How to configure Grid
by Eliah Hecht 
May 15th 2009 at 7:00PM
I've been using Grid for years, ever since Molten Core (in fact, one of my first posts on WoW Insider was about Grid), and I still learned things from this article. The way Grid composites information onto its little squares is not intuitively obvious, so it's probably worth taking a look just for that. There is also a video on how to configure the mod, which might give you a hint just how complex it can get. The post ends with a list of some useful plug-ins for Grid; I fully agree with the author that GridStatusThreat, which shows which raid members have aggro, is a must-have (although I can't find a working link to it at the moment – is it included with Grid these days?).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
ramzoor May 15th 2009 7:07PM
Grid? Complicated?
Tzi May 15th 2009 7:24PM
I think the author means its complicated to* set up* and fully customise it.
It's of course easy to use one you're used to it. That's why it's so awesome.
Mr42 May 16th 2009 10:44AM
read as "more complicated than healbot"
Hella May 15th 2009 7:09PM
That link to gridstatusthreat doesn't work.
Magresda May 15th 2009 7:10PM
I have tried again and again and again to use grid, every time I have given up as soon as I entered a raid and panicked, realizing and I'm gonna need a LOT of practice and a LOT of configuration for this to work. A "brb" later and I'm back to the default UI, which I've always used without trouble.
Lately though, I decided to give X-Perl a shot. It's surprisingly flexible, a lot less daunting to set up and with a little tweaking the raid frames gives you all the information you get from grid, in a more traditional way. Very good for people like me who are used to healing essentially mod-less.
Firestride May 15th 2009 10:11PM
You're who Healbot is for.
Muse May 16th 2009 7:58AM
Speaking of Healbot, I've been using x-perl too for healing purposes, but the other healers are on Healbot. I'd like to help them by keeping the thing running in the background for the "clients talk to each other" assistance, so they can see who I'm healing and all that, but still continue using x-perl on my end. Is that doable, or does Healbot require being the grand mogul in order to share its info?
Dave May 15th 2009 7:14PM
I've always preferred using inverse colors and shifting the bars to go left right instead. I also like mine to be around 40px high and 60px long.
I have no idea why Grid saw fit to be the unique snowflake in an island of visually ergonomic information, but once you turn them into a small gird of normal bars, they seem to make a lot more sense for most people.
It's one of the least intuitive mods that somehow became one of the most popular. I'd stop using it if someone came out with something better, that's for sure.
Braundo May 15th 2009 7:17PM
Even as DPS, I like to use Grid as it provides a very customizable and compact way to view everything I want to know about the raid's status. I've tried XPerl's and AG's raid frames and I just didn't think they were as easy to get looking exactly the way I wanted them.
Karilyn May 15th 2009 7:28PM
I use it as a tank, because it supplies me with all the critical information I need, if I set it up right, in a much more compact manner than any other raid UI.
It's good for everyone, not just healers.
OIK2 May 15th 2009 7:30PM
I have used Grid off and on, but always go back to HealBot. All of the functionality of Grid, without the headache of having to tell it everything you want to know. It works great right out of the box. Currently I am using it's Grid Theme, but then I changed some of the details of it to suit my style of play.
TLDR: HealBot gives you the cake and your choice of icing, Grid gives you a box of ingredients, but no recipe.
jtd May 15th 2009 7:41PM
I hear ya on that!.
I could never figure out grid. But with very little tweaking I raid heal quite nicely with healbot. Plus HB makes my mouse-over heal macros sooo much easier.
Gryph667 May 15th 2009 7:42PM
Testify!
jbodar May 15th 2009 11:35PM
Great analogy!
Drachenlord May 16th 2009 2:21AM
On the Server I play on, Healers who use healbot generally keep it a secret since they're mocked for it...
Mainly because the Vast Majority of healbot users that are absolute garbage and should just respec to dps... I've seen healbotters do some pretty stupid things and blame it on healbot messing up...
Healbot is a crutch... learn to heal without it imo Grid and Mouseover macros are win...
Eylie May 16th 2009 9:45AM
I think Drachenlord said it the best.. A lot of people on my server blame their mess ups on Healbot. My guild was doing Malygos for the first time.. Over 27 wipes because we couldn't get out of phase 1.. Yes.. Phase 1.. The easy phase of PoMs... Renews.. Flash heals here and there...
The one priest, who will remain nameless because of how retarded she was, would constantly say, "I loves my healbot. It's the best thing ever." All of the wipes were caused because her tank died... Or cause she died.
When my friends and I left that guild, I posted a long message to everyone and to her telling her at the end to try Grid and Clique. It works just like healbot but one thing I noticed about healbot was the horrible lag between the tank going down in health and it showing on the screen.
You bet your butt I tried healbot 1 time. I said, "Oh the hell with this, brb." and threw my grid back on.
If you seriously love healbot because it will buff people for you too.. there is a mod that wowinisder spoke of before. Smartbuff.. I got it. I use it. I like it. Great for buffing people on the fly that need a battle res.
Ginncrotz May 15th 2009 7:49PM
GridStatusThreat is part of grid now, or at least I don't have a GridStatusThreat but I _do_ have (and use) a thread indicator in Grid.
As a healer I use it to know who to keep an eye on, as a tank I use it to know who to taunt off of.
It is also pretty useful to set grid to show you raid marks, and target raid marks. But I haven't watched that video or read that article yet. Hopefully I can learn some little hidden Grid trick...
Robert May 15th 2009 7:50PM
If grid were easier to use and didn't need 5-10 addition addons for good functionality I would be far more successful. Healbot does everything Grid does right at install with minimal set up.
Groth May 15th 2009 7:56PM
Ok I'm appreciating the irony of spending the evening getting grid customised to my set up, coming on wow insider and finding this as the latest article.
Healbot actually does more than Grid for the basic set up, as it includes one-click casting. Grid needs something like Clique to do that.
However, once you get into instances/raids like Ulduar, Grid comes into its own. Being far more customisable, Grid can be configured to indicate what's happening to the raid with far more detail than healbot.
Razorek May 15th 2009 8:00PM
Try out VuHdo, its an amazing healing addon that all healers should have. Basically all one addon with great frames to heal. Better than healbot and grid