Reader UI of the Week: Gerzroz' UI
by Mathew McCurley 
May 11th 2010 at 5:00PM
Happy belated Mother's Day, moms. That's about the best I can do for mothers as the addon/UI columnist, unless someone develops a mom addon. Anyway, another week and another reader's user interface. This week we get to take a look at some simple art, give some castbar recommendations and tips, and talk way too much about minimap placement. Let's get to it, shall we?
Gerzroz' UI comes to us with a little message and some interesting topics to cover. As always, we begin with an email:
Hello,
I was inspired by Crazyate's recent submission to overhaul my own UI. Ever since I started using addons, I have been constantly changing my UI which has led to some very cluttered layouts. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a screenshot before I started working on my new UI, but I have attached a screenshot of what my UI looked like a little while ago.
Among the addons I am now using are: Auctioneer, Bagnon, Bartender, ButtonFacade, DBM, Fontain, FuBar, Grid, kgPanels, Postal, Prat, SexyCooldown, SexyMap, Shadowed Unit Frames, and Skada. As always, I am sure my UI could still use a little tweaking, but I am actually quite satisfied with it at present. The one problem I do need to fix is I need to figure out how to move my cast bar so that it doesn't appear on top of my minimap. If anyone has any suggestions of how to fix that, I would really appreciate it.
Gerzroz
<Merciless Shadows>
Khaz Modan US
Thanks for the email, Gerzroz. I am always happy to hear that people are inspired by others' interfaces to work on their own. That is, after all, the purpose of this column. I want people to browse others' user interfaces and maybe see something they haven't thought of before and incorporate those ideas into their own experiences.
Simple art
Finding a decent texture or piece of art to complement a bottom bar setup is a tough thing to do. Most people, myself included, use a slightly transparent solid color background for their panels. Gerzroz has taken the texture approach, using a wood panel/wood grain texture to offset the bottom from the rest of the user interface. I kind of enjoy the wood texture -- reminds me of an old station wagon.
Lots of words about minimaps
A constant topic discussed in the comments and in emails I receive is the common decision to put the minimap in the bottom-center of the screen. The arguments for and against this practice usually come in two flavors. The first contention is why would someone want to clutter clearly valuable screen space with a user interface element that is, admittedly, not very useful in a raid or group situation. The second big concern is that people cannot make the move to a centered minimap because of the years of having the minimap in the upper-right hand corner of the screen, as most games default their minimap to. Let's tackle each concern separately.
The first contention is a perfectly valid style opinion and, frankly, one I share. For a long time, my minimap was in the center of my user interface for a variety of reasons. Over time, the minimap became less and less important to me and was really only used as a gathering profession tool. However, I think that there is also something to say for user interface symmetry. Symmetry is the biggest reason to keep the minimap in the center of bottom row setups. It is easy to use the minimap, which has no symmetrical counterpart in the UI, as the focal point to design around. Many people also do not like having action bars offset to one side or the other in lieu of the minimap's location. Again, your personal preference will decide where the minimap can and should be.
One piece of advice I can give for minimaps in general, however, is make sure that the minimap addon hides the addon buttons that attach to the minimap. Sexymap fades out the buttons by default, and most minimaps have an option similar.
Fixing your castbar is a pretty easy thing to do. All you need is a castbar addon! Back in March, I did an AddOn Spotlight article concerning castbar mods Quartz and Castbars, both of which I heartily recommend, with Castbars edging out slightly due to simplicity. With a castbar mod, you will have no trouble moving and shaping your castbar to fit with any user interface.
Here's a trick with castbars: Most are modular, allowing you to use lots of different types of bars and turn them on or off as necessary. Case in point, your target's spell casts. Most unit frames have this feature built in, so if you already use your unit frames to see what spells an enemy is casting, be sure to disable the castbar addon's functions so they don't overlap. You'll just be wasting screen space and potentially confusing yourself.
So far, I think your user interface is clean, simple and practical, Gerzroz. Make sure to scoot the castbar up a bit and remember to position the other bars in good places as to not detract from the great amount of space you have clear to see the action around you. Also, it wouldn't be a Reader UI of the Week column without me telling you to get rid of your menu bar buttons. So do that. Other than that, things are looking simple and neat.
Other stuff
Here are a couple fun things before I head off for the week. First, thank you all for the Power Auras submissions for the article this week. I got a ton of submissions, and the winners of the raffle will be declared on Thursday and notified by email. You guys overwhelmed me with support for the addon, and I hope that we, as a group, can show people the way on Power Auras.
I really enjoyed the last time I posed a question to the comments after the article, so I think we'll do that again. Plus, you guys give great tips and getting community involvement with user interfaces is the only way the UI community grows. So here's this week's comment topic. If you could incorporate any UI element into the World of Warcraft user interface from any other MMO on the market, which would you choose? You're not allowed to choose "vanity" slots, because that's mine. Step off. See you next week and keep those UI submissions coming!
