when you click on the link. In the example below, the menu opens when you click on the “OPEN GROUP MENU!” link.

Option 2: Open group menu (pinned post)

An open menu is essentially a pinned post with an active link.

The second menu option appeared relatively recently, when it became possible to pin posts from the wall to the header of a group or public page. It is now the most effective.

Both options use wiki markup. Wiki markup allows you to easily and quickly design the appearance of the group, creating graphic tables and spoilers, formatting text and working with images, links and anchors. I will not dwell on the markings in detail, because... VKontakte has a built-in visual editor that automatically translates your content into wiki markup. Here I will give only the basic codes, without which it is impossible to create a menu.

How to make an open menu on VKontakte

We will analyze the process of creating a menu using the example of Option 2, i.e. open menu.

To make it easier for you to navigate, I have prepared for you Menu PSD template: [Attention. The design of VKontakte has changed. New layout and other relevant information in]

Group Menu Template PSD

To create an external menu, you need 2 pictures: an avatar (on the right) and a central one (action picture).

Avatar dimensions: 200 x 332 px

Dimensions of the central image: 395 x 282 px

Step 1.

Using the group menu PSD template downloaded above, make two pictures of the required sizes.

Step 2.

In your group, go to “Community Management” (on the right under the avatar). Find the “Materials” item (on the “Information” tab) and make them “Restricted”.

Step 3.

Now return to the main page of your group and click “Edit” in the “Materials” block that appears (I have already renamed it to Group Menu).

When editing the page, set the title, you can create sections or any other information using the toolbar. Click "Save Page" and "Return to Page"

Step 4.

In my example https://vk.com/page-42211349_47355854,

The first numbers 42211349 are your group id

The second digits 47355854 are the page id

The trick: you can create additional pages manually. To do this, follow the link like:
https://vk.com/pages?oid=-хххххххх&p=pagename
Where,
xxxxxxxxxx is your group id
pagename – the name of your page

Step 5.

And publish the post.

Step 6.

Now upload the group avatar (picture on the right). A duplicate avatar picture will appear on the wall - delete it.

Step 7

Now attention. Click on POST PUBLICATION TIME (lower left corner of the post).

And click “Pin”. Close this window and refresh your group page (F5).

Step 8

We write the group status (use only 1 line) to align the pictures if the drawing on your avatar does not start from the very top (in my avatar template, option 2). And this is what we got:

RESULT.

The menu is ready! Now, when you click on the central image, your menu opens:

Here you can edit it, post photos, videos, create new sections, place links.

You can also create a graphical menu (submenu) inside the main menu. Its width should not exceed 600 px. The height is unlimited. Which allows you to create excellent VKontakte landing pages.

But I will talk about this in more detail in the following articles. Subscribe to blog updates to stay up to date with new features. Like and share the article with your friends.

Post your questions or opinions in the comments below.