Theme for the social network VKontakte: what is it?
A VK theme is the design of a social networking site made in the same style. The standard theme - a white background and blue elements, although familiar, is monotonous and boring. In contrast, third-party themes are not only creative and spectacular, but also improve the usability of the site.
Of course, a user cannot change the design of VKontakte for everyone, but only for himself - completely. To do this, just install a special add-on in your browser, and on your phone - the VK mobile application, which has such a function.
Why do you need a dark theme?
Reduced contrast and a dark background help you use the application in low light without straining your eyes. Google confirms that when using a dark theme, devices with AMOLED screens last longer on a single charge. And many people simply like the color black or want a fresh design theme (without, of course, a redesign).
Now the dark theme is implemented not only in popular applications, but also in the operating systems macOS, tvOS, and launchers on Android. And its appearance on all iOS and Android devices will probably not take long.
For us, this was also the implementation of a long-awaited feature - a dark theme was the most frequently requested feature by users. It turned out to be really in demand - now the dark theme on iOS and Android is regularly used by more than 20% of the audience.
How to change the theme in the VK mobile application: 2 ways
Official application
There are much fewer opportunities to change the design of a VK website on a phone than on a computer. Theme designers and ready-made templates are powerless here.
However, for owners of gadgets on both Android and iOS, there is some consolation: in one of the latest updates to the VK mobile client, it became possible to change the standard theme to “dark”. This is done directly in the application settings.
Just switch to the dark theme and see how the appearance of the site has changed:
Contact
The ability to change the design of the mobile version of the social network is also available in the alternative VK Contact client for Android.
Procedure:
- Install the application from Play Market.
- Launch it and log into your account. In the Settings section, go to the Appearance tab.
- In the next section, you can customize the color palette of the page, including choosing the shade of the fonts and the main screen panel.
In addition to the services and applications presented in the article, there are others. Many of them offer even more features, but we do not recommend trusting everything that comes to hand. Under the guise of an innocent program, malicious files can be hidden, with the help of which scammers will gain access to your VK account. If you are not 100% sure that the application is safe, do not install it, because personal data is much more important than a beautiful picture on the screen.
Other articles on the site
- 5 ways to view deleted VKontakte messages
- How to quickly identify a person by VKontakte ID
- Why can’t I log into VK from my phone or computer?
How to change the color in a post
An alternative option is to make a multi-colored font in VK manually in a post using a special section. Follow these steps:
- Log in to the My Page section.
- Click on What's new.
- Click on More and select the Graffiti section.
- Click on Color.
- Study the table of shades that can be applied.
- Change the thickness and intensity.
- Write one or more words.
- Attach it to the wall.
Now you know how to change the text color in VK when placing information in a post. Let us immediately note that writing in this way is very inconvenient and the result is more of a drawing than an inscription. But there are no other options yet.
Above we looked at how to change the font color in VK, and whether this problem can be solved. You won't be able to change the color of the text using built-in methods. The exception is various events that allow you to adjust these settings and add a parameter using a special code. The latter become available only during special events. As for the built-in feature, you need to wait for changes from the developers. Perhaps such an option will appear in the future.
In the comments, share how to write colored text in VK. Share what methods you use to change your shade. Tell us about the difficulties you face and share ways to solve the situation.
Is it possible to apply a dark theme in VK for mobile devices?
If you want to change the theme in the Vkontakte application to black, you will have to download the unofficial Kate Mobile application. It allows you not only to change the usual theme in VK, but also to use “invisibility”, listen to VKontakte music without restrictions, and also use unique stickers that are not in the official application. Kate Mobile also allows you to customize the page font, install an application on the SD card of your mobile device, make graffiti and much more.
To set a black theme on your profile, you need:
- Open the Kate Mobile application and select the menu button - three dots at the top;
- Next, click “Settings”;
- And click on the “Theme” item;
- Select "Black" or "Dark".
After that, return to your profile. And you will see that the background color has changed to the color you selected. Look at other options, perhaps you will find other shades of the desired theme colors.
