UI Help Center
 

I know there is quite a bit of interest in helping folks with their UIs, and there are a lot of people here who have a pretty good idea of what they're doing. There are a lot of different places where people are getting help on this forum. The problem is that most of those places aren't really meant for that type of discussion (read: Pimp my UI is about design theory, and the Screenshots thread is precisely for screenshots). Obviously there is already the "WHAT'S THAT MOD" thread, which serves its purpose quite well.

So, I propose that we try to centralize "Help Me" type discussions to this thread. Try to include a detailed description of the problem, what you'd like to achieve, and what you DON'T want. Include screenshots (try to avoid the [ img ] tag to keep the thread less cluttered), and a list of addons you're using that are related to the problem.

Posing nebulous questions like "How can I make my UI better" are more likely to get a poor response than a targeted question about a particular area of your UI.

If folks feel like this is redundant, just let it fall to the bottom.

Now, I don't really have any problems at this moment, but I'd like to come with a few tips and ideas regarding User Interface.


Chat windows setup and etc are very sensitive for a player, and also lie on the local computer. If you have created a new alt or going to play WoW on a different computer it is an idea to copy the WTF folder or some files in it. By copying one or two files you can have the exact same chat windows- and channel settings as the character folder which you copied the files from, on the character UI of the character folder which you paste the files into. Be aware that after hitting the level cap you lose the level experience bar, and the position of the windows will change relatively to it. (ex. copying the chat window setup from my lvl 70 character to a lvl 37 character I will have to move the windows a bit more up IF I have both a level experience bar and a faction reputation bar, since the lvl 70 character only has the faction reputation bar.) Moving the WTF folder to a new computer will also bring your old macros since they are stored inside that folder.

Also, using CT_RaidAssist I can view the Main Tanks' targets in a box, if I choose to. It would be an idea if somebody made an addon where you could have a visual box for each of the raid icon targets (Skull, Cross, Star, Square etc.). I will probably mail the developers of CTmod about this idea. And if there is a certain related function which I have overlooked, then please tell me xD. The challenge of this idea is whether it is possible to tag the marked targets with the LUA interface.

(I will edit this post with additional helpful informaton when I come home)

I'm torn between using two raid heal UIs right now

Grid and the XPerl Raid frames

What I like about Grid
- Compact
- has very good in Range / out of Range display

What I dislike about Grid
- terrible debuff display. If I can't cleanse it, it just won't show. But I NEED to know who has debuffs for healing
- names disappear when someone takes damage

Then there's XPerl Raid frames
All debuffs are visible, names don't disappear.
However, there appears to be no indicator whatsoever whether someone is in range or not.

Is there an alternative that does both?


Here's a different problem I've been having:

Great, two addons decide to throw their information in the same place and I can't read it at all anymore. One is BigWigs, how do I turn off the thing that throws <10 seconds Bars into the center of my screen? I really hate it when addons that were perfectly fine get bloated with more features I don't want.

If you like you can move or scale them instead of turning them off as well.

Keline: You can disable it with the following command: /bw plugins bars emphasize emphasize

actualy xperl does have this function. At the bottom of the global tab there is the range finder which will shade anyone in the raid or party currently out of range of a spell of your choise.

I love my UI, and tweak it to bits.

There are two things I need help with, though:

1. Target buffs. Right now, my UI is set up as follows:

http://www.virtuousguild.com/images/vecui1.jpg

This is an ancient picture from 2.1, but we'll run with it (not shown - BigWigs, EBB, FuBar, Quartz, BigBrother, and many others).

To the right of my 'Target' frame (I'm targeting myself), there is a target-of-target frame. Below the 'Target' frame, I have room for the 40 debuffs on the target.

I'm totally at a loss for where to put Target buffs. I just want a way to see, at a glance, what buffs my target has when I click on them. Is there a separate mod for this? Could I reposition something in some way to facilitate this?

2. Chat windows. I do not run a Combat Log, because I simply don't care. I get all the details I need from Grid, Omen, Recount, and a variety of other sources. I deleted my Combat Log window, but every time I load the game, I have 2 chat windows again (Combat Log magically returns). I delete it again, but it keeps coming back. I just want my 1 main chat window, and nothing else (it's a hassle, because every time I log in, I delete the window, and do a /console reloadui so that PgUp will work on my main chat window). I have Prat installed, if that matters.

I've been playing WoW since release but only recently started messing around with mods. Well of course you know how that goes, you start off with a couple, add a few more and then bam whole new interface. One thing that would be useful is a sticky of the main mod sites like curse, woeinterface, wowace etc,. And places to find information on the more complicated things like bar replacement, eepanels, unitfames and so forth (wowiki and other similar reference sites).

