Posts with tag addon-configuration

AddOn Spotlight: SexyCooldown

by Mathew McCurley Mar 18th 2010 at 1:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience -- the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, we get real sexy.

Timers for spells is an imperative addon for many classes that rely on steady rotations of DoT management and keeping debuffs up on enemies. DPS can be greatly altered by the careful balance of spell effects lasting for certain periods of time on enemies. There are a lot of good timers out there for spells and abilities, but today I want to introduce you to my favorite. If this addon is old news to you, and you already know how powerful it can be, help out the less fortunate! If you're new to his wonderful piece of code, stay a while and listen, as I sing a love song to SexyCooldown.

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Mar's UI

by Mathew McCurley Mar 16th 2010 at 8:00PM

As promised, this week is non-widescreen addon/UI week! Often requested and often put to the side, I receive a lot of e-mail from readers about configuring user interfaces for non-widescreen resolutions and smaller monitors. The secret is that there really is no difference between configuring for a widescreen or non-widescreen monitor -- it's all about knowing how things fit together. On this week's Reader UI of the Week, we are going to take a look at Mar's UI. Mar has asked for some pointers on getting her interface right, so let's see if we can help out and, at the same time, give some awesome design pointers on configuring a user interface with less space.

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

AddOn Spotlight: Castbars

by Mathew McCurley Mar 11th 2010 at 3:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience -- the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, can we dethrone Quartz as king of cast bars?

The cast bar addon/mod holds a special place in my heart, mostly because it was the last addon I got on board with. We will never really know why the cast bar was the last bastion of the WoW stock user interface for me, most likely because I was a healer, but eventually the tide turned. For a while, I let my cast bar live in my unit frames, below my health and mana, as a compact little meter that was happily minimal and out of the way. Something changed, though, and I suddenly realized I wanted a more full featured cast bar. Today, we talk about the king of cast bars, an alternative to the king (The Queen? Rival Nation of Castbaria?), a quick discussion about DoT timers and some reader mail. Let's get rockin'.

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Nirayá's UI

by Mathew McCurley Mar 9th 2010 at 3:00PM

This week on Reader UI of the Week, you, my adoring fanbase, get to indulge my minimalist side for one more week before I get to some quirky user interfaces. Nirayá of Proudmoore sent in this fantastic mage user interface that blew my mind, so I thought I would share. Sweet Baby Titans, is that ONE action bar? Let's find out.

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

AddOn Spotlight: Battle of the Bags

by Mathew McCurley Mar 4th 2010 at 5:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, Bag mods are serious business.

Stuff. We sure do have a lot of it. Sometimes it's important stuff. Other times it's fairly stupid stuff that somehow accumulates over years. Somethings we just cannot throw away. This week on AddOn Spotlight, we dive into what makes our stuff manageable, from tabards and weapons to gems and ores. This week's Spotlight features addons, sure, but we will be grouping these addons by philosophy, not necessarily function. Let's roll.

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Fizziks' UI

by Mathew McCurley Mar 2nd 2010 at 4:30PM

Welcome to another exciting edition of Reader UI of the Week! This week is a treat for warlocks, as one user interface that graced my inbox looked slick and clean and is all about being simple and sturdy in a raid environment. Fizzik's warlock raiding UI evoked three distinct emotions in me, which we will tackle individually -- wonderment, calmness and righteous anger. Let's get to discussin'!

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

AddOn Spotlight: Automaton

by Mathew McCurley Feb 25th 2010 at 5:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, Automaton takes some of the tedium out of little tasks!

What's the only thing better than an addon with a beautiful and pristine interface that rivals all addons with its ease of use? An addon with NO UI AT ALL, minus the text commands. This week, I'm going to show you Automaton, an addon that is as light as they get while providing a host of awesome functions. It's bare-bones addon day today on AddOn Spotlight! Won't you join us?

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Daedhir's UI 2.0

by Mathew McCurley Feb 23rd 2010 at 4:00PM

Each week WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using, to readerui@wow.com.

This week on Reader UI of the Week, I want to showcase a UI that does something that I, stylistically, don't enjoy, but done in such a manner that makes me change my tune. Daedhir's UI is a compact and neat interface that strives to make use of the game's user interface art in order to give the UI a little classic with the total revamp. Suffice to say, I like it. Let's take a look inside.