Interested in getting the most out of your user interface? Come back once a week for more examples of reader UIs. For more details on individual addons, check out Addon Spotlight, your source for everything addon-related.
Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ladygamertn May 11th 2010 5:16PM
I recently switched to nUI and am getting used to it. One thing I don't like is that when an achievement pops up it is directly over the cast bars and I can't DO anything until the achievement bar fades away. Is there a way to move it or turn it off during combat?
icepyro May 11th 2010 6:00PM
I don't recall this problem and I used to be an avid nUI user, but I haven't used nUI in a month or so. (I decided I wanted a little more control and there were a couple things I didn't like, although I've always liked it's out of the box use).
"/nui movers" allows you to see and move the various parts that can be moved. I've always moved some of the things (roll and tooltips especially).
If that doesn't help, the forums on wowinterface for the addon are fairly well up to date and should get you a prompt response.
Gemini May 11th 2010 6:11PM
Yes, it's called using hotkeys instead of clicking buttons.
(cutaia) May 11th 2010 5:17PM
"That's about the best I can do for mothers as the addon/UI columnist, unless someone develops a mom addon."
Based on my realm's trade chat, I'd say you're better off waiting for a "your mother" addon.
Ahoni May 11th 2010 5:17PM
I have all of my most common spells/abilities key bound, but I still need to see them. Am I the only one. I'd love to go to a minimalist setup like this, I just can't play without a ton of visible buttons.
splodesondeath May 11th 2010 5:59PM
I'm too afraid to hide buttons as well, as I worry that if I do, I will start to confuse spells between specs and characters. However, I don't have everything keybound yet, that's still a work in progress.
Etreya May 12th 2010 5:27AM
I'm much the same.. It's one reason I also can't use extensive click cast mapping when I heal.
So I ended up with this as my UI:
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7113/wowscrnshot041910154301.jpg
It's been changed a little since that Screenie was taken, but the layout is the same.
The main difference between that one and my current one is that my unit frames are now entirely Stuf, with Stuf Raid having replaced Vuhdo as i found it much easier to edit and display what information I wanted, and where.
Wulfkin May 12th 2010 8:28AM
@Ahoni: Opie is your friend. It allows you to bind anything non-essential to a pop-up menu. Without it I wouldn't be able to run my super-minimal UI.
Lidodger May 11th 2010 5:36PM
The new Quartz update made it a lot easier to set up and move. I really like it compared to Castbars.
Quidamtyra May 11th 2010 5:38PM
all that time spent on making a great looking UI only to have it shadowed by using the default casting bar.
Not only is it quite ugly in comparison, but using a castbar mod gives you better information (like latency, so you can start casting a spell just in time for the server to recognize it and not waste that brief moment of "another action is in progress" from latency).
pietrex May 11th 2010 5:45PM
I actually like the default cast bar and I don't really need to see the latency, so I just use MoveAnything (look for it on Curse if you're interested), whose name is pretty self-explanatory. Works fine for me. :)
Urza May 11th 2010 11:01PM
To maximize DPS. When you see the latency in the casterbar you can "que" the next spell. For example, as an arcane mage, I can cast my next Arcane Blast even though the cast bar and casting animation isn't done.. but it is done and it's hit or missed. It's hard to describe if you haven't used it before. :)
pietrex May 12th 2010 3:08AM
I'm an Arcane Mage as well and I do the same trick without having a latency bar on my cast bar. :P But I guess you can be more precise with it.
Hailene May 11th 2010 5:50PM
I'm with Ahoni up there—even though I bind (almost) all of my abilities, I like to have them there in front of me as well.
I haven't really played any other MMO's, but if I had to add something to the default interface, it would have to be a debuff timer. Such addons are virtually mandatory for anything other than grinding mobs... (that's not really the question, but it's close :P )
Speaking of panels and textures, I think a how-to on using kgpanels and similar addons would be great. I for one would love to incorporate panels and backgrounds into my UI but I just don't have the know-how. Maybe you could list some good internet resources/sites or offer some tips!
Dwuffy May 11th 2010 5:50PM
Q. If you could incorporate any UI element from any other MMO on the market, which would you choose?
A. While I haven't played any other MMO for quite a while now, I always liked Warhammer Online's ability to have Friendly and Hostile targets designated at the same time.
mackejn May 11th 2010 6:08PM
So I have a question for the wow.com ui junkies. I've been using pitbull for a while, but I kind of wanted to get rid of it. The one thing stopping me is finding a target of target addon. I like to be able to track what the tanks target is doing/casting while I heal. Any ideas?
mstaricka May 11th 2010 6:18PM
Shadowed Unit Frames does target of target.
Chris S May 11th 2010 6:23PM
Shadowed Unit Frames has Target of Target, and I've found it easier to use for unit frames than Pitbull.
Rowan May 11th 2010 6:11PM
What addon in that list is responsible for the wooden background? I'd love something like that but, can't seem to find an addon that is easy to use. Ideas?
mstaricka May 11th 2010 6:16PM
That would be kgpanels.