Call for Input: Redesigning the UI
My user interface has seen so many revisions and tweaks it isn’t even remotely funny anymore. It has literally become a mini-game for me at this point. I want to redesign it again, but this time I want to get it to a point that I’m happy enough with to actually leave it alone.
This brings me to my post today. How do you deal with juggling UI’s among the different roles that can be filled, either via dual-specs or multiple characters? Do you use different sets of addons per character/spec, or do you find a set of addons that do what you need across the board?
When it comes to appearance do you try to find ways to blend all of your addons together? If so how do you accomplish an overall aesthetic that doesn’t have components that stick out like a lime-green, neon light in a darkroom?
What addons do you find you absolutely cannot live without?
Do you aim for minimalism in on-screen addons or do you not worry about being able to see the game graphics?
These are my goals for this redesign of my UI (which I’ll post when I get it done):
- Minimalism – I like to have all of the information I need in a concise manner, and still be able to enjoy watching the game instead of seeing my screen cluttered with boxes.
- Aesthetically pleasing – one of my current complaints about my UI is how certain elements do not blend well with others.
- Cross-spec/character use – I want to have one UI layout that works for my druid and priest in all of the available roles. Even better if it fits perfectly with my rogue and death knight as well.
- Concise – I’ve grown to the point of using too many addons (in my opinion), and some of the information presented overlaps. It is time to clean that up significantly.
This is going to, most likely, be a massive undertaking. Wish me luck!
Direbrewfest
Argent Confessor
Kiss and Make Up (10 player)
Heroic: Trial of the Champion
I actually *just* redid my UI. It has gone through several revamps since the expansion and I think I’m finally happy with it.
Back in BC I used Hal’s UI seen here on my rogue. Very solid, clean and dependable. I used it for over a year across four different classes.
After raiding for a bit in Wrath, I decided to create my own UI, seen here. I liked it a lot, in terms of screen real estate.
I got bored and that basic idea of a UI evolved into this mess of colour.
The other night I was browsing UI’s posted on Maintankadin and LaveUI caught my eye. I downloaded it, completely revamped it, as he used a lot of addons I didn’t like, and left out quite a few that I did. Not to mention adjusting it to my resolution… However, it’s quite clean and functional and I’m finally done with it, shown here. A few things auto hide, like the Eavesdrop up at the top right, Grid is not usually displayed solo (I turned it on for the SS) and the WIM chat window is moveable and hideable. I also have my target, tot and focus frames showing in that picture.
There are very few addons that I use that are character specific, Tankadin and PallyPower are really the only two that I can come up with. As a general rule, I create the interface on my main toon and then copy the WTF folder to my alts and tweak it to their needs. Usually there is not much that needs changing, other than say ArkInventory profiles and activating ExperienceFU for those that aren’t 80 yet.
I think very clearly I aim for minimalism and aesthetics. Yes, a UI must be functional, as that is it’s foremost purpose; to allow you to play the game efficiently. You do have to stare at it for hours though, so it may as well be pretty too. I do blend my addons together, I match fonts, sizes and opacity the best that I am able to. I’ve found using panels behind addons can help keep them consistent as well, though I’ve tended to shy away from them in the past, as I like to maximize my view. Using Skinner for standard Blizzard frames also helps tie things together.
In terms of addons I can’t live without? Well, other than Omen and WIM, I can’t really come up with any. Addons I love? that’s a whole different story. Chinchilla, Pitbull, Buffalo (wow, so many animals! o.O), Bartender, Prat, Eavesdrop (best combat log addon EVER) and MCPFu (the ability to turn addons on and off without relogging is priceless).
Redoing your UI is a huge commitment, I’ve probably poured over 20 hours into this last version, and I started from a compilation! I hope you find what you’re looking for in an Interface and good luck!
Aureilie’s last blog post..WoW Tunes
I really like the look of what you’ve ended up with. Mine has evolved into being something similar to the second one you referenced, which is part of what has me working to blend more of the elements together.
I’ll definitely be reworking mine more (I just cleaned up what all I had active, so now I can work on really cleaning up what is displayed and how it is displayed). Thank you very much for the input, I have a feeling the look of your current UI is going to end up providing a basis for what I end up having with mine!
I must admit I don’t care so much about my UI being pretty: I just want lots of information avaialable, and I want it organized. So I’ve come up with a UI that has remained more or less unchanged for almost a year now. It works across 7 toons, 5 of which have dual specs, including my Pally, Druid, Priest, Shaman, and Death Knight.
One of the things I shoot for when getting the main “template” UI ready is a base configuration that I can save as a profile and load on other characters, or set as default so I don’t have to touch again for any characters. That helps minimize setup time for new toons.
Here are 3 pictures I just put up of it. I know it’s probably not as minimalistic as you will lean for, but it suits me very well, and I hope will give you some ideas.
Out of Combat: http://my.curse.com/media/p/486568.aspx
In Combat: http://my.curse.com/media/p/486569.aspx
In Combat (Labeled): http://my.curse.com/media/p/486570.aspx
Additional addons you may want to consider: Titan + Various LDB plugins, SimpleBuffBars, QuestGuru, CoolDownButtons, Ghost: Recon, Nao!.
CDB is a cool little addon that lets me stack my cooldowns vertically. It may be time for me to re-evaluate and see if I’d rather replace Ellipsis (my DoT tracker) with DoTimer and just do away with vertically stacked icons, but it’s not bad.
Nao! Is one of my favorite recent finds in addons, and it shows a fairly large icon that represents procs that I need to do something about. These include clearcasting, Rune Strike, Mage DPS procs, etc. Anything that gives you 15 seconds to push a button, it shows big here. Very easy to see.
Ghost: Recon collects information on what abilities mobs use. This is great for looking and seeing which mob it was again that heal, what uses whirlwind and needs focused on first, what is tauntable, sheepable, sappable, etc.
Other addons I can’t live without: Inventory addons are pick whatever suits ya, but I like ArkInventory because its easy to create a nice universal template, then copy that to each character individual profile, and change two categories to only show tradeskill items that character uses.
Also, since you’ve expressed that it should work across multiple toons, I’ll make a quick mention of Toons, which gives quick table formatted summaries of all your toons and their relevant stats, and Armory. Armory lets me search all my toons banks / bags very quickly, and lets me see what they’re wearing when I’m not on that toon, and gives me access to their up-to-date tradeskill links.
More random addons: Align, BetterInbox, MasterLooter, CCBreaker, Dresser, Examiner, HatTrick (click to toggle hat display!), ImprovedMerchant, LearningAid, MainAssist (easily assign custom assists), MinimapButtonFrame, NDragIt (for making non-draggable frames draggable), oGlow, Outfitter, Proximo, Reagent Restocker (recently started considering moving to Automaton), Talented, TipTac, and WeaponMaster (my brother and I wrote it; shows when you could use a wepon if you had the right training, and where to get the training!)
SORRY! This is really long; I love addons, can you tell? Good luck pulling some good ideas from this!