Creating a cool UI

[shoka1]

Alright this is fairly easy ( assuming u have SOME knowledge of how to work addons )

Step 1: Sunn - viewport art

This addon i like alot for my character UI's, its throws a pannel at the bottom of the screen ( there are many u can choose from ) that u can put your bar mod over instead of having nothing there which i really like ( ill talk more about bar mods later ) it makes it feel less cluttered to me at least

Sunn - Viewport art : Sunn - Viewport Art - Addons - Curse

step 2: Unit frames

currently i dont use any unit frames cuz my computer is shit, but when i did have a decent comp and could handle ALOT of addons i used xperl and loved them, but currently ( ull see soon in the SS ill post ) that im using default unit frames, some good unit frame addons are :

X-perl unit frames : X-Perl UnitFrames - Addons - Curse

Grid ( for healers ) : Grid - Addons - Curse

and for pvp Gladius(proximo is also good) : Gladius - Addons - Curse

step 3: Bar mods

now ive heard ALOT of people use Bartender4 for their bar mods, but i use the advanced package from the CT site ( link below ) and i LOVe the bar mod from them, easy to keybind, and easy to figure out, i have tried bartender before, i didnt like it as much as the CT pack. but ill give a link anyways to bartender, also CT mod has a really nice cooldown count imo

Ct mods Download page : CTMod - A World of Warcraft Mod

bartender : Bartender4 - Addons - Curse

Step 4 : Mini map

i guess some people want to move their mini map out of its corner and put it other place, its really kind of pointless IMO, but heres and addon that helps u do that

Simpleminimap : simpleMinimap - Addons - Curse


Step 5 : your own addons

i dont use any raid addons cuz i find them not really necessary, but for the people who use mods like Deadly boss mods it shouldnt be a problem, they take up alot of space, at least when i used them and i liked having a nice clean UI so it was easy to see whats goin on around me instead of having 11 boxes infront of me telling me when the boss enrages -_-

For pvpers it shouldnt be a problem the only thing i can think of that takes up space on ur screen is proximo or gladius

The addons listed above are just addons that i use and have used, if u have your own addons sorry if i missed anything you like

Here as a UI using some of the addons above( taken from the sunn viewport art page ) sorry to big for the page gotta just give a link
: http://mediabeta.curse.com/Curse.Pro...screenshot.jpg

and here is my simple UI
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...badob/myui.jpg

Also some cool addons to have

Fubar - adds a tiny bar to the top and botom of your screen ( shown in the first SS ) where u can track various things ( u can download the packs for fubar at most addon websites ) ( i beleive titan panel is the same as this )
FuBar 3.5 - Addons - Curse

Outfitter - Great for classes with specs that require different sets of gear or if you switch between PVP gear and raid sets. it lets you create different outfits that u can change to in 1 click instead of going to your inventory and trying to find it all. i beleive u can keybind it as well but i dont use that ( could be used to switch from sheild to sword and board for warriors )
Outfitter - Addons - Curse

Recount - an awesome mod to track stuff that happens to you and your group such as DPS , healing done, damage done, deaths, etc....
Recount - Addons - Curse

BE CREATIVE

[xerotsuda]

Great little guide here. +Rep

Figured i would add to it with some of the mods i feel make your UI alittle cleaner and better.
I am a minimalist, so my views are for minimalists.

First off, here is my UI.



Now here is a deeper look at its elements.
I did not include or show any of my "rogue" addons, since they are not general to everyone.



1) X-Perl Classic UnitFrames - I have used alot of different unitframes in the past and i feel that it is the easiest to setup and move around. My group frame is small and out of the way, but still visible on the top (as a rogue i dont have to care about my group or raid). My portait is animated, and i can change the opacity and colors of any of the windows or bars.

2) Elkanos Buff Bars - These cars track all of my buffs nice and small along the side of my screen. Lower on the same site in red would show my debuffs (if i had any). The colors and sizes of the bars can be changed, as well as how the data is displayed. I can even change minimap tracking by simply right clicking the "Find Minerals" on that list. Great for raiders who get alot of buffs and want to see everything.

3) PerfectRaid - Like i said above, as a rogue i dont really have to manage the raid, so i try and keep it small but still visible (i am an officer in my guild so i do have to call out who i think needs a Brez or something...). Names can be displayed above, below, to the left, or right of the health bars. Either Health, mana, energy, rage, can be displayed aswell. The addon does not support DK so you would have to enable some things in the settings to get them to show up. I even use this as my main healing UI. The bars display which players i have heals on if they are HoTs and the bars turn color based on what debuff they have. Green for poison, purple for curse, ect.

