| User Interface, Add-ons and Macros For any User Interface (UI), Add-on or Macro Customization and assistance. |
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July 06, 2009, 03:14 AM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Giger 70 Gnome Warlock Kael'Thas US PvE Guild: Odyssey Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 57/0/14 |
The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
Since a few people have posted that they don't use addons or know much about them, I thought I'd share what I wrote up for guildmates a long time ago when I was putting addon packages together. A Bit About AddOns; What they do and are they safe? AddOns are just little user created "programs" that make your life easier in WoW. They're completely legal as far as the WoW Terms of Service go because, while they're extremely helpful, they don't automate things like bots do. You won't find anything that will kill mobs or gather herbs for you, but they will give you lots of helpful info about those mobs and may help you pinpoint where those herbs are. Generally speaking addons are completely safe. In the simplest sense addons themselves are essentially just little collections of .lua code which load AFTER you've logged in to the game. This means they can't steal your password or compromise your account. Like all pieces of software they can contain bugs, but they can always be deleted or disabled without effecting your character, possessions, or ability to play the game. Generally speaking if you download your addons from a reputable site like Curse or WoWInterface, you have nothing to worry about. For the paranoid you can always check through each folder manually to make sure there's nothing suspicious included (such as a .exe file) How To Install an AddOn 1. Download the addon to your hard drive. It will likely be a .zip file which will need to be extracted. 2. In most cases you'll end up with a folder that bears the same name as the addon. However sometimes it will unzip as an 'AddOns' or 'Interface' or some other named folder. This is not what you want. You just want the folder bearing the addon name. To check if it's the right one look inside. It should contain some .lua and .txt files and possibly some subfolders. Once you've got the right folder drag it to 'Applications/World of Warcraft/Interface/AddOns' on a Mac, or 'C:\program Files\World Of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns' on a PC 3. Start up World of Warcraft. 4. On the character selection screen, in the bottom left corner, there is a button that says AddOns. Click it and it will bring up a list of the addons it finds in your AddOns folder. Make sure to check the 'Load Out Of Date AddOns' checkbox. If there are errors, such as missing dependencies, you'll be able to see them in this window. 5. Log into your character of choice and you're all set to configure your addon. How To Configure Your New AddOn This can be a bit tricky to describe here because there's no standard format for addons. When all else fails, look up the addon page on Curse, WoWInterface or wherever you downloaded the addon and check for instructions. In a lot of cases you'll see the addon itself somewhere near the centre of your screen. Right clicking the addon will often bring up a configuration menu. If this fails check for a minimap button. If it has neither of these, hit Esc, click the Interface button and then the addon tab at the top of the left column. If you still can't find it try typing /AddonName. Even addons with a GUI (graphical user interface) will have some type of slash command to help you out. Once you've found the config menu it becomes fairly self-explanatory. How To Remove or Disable An Addon There are times, such as when a new patch comes out (more on that below) where you'll want to disable or delete an addon. Some addons can be disabled in game from their configuration menu, but for most of them you'll want to log out to the character selection screen. Once there, disabling is as simple as clicking the AddOns button at the bottom left and then unchecking the addon from the list. This will prevent it from loading when you log back in. Note however that this will not delete the addon. To completely remove an addon you're finished with, quit the game and then navigate back to your Interface/AddOns folder where you installed the addon. Deleting is as simple as dragging the addon's folder to the trash can. Note: Do NOT delete any folder that starts with Blizzard_ as those are the build in modules like your character pane and spellbook. A Note About Patches When Blizzard comes out with new WoW patches they occasionally rewrite the way certain parts of the game work. This can 'break' an addon. You'll notice this in one of a few ways. Either you'll start getting error messages popping up on your screen, your chat box will start by saying there's an addon error, or your addon simply won't work. This is the reason why sites like Curse can sometimes slow to a crawl when a major content patch is introduced, everyone wants to upgrade to the latest compatable addons. This is where the Load Out Of Date AddOns check box comes in. As long as this is checked the game will try to run all your addons, even broken ones. The best thing to do is try to update your addons as soon as possible, but a quick fix is to simply uncheck this box and play with the default UI until you can install updated versions. Performance Issues AddOns take up memory. The more you have, the more memory you'll need for the game to run smoothly. There are AddOns such as Fubar's PerformanceFu which will tell you a bit about which addons are taking up the most memory and are helpful if you're running into memory problems. If you simply must have an addon and your system is lagging, try messing around with the video settings and you might be able to find a happy medium. If not you're just going to have to live without it (or buy a new computer  )AddOn Clients There are a few clients (mostly Windows based) that in theory will keep your addons up to date for you. Curse and WoWMatrix are probably the most well known. Since I run on a Mac and don't use these, I can't really vouch for how effective or safe they are to use. As with anything else use at your own risk, and keep general internet common sense and safety rules in mind. Ok Ok, Where Do I Get Them Already?? If you know the name of a specific addon a google search will do wonders. Some addons have their own websites, such as Auctioneer. Most addons can also be found on the following sites: Curse Gaming WoWInterface WoWUI WoWAce (though most updated versions are on Curse) |
