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Documentation: VK Community Chat Widget for Joomla from iws.by

Documentation update date: 28.09.2025
Documentation is relevant for version: 1.1.3
Contents

Compatibility

System Requirements

System requirements differ for Joomla 3, Joomla 4, Joomla 5, and Joomla 6, so please refer to the section corresponding to your version.

Joomla 3
Joomla 4
Joomla 5 and Joomla 6

Installing the module

The module installation process is slightly different for Joomla 3 and Joomla 4/5/6, so please refer to the section corresponding to your version.

Installation for Joomla 3
  1. Download the module package.
  2. Go to the Joomla 3 administration panel.
  3. Open “Extensions” -> “Extension Manager”.
  4. Click on the “Upload Package” tab.
  5. Select the downloaded module package and click “Upload and Install”.
Installation for Joomla 4, Joomla 5, and Joomla 6
  1. Download the module package.
  2. Go to the Joomla 3 administration panel 4/5/6.
  3. Open “System” -> “Extensions”.
  4. Click on the “Upload Package” tab.
  5. Drag and drop the downloaded module package into the download area or click “Select Package”.
  6. Click “Upload and Install”.

Obtaining a VK Community ID

Before you start setting up the module, you need to get the ID of your community, for which the widget will be displayed. Go to your community page on the social network VK. On the right side of the page that opens, find the menu item “Statistics”.

Statistics in the VK community menu

Pay attention to the address bar in your browser, it contains the identifier of the VK community.

VK community ID

The number 111111111 is the unique numeric identifier of the VK community. Write it down. Next, you need to configure the community VK, because without settings will not work chat with the community.

Setting up a VK community

On the right-hand menu of the community, go to the menu item “Manage”.

Management in the VKontakte community menu

The Community Management section opens. From the menu on the right, find “Messages”. Get into it.

Message settings in VK community settings

Let’s begin to activate the community’s messaging capabilities. Value in option “Community messages” switch to “Enabled”.

Message settings in VK community settings

To display the messages section in the left menu of the VK social network, activate the option “Add to left-side menu”.

Configuring output in the left menu of VKontakte community messages

In the field “Greeting” you must enter the text that will be displayed to the visitor in the chat when the chat opens. Enter the desired greeting.

Welcome message in VK community settings

And lastly, activate the possibility of working with the widget messages for the site in the option “Messages widget”.

Press the “Save”. The community is successfully set up and ready for messaging.

Configuring the module

The module settings are located in different places depending on the Joomla version. Please use the paths below to find the module:

  • Joomla 3: “Extensions” -> “Module Manager”
  • Joomla 4/5/6: “Content” -> “Site modules”

In the list of modules, find “IWS.BY VK Community Chat Widget“. Click on the name of the module and you will see a page with the available settings. Consider each field below.

License key

Type: Text field

Description: Enter the license key obtained when purchasing the module on the IWS.BY website. Without the key in this field, the module will not be able to access the update server and update automatically.

Example: IWSBY-111-111-111

Connect Open API

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: If Yes is selected, the API of the VK social network will be connected to the site. If the VK API is connected to your site by https://vk.com/js/api/openapi.js?169, select the value “No”. Without connected VK API the widget will not work.

Possible values:

  • Yes
  • No

Default: Yes

Community ID

Type: Numeric field

Description: In the field you should enter the numeric identifier of your community in the VKontakte social network, chat with which you want to show on the site. How to find the application identifier is described on the page above, in the “Obtaining a VK Community ID” section.

Example: 127607773

Chat position

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: The option is responsible for positioning the chat box relative to the side of the screen the site visitor has.

Possible values:

  • In the lower right corner.
  • In the lower left corner.

Default: In the lower right corner

Open chat after

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: The option is responsible for revealing the chat after the user has fully loaded the page.

Possible values:

  • Keep closed
  • Immediately
  • 5 seconds
  • 10 seconds
  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • 40 seconds
  • 50 seconds
  • 60 seconds
  • 120 seconds

Default: Immediately

Disclose with sound

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: If “Yes” is selected in the option and “Disclose through” is selected with automatic chat opening, a sound will play when the chat is opened.

Possible values:

  • Yes
  • No

Default: Yes

New message sound

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: After each response from the community administrator, an audio notification will play in the chat room.

Possible values:

  • Yes
  • No

Default: Yes

Hint

Type: Segmented buttons

Description: The option is responsible for activating the text prompt next to the chat icon.

Possible values:

  • Disable
  • Enable

Default: Disable

Hint text:

Type: Text field

Description: Tooltip text to be displayed next to the chat icon.

Example: Need help?

Module Activation

To activate the module in the CMS Joomla need to do several actions:

  1. Select the desired position of the template, where the module should be displayed on the site, in the «Position» option, on the right side of the module settings page.
  2. In the option below «Status» you must select the «Published» value.
  3. Next, you need to bind the module to the pages of the site. In the upper part of the settings on the module page, click on the «Menu assignment» tab.
  4. A tab opens with a single option «Module assignment». Select the value depending on the pages on which you want the module to be displayed. In the example, select «On all pages» – the module will be available on all pages of the site. 
  5. Click the «Save» button. The settings will be saved and the module will be displayed on the site.

Error update module

If you have an error when updating a module in the control panel of Joomla, then this section of the instructions is necessary for you. Usually the error when updating looks like this:

Joomla extension update error

This error appears in several cases, they are all related to the module’s license key.

1) You have not filled in the license key in the module settings.

Go to the module settings and check if the «License key» field is filled in. Without a license key it is not possible to download updates. There is a time when you added a license key, but CMS Joomla did not save it correctly, for this module settings after entering a license key, click «Save» and then click «Save and Close».

2) Your license key has expired.

To check the expiration date of your license key, go to https://iws.by/en/my-account/view-license-keys. In the list of license keys, find the key of your module and in the «Valid until» column check its relevance. If the license key has expired, it is not possible to get updates. To resolve this issue: place a new order and get a current license key.

3) The license key is not valid on your current site.

Our update system is designed so that the first time you access the update server, the license key is assigned to the site that accessed it. In case you try to use the license key on several sites, the updates will be available only for one site. If you need updates for multiple sites, make a purchase of multiple license keys from the site. Sites without license keys will not be able to receive updates.

Attention! If you have changed the address of the site and can not download updates, write to us at support@iws.by with the new address of the site, we will update the data on our update server and within 24 hours you will be able to receive updates.

Support

IWS.BY support service for questions regarding our products is available via email support@iws.by.

All available support options are available on the Support page: Go to.

The support service also responds on the official support forum iws.by: Go to.