4) Bartender - I think this is the best Action Bar addon i have ever worked with. It will NOT take you hours to setup all these buttons and get them where you want them and working how you want them to. Very easy to setup. The addon supports other bars like XP, Rep, Pet, Vehicle, Menu, and Bags. you can see my bag and menu on the far left along the edge of the screen, when i mouse over them they show up all the way.

With this addon i use ButtonFacade. There are many different styles of buttons you can use with this addon. It works WITH Bartender, so no problems there.

5) Omen Threat Meter - Although it doesnt show it, that is where i have my Threat Meters. nice and clean bars show me the top 10 agro in my raid. It does not display when i do not have a group, or a mob targeted, i have set it up that way on purpose. Very easy to work with options, best threat meter imo, never wrong.

6) Recount - Easy to configure damage meters. Displays anything you would need to know about anything that has happened. Its like your own personal combat log but easier to read.

Something i forgot to number but should point out is the black bar along the bottom that kind of holds everything together. That addon is called eepanels2. Even though the addon has not been updated in a while, it does not give me any ssues. The new addon that was made in its place is called kgPanels.

[Tiru]

Your ui does not support your claims of being a minimalist.

[chimx6x]

Your ui does not support your claims of being a minimalist.

I second that

lol

[xerotsuda]

Your ui does not support your claims of being a minimalist.

Um?
My buttons are not all over my screen?
My raid frames dont cover another 1/4 of my screen?
My group frame doesnt take up the whole side of my screen?
Everything i need to look at is in one place?
Wide open view?

Please dont talk with your failed flame attempt.

[Dr. Doom]

FFS, thats pretty minimal compared to most. Yea not all the bars are broken down into hotkeys and binded and shit, but thats pretty minimal in my eyes. Don't flame, this threads pretty good. I learned some decent add ons.

[Feitys]

Addons like Geist (wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/geist.aspx) are very nice to hide Mounts/ Buffs etc.

[xerotsuda]

FFS, thats pretty minimal compared to most. Yea not all the bars are broken down into hotkeys and binded and shit, but thats pretty minimal in my eyes. Don't flame, this threads pretty good. I learned some decent add ons.

Keys are bound, it just shows the primary and not the secondary. >_>
And i agree. Compared to some of the shit i see from other people and their UI, mine is clean as ****.

[gezus]

This is by far the "Least" minimalist UI I have ever seen. "minimal" means barely anything at all on the screen.

No Art
No buttons
No anything

Very small .. very sleek.

In other words .. NOT this UI. Here is what a Minimalist UI should look like. Notice the lack of clutter or "Minimal" amount of Interface.



Also .. at the end you say .. BE CREATIVE..

Sorry, hate to be the one to say it .. but this UI is NOT.

However this one is.

[TimH]

Um?
My buttons are not all over my screen?
My raid frames dont cover another 1/4 of my screen?
My group frame doesnt take up the whole side of my screen?
Everything i need to look at is in one place?
Wide open view?

Please dont talk with your failed flame attempt.

You have made a quite nice UI there, but imo your compass is very fussy with addon buttons and I think Titanpanel is a very nice solution for it.
Titan Panel - Addons - Curse
It makes a real tiny bar on the top of your UI and it also shows you your durability, your money and your FPS. and 2x+Rep to the thread maker

[Henka44]

I like this, not often u see a great "guide" on UI creating.
Thanks and +Rep foh u

[wowjet]

Indeed a well written post.

[Saku99]

nice post

a great program to keep ur ui up todate wowmatrix

[Dario04]

only biggest problem imo with WoWMatrix is that it doesn't have a quick link to changelogs, which means you will not be able to look at those fast and easy. Sometimes you will need to have a look at the changelog, like with skinner because you will need to update the "skin files".

Xerotsuda - i'm sorry to say your interface isn't minimalistic. It is clean, but because of the buttompanels you lose a lot of the minimalistic feel of the interface. Another little thing you could do to improve your interface would be to disable some of the minimap buttons, if you don't use them ofc. would make your UI look a bit cleaner..

The easiest way to make your very own custom interface will actually be to look at all the interfaces out there, look an addon or two that you like, download it with WoWMatrix or whatever and fiddle around with it.

// Talities

[[Murloc]]

I'd love to see some minimalist UIs showoff, anyone up for making a thread?

Edit: Despite my inexperience in the section, I may create a similar thread for minimalist UIs in fact.

Nice idea though, had something in mind aswell!