Guide to the perfect interface

[Alys]

Version 1.07v (Editable)



This guide is intended for WoW players who get much more out of their game play with an informative, clean and interactive interface that is very appealing to the eyes. It will direct the user on how to create this special, yet simple interface. Sample images can be seen here, here and here. All images were taken and personally edited for this guides purpose. This guide contains information regarding...

- Which addons are required
- Where and how to download/unzip the addons using Curse Client
- How to configure the addons
- Additional options for further customization
- Optional downloads to help secure and maintain performance

I would like to start off with a brief introduction of myself. I am 19 years of age, currently a second year university student with computer science experience, and have been fascinated with technology and games ever since my first gaming system, that being a Sega Genesis. I began playing WoW when the Burning Crusade was freshly released. I played my first character (an undead priest) and still remember playing in the old days. Oh the days before Quest Helper and having to read the quest logs to figure out where to go and what to do. By the time I ding’d 70, my friend introduced me to the world of addons! Quest helper, oh where were you all that time I was levelling! Ever since then, I have been fooling around with many different addons, further customizing and improving my gaming experience. I have followed MMO Champion as my source of WoW related news and information for quite some time now, and have recently become a forum member myself. This contest has sparked my mind, and the idea of sharing my interface ideas have always been fun for me, I hope the following guide proves useful to those who wish to have a different look or appeal to their own gaming experience.

First comes first, the requirements. Of course you will need a copy of the game client itself, World of Warcraft. In addition, I highly recommend downloading Curse Client, which is a very useful client for downloading and maintaining your active addons. Once setting the default directory to your ‘addons’ folder upon installation, it will download, unzip and install the addon you wish to use with the push of one button. Downloads of the client are compatible for Windows 32bit, 64bit as well as Mac operating systems. Another beauty about having Curse Client is that you create an online account, allowing you to easily download all addons you currently have onto a different computer by the push of a few buttons. The download page can be found here http://www.curse.com/client/ .

There are a few different ways to download and install addons, but this guide will only cover the method of using Curse Client. Make sure it is installed on your computer before continuing. Upon starting up the client for the first time, it will run a search on your system to find which games you have installed that are compatible with Curse. Once it has completed its start up checks, you are ready to begin. Firstly select ‘Get More Addons’, which is located under the tool options to the left side of the client. Secondly, type in the name of the desired addon in the top right search field as shown in the figure below.



Next you will want to begin downloading all of the addons. Here is a complete list of the addons used within this guide to complete what I call the “Perfect Interface”.

- _NPCScan (Scans and alerts the user when rare mobs are around)
- _NPCScan.Overlay (Shows patrol locations on the minimap)
- Atlasloot Enhanced (A tool used to lookup and link items within the game)
- Auctioneer (Used for managing the Auction House)
- Bartender4 (Used to move around and resize action bars)
- Broker: ButtonFacade (Works in unison with ButtonFacade)
- ButtonFacade (Used to manipulate the look of action buttons)
- ButtonFacade: Renaitre (The package of “skins” used within this guide)
- Deadly Boss Mods (Used for alerts and timers during boss encounters)
- GatherMate2 (Used to track profession nodes/chest)
- GatherMate2_Data (Works in unison with GatherMate2)
- GearScore / PlayerScore (Generates a ranking value based on a players gear)
- Omen Threat Meter (OPTIONAL, as a tank or not( Shows threat generation and current threat level)
- OmniCC (Displays cool downs on abilities much more clear)
- OneBag3 (Combines all your bags for one simple ‘big’ bag)
- OneBank3 (Combines all your bank slots for one simple ‘big’ bank interface)
- Prat 3.0 (Advanced chat box, customizable)
- Recount (Displays damage, healing, and other statistics during an encounter)
- SellJunk (A one button tool used to clear bags of trash quality items)
- SexyMap (Makes the user mini map more interactive and customizable)
- TipTac (Makes the default tooltip window moveable)
- Titan Panel (Displays useful information within a simple bar)
- X-perl UnitFrames (download, but only enable certain features (will be further described))

We will begin with _NPCScan. Once typed into the search field, the client load results hosted from Curse and display them within the window as shown below.



Click the INSTALL button beside the desired addon(s) and the program does the rest itself. Continue by repeating this step and entering the rest of the addons within the search field and downloading. Now that all of the addons are downloaded and installed, it is time to start up WoW.