A one stop shop for where to find mods and reference materials on how to use them. Perhaps some links to programming with LUA and so forth might be worthwhile too.

I really need to work on my new UI. I like my current one, but there's a lot of work that I can do to make it even better. Two questions I have if anyone can help me out:

1) I really need to learn how to use eePanels. Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on it? I'm a lua/scripting noobie but I pick up stuff quick.

2) One of my main problems is that no matter how nice I get my UI, I have problems with my chat windows. I really like MiniChat, but the problem for me is that I need multiple chat windows open, 3 of them to be exact. I can't play without them being like that, and I can't raid. It may sound silly, but playing like that for 2+ years grows on ya, and trying to read everything that's going on in multiple channels, even if their colored, during a raid can be very difficult.

What I would like to do is something similar in this screenshot:
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7...7015326gd3.jpg

From what I was reading on the wowace forums, is that stacking/locking the minichat windows wasn't possible, but from this screenie, it is.

When the bottom window opens the top one moves up and grows with it as you can see here (different layout, same concept):
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4...7160048dn2.jpg

I have no idea how to even start going about doing this. :confused: I know eepanels is involved as well as minichat. Anyone have a clue on how I could go about doing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Both of these are fixable, and possibly in multiple ways, depending on what you would prefer.

For the debuffs, you quite likely have the option checked that filters out auras you cannot remove. Unchecking that option will let them all flood your boxes again. What I would suggest, rather than being innundated with all of them, is that you leave the option checked but manually 'add new debuff(s)' using the proper name for the pertinent ones to your healing. There are a couple good lists in the main Grid thread (http://elitistjerks.com/f32/t14988-g..._functionality) that name the TBC boss debuffs of importance, if you would like a starting point.

For the names disappearing when people take damage... I think that you mean their name is being overwritten by the damage amount for a second or two? If that is the case, you may just be able to move the display for damage taken to the 'center text 2' rather than 'center text 1' display pane, or possibly stop it from displaying at all, if you don't need to see the numbers. Or, move the names to 'center text 2' if you would like to see the numbers in that first position. If you mean that the names are just not visible once someone's health drops below where the name is, you might need to change the display color for that text (ie, if the names are written in black,and missing health is also black... the name would disappear). Or it could be some totally different problem... but it can most likely still be fixed. Grid is awesome like that.

If you could post pics of the problem with the names, and tell us what you would like to see, it would help pin down the best reconfiguration for your purposes. But the issues you are having are definately fixable within Grid. If you prefer its general style to that of Xperl, there is no reason it can't be made perfect for you. :)

Those things bugged me about Grid as well, but they're easily remedied. First, go into Grid options > frame > advanced > enable centre text 2 indicator. That way you can have one field for name and one field for health deficit. As for debuffs, you can manually add individual buffs/debuffs. Status > auras > add new buff/debuff. Make sure you spell and capitalize the buff/debuff names correctly, and add them to the centre icon display/corner display.

Oh one more thing with Grid. I've bound a certain hotkey to Mouse 4, but I can't use it to cast while still hovering over the Grid. Is this a general UI problem or grid-specific?

Have you thought about RDX? Now that its open sourced it could be what you're looking for

The RaidGrid is completely configurable by size, text, bar style etc
The range filter can be set to any alpha you require
Names stay displayed regardless of dmg
HoT's on players are dsiplayed by as many as you wish to see
Debuff Icons can be displayed by a filtered list (show only those you want)
Borders change depending on aggro/magic/poison/disease etc
Main health bar changes colour depending on boss debuff ie Parasite - Green, Agonizing Flames - Red
Built in spell/macro bindings (which can be seperate to player/any other frames)

Thanks for all the input, now with range finder on XPerl I'm happy with it.

I have started a 4dps arena team with me on a Shadow Priest. I have played a warlock for two years so my mindset is a bit different in regards to proper support.

My UI is based off of what I use for my warlock right now. Pitbull, Witchhunt, Bartender, Quartz, NECB, nothing really fancy. What I'm finding a bit troubling is a way for me to properly shield my partners when needed, and dispell both opponents and my partners. Right now I have two macros, one to dispel my pally, and one as an assist dispel macro for my main assist (rogue). They work alright but it's not enough. I'm looking for something that I can maybe do with Grid possibly, or to the frames in Pitbull, to always know who I have in range and what debuffs they have on themselves (especially UA). As well as fast way to shield them if I need to. I have hear of healers using things like ClickCast for this kind of thing too.

Any brilliant ideas? Things others are using for a similar function?