Reader UI of the Week: February 7 to 13
by Paul Sherrard 
Feb 15th 2007 at 5:30PM
Once again time for another Reader UI of the Week. It's another 2-screen bonanza, with a completely different setup than last week's.
Sheltern Sheltem (EDIT: with an M, curse my old eyes), who you may remember won our art contest a short time ago, writes:
My user interface is a complex mass of crap-on-the-screen-at-one-time
Additional not pictured mods include Grid, Perl Classic User Frames, Vendetta boss mods, Scrolling Combat Text, EquipCompare and a bunch of other little one-fix mods I've probably forgotten about. The font is ClearFont, which is MUCH easier to read(especially for reading mail) than Blizzard's own font selection.
So let us know what you think of Sheltern Sheltem's UI in the comments below, and be sure to send your own UI masterpiece to readerui@gmail.com to be featured in a future installment! Please include a couple of screenshots, a list of your mods, and a bit about why you like your UI set up the way you do.
Filed under: Tips, Tricks, Add-Ons, Screenshots, Features, Reader UI of the Week
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Niru Feb 15th 2007 8:15PM
Any idea how something like this would work on a Macbook Pro?
Pritchard Feb 15th 2007 7:20PM
Where's the graph that shows your heart rate and blood pressure?
Christ, what a jumbled interface...
People at NORAD don't need that much information on their screens.
Michael Jardeen Feb 16th 2007 2:05AM
On my Mac I use two monitors -- how do you move stuff off to the 2nd monitor screen?
Oblitherax Feb 15th 2007 8:46PM
I like it, in concept, I'm not a big fan of how the information is organized, but that is just a matter of personal taste.
Nice use of a dual monitor setup however.
Sheltem Feb 15th 2007 10:24PM
ShelteM! WITH AN M! D:
Corak Feb 15th 2007 10:43PM
Might & Magic ftw :D
Evan Feb 16th 2007 12:09AM
wtb system specs i wanna do this :P
vectorelement Feb 16th 2007 12:31AM
Niru, for something like this to work on a MBP, you'd definitely need a 2nd monitor.
I have a 20" widescreen monitor hooked up to my older Mac, and I don't connect it to my [new] 15" MBP too often, so I prefer a minimalist UI which won't clutter up the screen.
http://vectorelement.com/wow/ui_021507.jpg
- I'm currently using Fubar, which I find to be more functional than Titan Panel. I've used TP (lol) for over a year and recently switched over to Fubar which I find to be much better.
- I also have Bongos, which I like as well. It doesn't screw up your keybindings like some other mods (Discord Action Bars, when I last used it). You MAY have to rebind some bars if you're a rogue, druid, warrior, etc.
- I found PhanxChat on wowinterface.com, and it helps keep my chatboxes minimal. With or w/o the add-on, I use one box for guild and party chat, and another for any other channels.
These are the basic :UI: add-ons I use, and it keeps clutter to a low. Lastly, I'd like to add that WoW runs very well on a C2D MBP, even in Windowed Mode. Don't mind the 23fps in the shot; I have Full-Screen Glow on. My typical framerates are 30-60 fps.
samba Feb 16th 2007 4:38AM
I play with two monitors too, but I find it more convenient to have the second device for my web browser etc.
Niru Feb 16th 2007 8:09AM
vector, clearly i would need a second monitor (unless i wanted to do some wierd half-screen thing). By playing around with ctviewport myself i can see how it would help IF WoW spanned both monitors, but it wont, at least not in full screen mode and even in windowed i can't get it to fill both screens entirely.
Heyasuki Feb 16th 2007 8:20AM
Man wish I had this type of set up! once your level 70 90% of the time I don't need to "surf" at the same time this would be very ideal!
steiny1 Feb 16th 2007 8:37AM
Very nice, I had done something like this once on my setup, but can't live without having a web browser up on the second monitor. Maybe this will force me to get a third monitor :)
I hope that 26 fps on the bottom of the second monitor was just a dip in performance
Evan Feb 16th 2007 8:42AM
ouch, so cluttered, and doesnt look good at all. my UI is great though, check it out >>>http://ui.worldofwar.net/ui.php?id=3940
feedback is welcome.
Evan Feb 16th 2007 8:42AM
too cluttered.
Jeremy Schweitzer Feb 16th 2007 1:26PM
How do you make it so only guild or only tells for example appear in any given chat window?
mrRaist Feb 16th 2007 9:42AM
This might be a little off topic, but how do you setup WOW to work across 2 monitors like that? I have a dual monitor setup, but right now I have one monitor for WOW, and the other for Firefox/IM/Gmail.
Any info would be appreciated.
Paul Sherrard Feb 16th 2007 9:20AM
Sorry, Sheltem. I seriously kept reading and writing Sheltern. My eyes are old and tired, my apologies.
Romnious Feb 16th 2007 9:54AM
I am playing with this exact setup. almost the exact add ons. And you know what? its not cluttered at all. i play on a single 19" screen. its acually less clutterd then the default UI wow comes with. i will post a Screenshot later...
Sylythn Feb 16th 2007 10:23AM
That's a really unique way of splitting the data. I like it a lot better than spreading the game video across both screens and dealing with the monitor split. Having all the informational/one-time use items on the right really frees up your screen for only the useful stuff. And it gives you more real-estate for displaying information at all times.
I have major issues with my 21" LCD being only able to display 1280x1024. Sure wish I had the funds to get a 30" widescreen or two monitors like the rest of you seem to have!
Sylythn Feb 16th 2007 10:06AM
@16 - it's a feature of CTViewport. Normally when you set up your monitors, you would "extend desktop" across to the second monitor - but this means the whole display video is stretched across the two screens and you end up with the monitor frames splitting your view down the middle. CTViewport lets you resize the rendered portion of the game (the visual video part of it) to any size. Chances are he just resized the rendered area to fit the single monitor, and the default background of the game is black (for the monitor on the right).