Enter your login information like you normally would, then once you reach the character login screen, select the Addons button at the bottom left of the screen. Enable all the addons for the desired character(s), and if you want the default unit frames (as shown in the first image), enable everything BUT the following X-Perl addons just as illustrated below.



If you desire the look of X-Perl, then go ahead and enable all its features. This guide only uses parts of X-Perl just to make things fit together and look better. Once the desired addons are selected, continue and login.

Once the login is completed, you will be looking at an image much similar to the one below. You will soon realize that we still have much work to do to complete the transformation.



The first thing you really want to make sure you do is to adjust the UI scale. This can be done through the advanced Video settings within the game itself. Its recommended you change the UI scale till everything is comfortable to read. Be sure to do this before modifying any of the visual addons, as adjusting it later on will change the scale and location of most items displayed on screen.

We will now begin by opening bartender. The easiest way to do that is to "right click" the minimap icon as shown in the image below. Secondly, you will want to double check all the bars and other options to make sure that only the ones needed will be enabled. Enable Bar 1, Bars 3-6, Bag Bar, Micro Menu, Stance Bar (if available), Vehicle Bar, Reputation Bar and Xp Bar. Once the blizzard art bar is disabled, this will remove the gryphon artwork and give us more room to work with. Select close at the bottom right of the window once completed.



Now left click the Bartender icon on your minimap and all of the moveable items on screen will now be highlighted in green. Simply click and drag each of the bars to move them where you want. It's recommended that building an interface from the bottom up is much easier to manage, with that said, starting with the experience and reputation bars is highly recommended. Disable 'Bar Snap' to make things less frusterating and easier to place the item with precision. When some items are inplace, open up Bartender again (right click the minimap) and fool around with the scale of the listed item so it fits snug in place. This process can be time consuming. Note that the bars in the below image have had their scale, buttons and rows modified to fit the screen. Also resize and move the chatbox as well as Recount to the desired location during this step.

Open up your interface tab and find ButtonFacade. Under global settings, select the drop down box and select 'Renaitre: Beveled Light'. Edit TitanPanel and use the X-Perl skin for a clean look that matches ButtonFacade. Also right click TitanPanel and choose which options to constantly display, such as current gold on the server, latency, location and fps to name a few. Once this process is finished, you should have something very similar to the image below. Select 'ok' and continue.



It's time to play around with SexyMap! Right click the center of the minimap itself to bring up the SexyMap configuration. In previous images, I used one of the presets titled 'Simple Square'. I found it to be clean and it provides useful information. Browse through the presets or customize for your own design. Be sure to also go through the buttons tab to select when and which icons you wish to be displayed, including the zone title and current time. Move around the buttons and select 'lock' when everything is in place. (I suggest scaling the whole map up from 1 to 1.15 for a snug fit with your buff/debuff frame)

Open up the addon titled TipTac and find the 'set anchor' setting. Move the anchor that appears on the screen to a location where you want the tooltips to be displayed when mouseovered. In this guide it is set in the bottom right just above Recount. Omen will also need to find a home somewhere on screen if its' enabled. Close the addon configuration windows when finished editing.

Your interface is very close to being finished at this point in time. All thats left is setting your action buttons to the desired abilites, setting hotkeys and just dealing with a few personal minor tweeks. Congratulations, you are done constructing your very own interface!!!



Now maintaining your addons during patches is something no one looks forward too. Luckly, Curse Client is very useful when it comes updating your addons. Simply open up curse client, and it will immedietly display which addons have updates available.

Simply click the update button as shown in the image below and thats all there is to it!



Downloading addons can sometimes be risky. I have not had any encounters myself with viruses or spyware through addons, but its always better to be safe then sorry. If your system does not have an Anti-Virus and/or Spyware removal program, I suggest downloading 'Avast' ( http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download ) and 'SpyBot - Search and Destroy' ( http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html ) . Avast will always be running in the background and constantly scans for incoming threats. It has a 'silent gamer mode' which is a nice feature and I suggest enabling. SpyBot is a program that will catch any spyware that causes popups and other undesirable nonsense. Run the scan and it will remove any threat upon completion. If your interested in having a faster startup and keeping your computers harddisk more organized, Downloading and installing 'Smart Defrag' ( http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html )will highly benefit your computer. When you have a few hours to spare, run a Deep Optimize scan and let the progam get to work. Lastly, if your having FPS issues, I suggest downloading 'Game Booster' ( http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html ) . Simply install and run upon playing games, and turn off when your done. It frees up RAM by temporarily shutting off background programs which will restart upon closure of your games.

