AddOn Spotlight: WoW UI Updater
Here's something I've been looking for for a long time! It's not an addon itself, but it does make the management and upkeep of your addons a lot simpler.
Cairnehoof of Dethecus (US) sent this in to Mike, who kindly sent it my way:
I read your article on wowinsider (big fan btw) about the addon issue in the upcoming patch. I have come across an great application for windows that updates your addons from all the popular sites. Maybe you could share it on the site. I know many people would love it. It's alot better than the one offered on ui.worldofwar.net because it not just download from one site. It is maintained on sourceforge.net and does not contain any malicious code. (I scanned with 3 different anti-virus programs and a anti-spyware one) heres the link if you want to take a look: http://sourceforge.net/projects/wuu
So, armed with that information, I set off to explore WUU.
WUU claims to be "a program to keep your mods updated with the most popular mod sites. It supports WoWAce, WoWInterface, UI.WorldofWar.net, Curse-Gaming, AuctioneerAddon, GathererAddon, CosmosUI, CTMod, CapnBry, GoogleCode and AceSVN."
I downloaded the zip file, extracted it to my desktop, so there's a handy WUU folder, and then went inside and blindly ran WUU. I was greeted by a blank screen. I didn't know what to do at first, so for your benefit, I'll direct you to the AddOns menu. It contains everything you'll run on a regular basis. With that knowledge, you can dive right in with these quick instructions:
Run the software, tell it your WoW folder, *NOT* your AddOns folder
Press "ctrl-D" to scan for your addons
Press "ctrl-M" to figure out sources for AddOns from the Master List (WUU comes with a list of MANY mods and where to find them)
Press "ctrl-D" again, so that you see ? next to the local versions
Press "ctrl-V" to check what the online versions are
Press "ctrl-U" to update your AddOns to the newest versions found online
That's it. Now, it won't work flawlessly. At the end of it, you'll be left with some mods highlighted in light-pink with ?'s in their versions. For me, these mods were mostly sub-mods. For example, Natur's Enemy Cast Bars (NECB) had a bunch of components that weren't found individually on the site. Any mods found in this manner can be handled in a variety of ways, all found in the FAQ for WUU.
I've been running it for a couple of days now, and have to say that I'm impressed. My AddOns are being updated to new versions from the web (especially great for Ace2 mods, which seem to update horuly) and nothing has broken in the process. I know people can be hesitant to install software like this, but I took the leap and I've been satisfied. The version I'm using is directly from WUU's site, and is WUU 1.3.262 beta.
If you'd like to download WUU for yourself, use the Sourceforge link earlier in the article, or go to WUU's home site: http://wuu.vagabonds.info/
Let me know what your experiences are like with the software, and if it's something you'd use on a daily/weekly basis.
Filed under: AddOns, AddOn Spotlight
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Theheretic May 10th 2007 7:39PM
Wow...I wish you would have posted this about 6 hours sooner...I just spent all morning updating all my addons...
Guernia May 10th 2007 8:11PM
It's good practice to always beware of any .exe file from unknown or untrusted sources. Sorry for being such a paranoid obsessive, since the tool actually sounds quite useful. But in the age of keyloggers, you just can't be too careful.
Windshadow May 10th 2007 8:47PM
Has anyone found an OS-X version of this for those of us that use Apple computers? it sounds like a must have utility for anyone thar runs more than a few addons
Aigarius Jul 16th 2008 5:46PM
WUU is written in Python, is open source and fully cross-platform. There are versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and Python source code for whatever other platforms you might want to run it on.
Martin May 10th 2007 9:12PM
i love you, you complete me
Theheretic May 10th 2007 9:37PM
@2...I understand your paranoia but if you ran the amount of addons i do you'd take a chance. Besides...most keyloggers are trojans and most trojans are caught by virus scanners and according to the OP this was scanned 3 different times.
Boonie May 10th 2007 9:45PM
I don't use many addons... actually I just use Mazzle... this is really useful for us people still casual/new to WoW and very new to mods... thanks for letting us on to this.
Pent May 10th 2007 9:51PM
considering this addon:
1. comes from sourceforge
2. provides the sourcecode so you can compile it yourself or even change/look at the code
3. was apparently scanned already and I believe sourceforge scans as well...
it seems like being paranoid is more of being ill-informed in this situation.
Ngnsewa May 10th 2007 9:57PM
There is already a wowace updater, that surprisingly enougyh...only updates wowace add-ons!
I've been using said installer for a while now, and it is quite handy. I guess updating from all sites would be even more so.
@Windshadow check the site for this, it has Mac info
@Guernia did u read the article? the poster said he scanned it with 3+ different scanners.
Cairnehoof May 10th 2007 9:57PM
Cool! I made it on the site! One tip for those addons that are bundled components with other ones. click the addon and under the site mark it as related and it will not be treated as an individual addon.
Boonie May 10th 2007 10:09PM
Sorry to double post... but I just logged on to my characters... er... It updates some components of Mazzle but not all... thus... Your UI is 'unhappy' at least 1.01. but if you're not using a packaged ui this is still awesome... my wife loves it already!
Shawn May 10th 2007 11:02PM
I'm trying to add sources for some of my addons and the Curse URLs don't follow the format he references in the FAQ. Anyone else run into this problem?
Paulish May 10th 2007 11:44PM
I gave this a try. Updated more than half of my addons even though I don't use many to begin with. Worked pretty well without a problem. Good find.
Guernia May 10th 2007 11:58PM
@7, provided you can read and compile source yourself, yes.
Downloaded a pre-compiled executable based on *similar* code, but with a keylogger added, is always a possibility.
Someone saying an exe was scanned is just as good as telling your one-night-stand "Sure I'm AIDS free, we don't need protection." Uh huh.
Andrew Herron May 11th 2007 1:09AM
awesome, thanks for posting this!
I've been using the official wowace updater for a few months now, and lamenting the fact that I'd have to go searching for upgrading my other mods.
so glad I don't have to anymore :D
Tigger May 11th 2007 3:25AM
Question: If you are paranoide and don't trust downloads: what stops you from checking personally with 3 different scanners?
Or just don't download at all.
I'll give it a try for sure (love the wow ace updater, but this works only for ace..)
Rushster May 11th 2007 7:22AM
The application will shortly no longer support ui.worldofwar.net addons due to bandwidth reasons.
daniel May 11th 2007 7:24AM
i'm already using worldofwar's updater (http://ui.worldofwar.net/ui.php?id=2106) and previously mentioned wowace updater, i run them every other day or so, works like a charm.
Zakumaster May 11th 2007 9:12AM
Nice addon using it and liking it=P
thanks
homant May 11th 2007 10:09AM
Here is the OS X Ace addon updater:
http://code.google.com/p/macaceupdater/
It didn't work for me at first, but then I switched the target site in the preferences to http://files.wowace.com and it worked like a charm.
It only works with Ace2 Addons, but that covers a vast majority of my addon list, the only notable exceptions being Bongos, Auctioneer, Titan Panel(Haven't made the jump to Fubar yet), and Necrosis.
-Gritz