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

Solving post-patch addon woes

by Mathew McCurley Feb 19th 2010 at 1:00PM

Lots of changes are on the horizon and with great change comes an awesome new Public Test Realm patch with a boatload of broken addons. Here's a quick tip -- one good way to pick out pieces of addons that you don't necessarily know are a part of a specific addon or addon package is to use a simple mouse over macro. This one in particular:

/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage( GetMouseFocus():GetName() );

Create a macro with that script command and hover over a section of your user interface. The name of that particular module of your interface will be displayed in your chat box. Simple and easy, in case you cannot figure out what addon you're looking at.

Whenever a new patch comes out or I head off to the PTR to test out the new changes, I like having this macro at the ready just in case one of my addons decides to move in a wacky place or if the game itself broke an addon's position and I need to remember which addon I'm dealing with.

Filed under: Add-Ons

AddOn Spotlight: Loot Addons

by Mathew McCurley Feb 18th 2010 at 9:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, little loot addons that help you day to day!

Everyone loves learning about little utilities and other random addons that you might not think about everyday but that are useful and can make the WoW experience run a little bit smoother. Some weeks on AddOn Spotlight will be informational weeks, where I get to showcase some smaller addons that might not change the way you raid or experience the game in a huge way, but help make the little things seem even more insignificant. Think of these as "lifestyle" addons. This week is one such lifestyle AddOn Spotlight.

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Jake's Larger UI

by Mathew McCurley Feb 16th 2010 at 11:00AM

Each week WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using, to readerui@wow.com.

This week on Reader UI of the Week I've decided to focus on helping people in need of user interface tips for smaller screen resolutions or the need to have buttons larger, as you will see in just a short time. It's kind of like Dear Abby, except with more video games and less mouthy grandmas. The Community has been great in its response to sending in your user interfaces, so keep them coming! Without further ado, let's go a user interfacin'...

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

AddOn Spotlight: Elitist Group

by Mathew McCurley Feb 11th 2010 at 9:00AM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, we throw together a PUG for Elitist Group.

Last week on AddOn Spotlight, we profiled an addon that works as an alternative to a very popular entry into a very popular category of addon. Elitist Group is part of a category of addon that people either love or hate. There really hasn't been too much wiggle room for opinions on the matter. This week, we look at the Dos and Don'ts of Elitist Group and show the addon's strengths. In addition, I got to talk to the creator, Shadowed, and get his insight on some topics ranging from the prevalence of Gearscore, gear addons in general and some tips and tricks!

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Reader UI of the Week: Your Addon/UI Columnist

by Mathew McCurley Feb 9th 2010 at 7:00PM

Each week WoW.com will bring you a fresh look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using, to readerui@wow.com.

As the new addon and user interface columnist, I've been given the task of not only finding and informing the WoW.com community about new, useful and awesome addons, but also the unique job of taking a look at the community's user interfaces and highlighting some of the awesome creativity and innovations that the community can share. I want this column to be very reader oriented - let's go on this amazing addon journey together!

Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

AddOn Spotlight: Skada

by Mathew McCurley Feb 4th 2010 at 5:00PM

AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, we do some mad-deeps.

Before I start my first Addon Spotlight, I wanted to quickly give a primer on my Addon/UI preferences and the way I hope to spotlight and review addons here at WoW.com. World of Warcraft is over five years old now, and in such a short period of time a ragtag bunch of Addon coders and modders fashioned thousands of addons, making the game playable. Over five years the addon environment has evolved so greatly that now, in addition to discussing form and function, we can judge addons from an aesthetic approach. Addons that allow for greater customization and tailored appearances are now the norm. I strive to help players find not only the most useful and functional addons but also the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch. I hope everyone reading will appreciate the mix of form, function and aesthetics, creating a better UI for everyone.

My first Addon Spotlight is a great example of what I love about a good addon. Skada is a DPS meter following in the footsteps of Recount, the current ubiquitous DPS meter and bragging device currently in WoW. Recount, however, always gave me memory problems and felt sluggish. And, as a personal pet peeve, I never liked the bugle. We'll get to the bugle later. Recount does the job, however, and most of us never look back. So why switch to Skada?

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Addon Spotlight: Vuhdo

by Matt Low Jan 30th 2010 at 4:00PM

We've received many tips about Vuhdo and it was only a matter of time before it would be featured here. Vuhdo is one of the most popular raid healing addons available. It offers enough features and customization options to keep even the pickiest of UI enthusiasts happy. At the same time, if your entire UI is fried and the raid is about to start, Vuhdo works great out of the box.

What's so great about it? I thought you'd never ask. Let me show you.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Add-Ons, Raiding, AddOn Spotlight

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