All of these programs are FreeWare which I use on my gaming PC's. I stand by them as they improve my computers performance, as well as keep it secured from incoming threats. All of these are optional and not required to run WoW and the respected addons.

That is it! If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me through the forums and I'll do my best to answer your concerns or minds curiosity!

Special thanks to Curse, and the authors of all the used addons within this guide as well as all other mentioned programs.
Special thanks to MMO-Champion and all of their moderators to hosting such awesome contest such as this one, and for doing a great job maintaining the forums and keeping up to date with all the current WoW related news. Thank you!


[You can likely find me online, on the Realm Stormrage, Alliance toon named Alýs, (alt+0253 = ý). Be nice ]

[Deleted]

Are you serious about this guide?

I mean your Interface is far away from being perfect. It isn't even decent. Now don't tell me it's good for you or that you can play perfect with it. Because it isn't/you can't. And No, this isn't a subjective opinion. There are improvements that will make the interface just better to use for everyone. The first thing when you are creating an interface is asking yourself if you need specific elements in combat.

1. Is a micromenu(the panel with character profile, spellbook, talents, ...) really needed? Or do you rather use hotkeys for it? If you really need it make it smaller. Same goes for your bag icon.
2. Do you need the scroll buttons at the chat/minimap? Isn't it easier to use the scrolling wheel of your mouse?
3. Do you need all the other buttons at the minimap? I hope you don't play around with your interface configuration in combat. All of those options menus are accessible with slash commands. And without the Buttons it just looks better.
4. Do you really need TitanPanel? I mean there are currently two clocks on your interface. You shouldn't need to know how much money you have, or how much free bag slots there are in combat. I mean this information doesn't help you kill the dragons in PvE or players in PvP. There is no need to have them there. They are only distracting. Also really do you need your interface to tell where you are (Location in TitanPanel)?
5. This tip depends on player type. Do you need so many actionbuttons? Rather hotkey most of them and hide the buttons. I not only improves your play but cleans up your interface.

Last but certainly not least don't tell anyone your interface is perfect. Or good looking. Or functional. It isn't. If you want to see good interfaces take a look at CaithUI, RothUI, Tukui or just the Screenshot thread on WoWInterface. Your interface just shows that you didn't put much effort or thought into it. Please don't post a guide about doing so then. Seriously this list could go on for about 3 pages this is how bad your interface is. I'm Out.

[Riboe]

I have to agree with the above poster.. Your interface is not even close to being perfect.
You like it, great. I doubt anyone else will.. Sorry.
Why do you even need such huge buttons on your actionbars?
Your chat have no background at all, which can make it hard to read the chat in some situations.
You don't even use the same bar texture on all of your bars. It just looks messy. Like if you've just downloaded a bunch of addons and repositioned them, but left them with their default settings.
It also takes up a ton of space.
It is not clean at all.
I have made an interface with the same amount of information (if not more) available.. And it only takes up a fraction of the amount of space that your UI does.
I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Maybe I'll show them what a good UI shouldn't look like.. But that's it.

[Deleted]

To start it friendly, thank you for contributing your thoughts and making a guide, but

I really had to lol, first as I saw your interface, it looks like mine and mine is just awfull.
second as I saw the recommended addons half of them are cpu killers and ram leechers and the biggest laugh came as I saw one special addon
gearscore, who the heck needs this shit?

[Diablós]

I appreciate you dropping this guide, I think it is thoughtful and it is definitely better than the WoW interface. I would use this interface.

[Apocalyptic]

Its not "Gearscore" anymore.
It's playerscore. Blizzard has not "adapted" gearscore into the game by making AIL matter in where you get to go in high end. What playerscore does is give you the option to vote players up and down aswell as give you a comprehensive index of past achievements and progress report. And full gear list.