Thus, we have looked at how you can use a dark theme in your VKontakte profile on a desktop PC, as well as on a mobile device.
How to change the standard theme to black on VKontakte on a PC
No matter how hard you try, you cannot find a dark theme in the settings on the official Vkontakte website. So far, the developers have not discussed this on their blog. But the more often the question from users about changing the design in VK appears, the more likely it is that this feature will be introduced soon. In the meantime, we can change the color of the social network interface using third-party programs and browser extensions. You may need to log into the mobile version of VK via a computer.
There is a group on VK that is dedicated to browser extensions. It only works for the computer version of the social network. The group is located at https://vk.com/vanilladark.
Here are the extension page addresses in stores for all popular web navigators:
- Google Chrome;
- Yandex Browser;
- Opera;
- Mozilla Firefox.
The style is named Vanilla Dark . By installing it in your browser, your VK page will be able to have a black background. The text will be displayed in light golden tones, which further relieves strain on the user's eyes. It also has white tones of text. After installation, you can use the theme settings and select the appropriate ones.
The extension allows you to change some page elements. For example, make your avatar thumbnails square. Or darken all images that are displayed on the page.
In the extension you can change the background for your VKontakte profile. They are divided by name. You can find and apply them in the settings to see which one suits you best.
Results
When implementing the dark theme, we seriously pumped up our processes, taking the connection between design and development to a new level.
A single scheme that captures all color work within the app has become a powerful yet accessible tool for designers and simplifies future design updates. The level of responsibility and thoughtfulness when creating styles and adding colors has increased.
Once clear names were introduced that reflected color contrast, they became much easier to navigate than HEX values. It’s the same with tokens - they are remembered because of the meaning embedded in them, and maintaining logic in styles used across multiple platforms and applications becomes a mandatory part of the process.
The process was labor-intensive not only for designers, but also for developers and testers. But it was worth it - the dark theme collected positive user reviews, and the “dark theme” comments, which spread throughout VK and even went beyond it, managed to become a meme.
Setting a dark Vanilla Dark background in your VK profile
The extension is installed in your browser, like any other:
- You need to follow the link to the appropriate store and click on the “Install” button. And also confirm the installation of the extension if such a request appears. The extension icon will appear at the top right;
- To start using it, you need to select it and find a suitable theme for VK. Click on the extension icon and press the “Find styles” button;
- When searching for topics, you must be on your VKontakte page. Otherwise it will not change;
- Select a suitable topic from the list. The extension offers over 200 different options. Therefore, you will have plenty to choose from;
- If there aren't enough themes, you can go to the extension's website and find more themes.
The extension's Manager button opens an additional editor where users can edit some of the current extension's settings. And also create your own.
At any time you can turn off the black style for VK on your computer. To do this, check the “Disable all styles” checkbox in the extension window. The “Info” button takes you to a page with a description of the extension in the store.
Not all extension themes work correctly. Some blocks may not change color or even change color on hover. This is a small flaw of programmers, which they themselves admit to in their blog. Try to choose standard dark themes for Vkontakte.
You have the option to remove the extension:
- To do this, click the menu button in the web navigator;
- Select "Add-ons" or "Extensions";
- Open the list of installed browser plugins and find “Stylus”. Click the “Delete” button next to it.
Separate topic for messenger
VK Me, which is currently being tested only in Kazakhstan, is a separate messenger with the ability to register by phone number. In it, we not only simplified the functionality, leaving only communication, but also simplified the design.
The header in the light theme is now white to focus on communication, while the blue is brighter and more saturated.
The messenger is based on the messaging module from the main application, which means that it uses the same components and the same scheme to describe all the colors. For example, to recolor the header and search, it was necessary to replace the values of the corresponding tokens: header_background, header_tint, header_text, search_bar_background, search_bar_field_background search_bar_field_tint and others.
In a fairly simple way, we were able to recolor the entire application in a short time by creating a new theme.
