Welcome to another installment of Addon Spotlight. Today I thought I'd present you with four addons that make minor changes to your UI while providing little or no additional functionality. Call these vanity addons if you like, although you may find one or more of them actually useful.

In the spirit of the holiday weekend (for those of us in the U.S.), I thought I would start with some color-oriented addons. I use these almost entirely for the sheer joy of some more bright colors on the screen, but I as I always say, having a quick visual reference to information adheres to the simple but powerful UI philosophy that less is more.

oGlow is a very simple addon that does one thing, it lights up the icon border of an item with the color matching it's quality. As my paladin's character pane shows, epic items are brightly lit with a purple border, rare items are blue and green items are green. (Okay, no green items there, but you get the point.) I think I replaced that green item with my Medallion of the Horde last week, am I supposed to get a pen for being green-free or something? The only real use I have gotten from this, aside from a pretty glow, is being able to quickly assess another player's gear while inspecting them. I would like to think I am able to tell this by just looking at them, but I like to snoop anyway.Next up is another color-centric addon. (That may not be a word, but I don't care) Actionbuttoncolors has a funky name, but actually comes in quite handy for those of us seeking efficient feedback. Basically, this addon does two things; it overlays your actionbar buttons in a scarlet red if your target is out of range and overlays it in a bright blue if you don't have enough mana to cast a given spell. (This also works with Rage and Energy.)


Granted, there are default indicators, but this addon goes beyond a subtle hint, with this puppy you should have absolutely no problems knowing which spells on your action bar are usable at any given moment. The only problem with this addon is that I have not been able to find a download site for it. I found it via WoW Matrix, the well-known addon auto-updater that works for both PC and Mac. If you're using this, or another addon udpater, try searching for this addon by name. This is your best chance to get this mod.

Third is an addon that serves a single function, but a very important one for those of us seeking clean UI's. AlarArtRemover removes the artwork on each end of your actionbar, as well as the artwork (background) behind your buttons. I spent many hours trying to figure out the easiest way to get rid of the artwork without using an actionbar addon, and this is the solution. It does nothing else, so I can continue to use the default actionbars while reclaiming some real estate on my screen. (Sorry, but after all these years, I'm over the chickens on my UI.)

Finally, I want to share a little gem I found lurking in Tekkub's Google Code page. It's called Rawr, and it is nothing more than a silly little thing I get an odd joy from. What this mod does is snatch up the sounds originally planned for the /roar emote and puts them into play. They sound terrible, mind you, as if they were recorded in Tekkub's basement, but having a sound along with that great emote gives me something to grin about when I kill that druid in the Burning Steppes for the third time. (God help you if you cause me any sort of minor inconvenience while grinding on an alt, I am simultaneously vindictive, petty and sadistic.) One thing to note, there are no sounds for Draenei or Blood Elves, probably because Blizzard opted, for whatever reason, not to add sound to the /roar emote.

That's it folks, I hope none of you caused any fires this weekend, and if you did send some screenies or it didn't happen. Dismissed.

Tags: actionbar-art, actionbuttoncolors, alarartremover, art-remover, oglow, rawr, rawr-addon, tekkub

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Add-Ons, Features, AddOn Spotlight