[Deleted]

Yeah sorry i have to say that this interface would make me wanna go back to default, you have way way to much Irrelevant info there and you claim that having a clean interface as one of your aims yet your Buttons are Hug, you are tracking objectives etc and titanbar? comeon dude.

But on the whole thanks for the Guide it may help some people but sorry for me it looks far to clutered and and Messy.

[Simonzi]

Holy jesus that UI is horrendous. Your guide itself isn't bad, it's well written and formatted. But it doesn't do what it claims, it does not guide to the perfect interface, it just guides to an ugly clusterfuck.

[Deleted]

Guys guys.. It is impossible to make the perfect interface. Because everyone want something different!

[russykh]

Your guide is well written, clear and easy to follow, but unfortunately the content (as already mentioned) is not really up to par.

Your first mistake was to claim it was a guide to the perfect interface. This is subjective for a start - very subjective. Often when someone puts up a screenshot of something here, the first thing that someone will put is "nice UI bro" sarcastically no matter how nice their UI is, or even if the screenshot/topic is completely unrelated to UI's.

Second, you list of addons is highly debatable regarding whats "essential" and what isnt. For example, NPCscan isnt unless you are a hunter after rare pets or really, really want to go hunting for rare mobs. Gearscore certainly isnt either. And there are others that you dont mention that some roles couldnt live without. Its pretty safe to say that a healer would hate this UI (I wouldnt heal with it). And other ones like Powerauras, buff/debuff monitors and cooldown timers.

However, I do think potentially if you changed your focus a little you could come up with something really good. As said, your formatting and directions are nice. Here's what I'd suggest.

- dont go for "the perfect UI" as a title, or even suggest that this guide is to create anything of the sort. Go for helping create a tailored UI that fits the user better. Suggest what addons might be better depending on what the play experience the user is after (a raiding healers UI would look a lot different from a levelling UI). Try to get the user to think what they need, and then help them achieve it.

- Dont go with "use these add ons and configure them like this". Explain what addons do and how they can be used. Give examples or suggestions, but present them as just that and let the user decide whats best. Give alternatives if you can. You dont have to go massively in depth, or if you have one you prefer talk more about that one and give links to information on the others.

- you should perhaps even just consider stripping it down to a beginners guide to addons and installing them and basic setups, and explaining the different types of addons.

I'm sure there are other suggestions I could make, but I'm tired and want to go sleep. I appreciate the effort put into this, but unfortunately I cant say this is a good guide as it is. Not yet anyway.

[Deleted]

Your guide is well written, clear and easy to follow, but unfortunately the content (as already mentioned) is not really up to par.

Your first mistake was to claim it was a guide to the perfect interface. This is subjective for a start - very subjective. Often when someone puts up a screenshot of something here, the first thing that someone will put is "nice UI bro" sarcastically no matter how nice their UI is, or even if the screenshot/topic is completely unrelated to UI's.

Second, you list of addons is highly debatable regarding whats "essential" and what isnt. For example, NPCscan isnt unless you are a hunter after rare pets or really, really want to go hunting for rare mobs. Gearscore certainly isnt either. And there are others that you dont mention that some roles couldnt live without. Its pretty safe to say that a healer would hate this UI (I wouldnt heal with it). And other ones like Powerauras, buff/debuff monitors and cooldown timers.

However, I do think potentially if you changed your focus a little you could come up with something really good. As said, your formatting and directions are nice. Here's what I'd suggest.

- dont go for "the perfect UI" as a title, or even suggest that this guide is to create anything of the sort. Go for helping create a tailored UI that fits the user better. Suggest what addons might be better depending on what the play experience the user is after (a raiding healers UI would look a lot different from a levelling UI). Try to get the user to think what they need, and then help them achieve it.

- Dont go with "use these add ons and configure them like this". Explain what addons do and how they can be used. Give examples or suggestions, but present them as just that and let the user decide whats best. Give alternatives if you can. You dont have to go massively in depth, or if you have one you prefer talk more about that one and give links to information on the others.

- you should perhaps even just consider stripping it down to a beginners guide to addons and installing them and basic setups, and explaining the different types of addons.

I'm sure there are other suggestions I could make, but I'm tired and want to go sleep. I appreciate the effort put into this, but unfortunately I cant say this is a good guide as it is. Not yet anyway.

Hm is there a way to vote up certain posts on this forum? Because this really is a damn nice one.