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July 06, 2009, 01:07 PM
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#2 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Lephlock 80 Blood Elf Warlock Earthen Ring US RP Guild: Team Awesome Talent Spec: 0/55/16 |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
Just a few points to add. Great guide! 1. When Blizzard does a major new patch, they normally disable the "load out of date addons" setting, so with each patch, it's worth checking that setting as there are normally a few addons that will not be up to date for a few days or weeks, but may otherwise work just fine in the new version of WoW. 2. If you start using addons, you will probably want a way to enable and disable them without having to log out. I use "Addon Control Panel" which you can find on Curse, but there are other programs that do this. These programs also let you create profiles of addons, so I have my "Heroics" profile which turns off my gathering, questing, and auction addons but enables things like Omen and Recount, my "Raid" profile which turns on Deadly Boss Mods, and my "Questing" profile which turns off most of my raid and instance mods, but enables my questing, gathering, and auction addons. I just turn addons on or off, or choose a new profile, then click a "Reload UI" button to enable/disable my addons within about 10 seconds without the need to log out and lose my group assignments. 3. I highly recommend WoWInterface as a place to get addons. I use their "Favorites" feature to easily keep track of all the addons I use, and can see at a glance which ones have been updated. I do manually download and install my addons, but it's much easier to manage with WoWInterface's Favorites feature.
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http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t48311-simulationcraft_post_3_1_specs/ Lephlock 80 Demonology Warlock <TEAM AWESOME> - Earthen Ring US |
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3 members liked this post. 0 members didn't.
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July 07, 2009, 12:26 AM
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#3 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Giger 70 Gnome Warlock Kael'Thas US PvE Guild: Odyssey Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 57/0/14 |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
Good points. Unfortunately I can't edit my post to add them. I'll have to check Addon Control Panel out. I've heard about it before but never bothered to look into it. |
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July 07, 2009, 02:34 AM
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#4 (permalink) | ||
Status: Dot, 'Lock and Drop it!
Character Info
Cormanthor 80 Human Warlock Gnomeregan US PvE Guild: Knights who say Ni Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: Various |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
Quote:
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But I still like WoWInterface best, personally. I have not spent much time with WoWUI, so I cannot comment there.
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Some days it just not worth chewing through the restraints |
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1 members liked this post. 0 members didn't.
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July 07, 2009, 08:09 PM
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#5 (permalink) | |
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Character Info
elkagorasa 80 Orc Warlock malfurion US PvE Guild: Order of Thought Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/20/51 |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
Quote:
One additional note: WowMatrix isn't as useful as before. As of patch 3.1, Curse and WoWInterface now require logon to the site, so WowMatrix can no longer update addons hosted on their sites. Curse has created their own tool to update your addons but not as nice if you don't have a paid subscription to their site. Last edited by elkagorasa; July 07, 2009 at 08:23 PM.. |
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July 09, 2009, 03:42 PM
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#6 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Lephlock 80 Blood Elf Warlock Earthen Ring US RP Guild: Team Awesome Talent Spec: 0/55/16 |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
I'm partial to WoWInterface due to the combination of features, the way they treat their authors, and site design/layout. I find it personally less.... well crowded and noisy... than Curse. Just personal preference. I also find that there is great interaction with addon developers on WoWInterface's "comments" tab for each addon, and I've been able to report issues, find solutions, and make suggestions for features there. You will sometimes find an addon on either WoWInterface or Curse that is not hosted on one of the other sites, but it is quite rare. I very much disliked how WoWMatrix ran their business, so I do not use that service, but there are other solutions for automatic updates. Curse has a client do do that, and WoWInterface has one in beta called MMO Minion. Now I have not tried it, but it's free version is fully featured and auto updates... unlike curse's free version update if I understand correctly. I don't use auto-updaters personally, I want to choose when and if I update addons, but for those that have a ton of them, this is another option.
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http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t48311-simulationcraft_post_3_1_specs/ Lephlock 80 Demonology Warlock <TEAM AWESOME> - Earthen Ring US |
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July 09, 2009, 04:34 PM
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#7 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Synthetic 80 Human Warlock Greymane US PvE Guild: Red October Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 3/13/55 |
Re: The (in)Complete Guide to AddOns
More Addon information: Introduction to User Interface Modification: Macros and Addons |
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