[Xrafice]

Hahaha, "russykh's guide to writing guides on effective interfaces" XD

OT: Excellently worded, clear, and I do love long posts when they're punctuated and capitalized properly. But unfortunately, I myself have attempted this sort of mish-mash of a million addons and have found that, frankly, it's better on default, for me. I have no doubt that your setup works the way you want it to, but as russykh said, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Well, it was actually kind of the opposite, but you catch the drift. I'd heed their individual points, though.

To aXOrZ' first response, it sounds as if aside from a health bar and perhaps the chat log, you're content with Alt+Z, haha. An obvious oversimplification, as it's a joke.

[pigpuncher]

gearscore, who the heck needs this shit?

I agree, gearscore's for slackers

[XenuMC]

Lol. Why is Omen marked as optional, but Gearscore not?

[Deleted]

I like this guide, it's simple and clear cut though obviously not aimed at the OMGROFLOLPROIFACEROLLWHOLERAIDSFROM4.0BIATCH! audience. Your UI might be perfect for you, and I admire your willingness to open yourself up to a negatively charged community such as this one. I bet some of the newer players that found this guide through links or Google will have found it useful.

I do hope you've looked at some more minimalistic UIs and reconsidered some elements of your setup since writing this guide. The other, more semantical, issues pointed out by russykh also hold true. I see the intent, and I like it. Maybe in the next guide you can take to heart the comments in this thread and give us some more of your stuff

ITT: Haters that confuse the content with the context with their personal issues with their therapy sessions with their online lives.

[Mindfreakz]

The UI isn't terrible, there is no "perfect UI" it's a matter of opinion. What you like is what you like, if other's don't like it fine. Have you guys seen Landsoul's UI? I remember watching his H Halion vid and how much hate comments on his UI was amazing. Yet he's a very good player. Your UI has no effect on your gameplay, how you play is how you play. A bad player is a bad player and a good player is a good player. A UI does not make or break a good player.

Anyway, the UI doesn't look as bad as everyone is saying, but I will admit I died a little when you said Gearscore was required, that addon is easily one of the most overrated useless addons in the game, All it adds is unnecessary space. Just armory someone.

[Windborne Sword]

Wish you would recommend the vastly superior Shadowed Unit Frames over Xperl.

[Deleted]

Nice UI =D... im on of the players tath care about the UI too =D

[Arrcus]

Everything in Bold has nothing to do with your interface

- _NPCScan (Scans and alerts the user when rare mobs are around)
- _NPCScan.Overlay (Shows patrol locations on the minimap)
- Atlasloot Enhanced (A tool used to lookup and link items within the game)
- Auctioneer (Used for managing the Auction House)
- Bartender4 (Used to move around and resize action bars)
- Broker: ButtonFacade (Works in unison with ButtonFacade)
- ButtonFacade (Used to manipulate the look of action buttons)
- ButtonFacade: Renaitre (The package of “skins” used within this guide)
- Deadly Boss Mods (Used for alerts and timers during boss encounters)
- GatherMate2 (Used to track profession nodes/chest)
- GatherMate2_Data (Works in unison with GatherMate2)
- GearScore / PlayerScore (Generates a ranking value based on a players gear)
- Omen Threat Meter (OPTIONAL, as a tank or not( Shows threat generation and current threat level)
- OmniCC (Displays cool downs on abilities much more clear)
- OneBag3 (Combines all your bags for one simple ‘big’ bag)
- OneBank3 (Combines all your bank slots for one simple ‘big’ bank interface)
- Prat 3.0 (Advanced chat box, customizable)
- Recount (Displays damage, healing, and other statistics during an encounter)
- SellJunk (A one button tool used to clear bags of trash quality items)
- SexyMap (Makes the user mini map more interactive and customizable)
- TipTac (Makes the default tooltip window moveable)
- Titan Panel (Displays useful information within a simple bar)
- X-perl UnitFrames (download, but only enable certain features (will be further described))

[Creotor]

I understand you're not claiming the interface in those pictures is perfect. Even then, I wouldn't even call it good and I have a hard time believing that even you really think it's good.
I do think you can improve it by a lot, given time and desire. You would want to stay away from such generalized topics, the more specific - the better. For example, a UI for Protection Warriors.