Reader UI of the Week: Hunting and scaling with Elleyna
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 7th 2011 at 3:00PM
Welcome to Reader UI of the Week, WoW Insider's weekly sojourn into other people's lives by looking through their eyes. I am always looking for more submissions from players, so keep sending those screenshots and emails and you could see your setup on the site. Plus, you get to bask in the wonderful advice of our awesome community in the comments, which is what this is all really about, isn't it? Send those user interfaces to readerui@wowinsider.com today!
This week, we've got a nice, solid hunter UI from Elleyna, who admits to a cluttered bottom screen but keeps the pieces working cleanly. I think that the community can learn a lot from this UI, mostly because I want to promote that lived-in look that is so popular these days with user interfaces and jeans. There is no shame in not being perfect, because the beauty of customizable user interfaces is that they are customizable to our liking. Settling into a UI is uniquely you.
Elleyna's UI: DPS, hunter, raiding-UI
Let's hear what Elleyna has to say:
Howdy WoWInsider,Thank you for the email, Elleyna. Taking a page from TukUI (and its wonderful alteration ElvUI) is a good step in organization if you don't exactly know where to start. That's really the aim of these articles, as well. Some people just don't know here to start when configuring their user interface, and we can give some starting and focal points for the new UI explorer.
I've always been into organized yet stylish UIs and I think I've got the right balance in mine (at least for my tastes). I took a lot of inspiration from tukUI but I feel like I've done enough to make it my own (note: it's all from scratch, not a copy+edit). There are certainly things in my UI that I feel like I could improve on (my backpack icon feels out of place and I honestly don't feel the need to look at Omen all that much) but I'm still happy with where it is. Here's a rundown of what I have:
Shadowed Unit Frames Very customizable unit frames while still being fairly simple to work with. I love the amount of information I can put in my target's frame (health amount, health %, level, mana amount, mana %, threat %). Raid frames are pretty standard, I could probably even fade these to cut back on some of the clutter.
Bartender4 Action bar addon, I have a lot of hidden/faded bars. I have my pet bar appear on the top left above my my main action bars, and another pet bar with other pet spells like Call Pet, Revive Pet, etc. I also have faded traps below my main bars which come 100% when mouseovered. The bar on the right side of the screen is a little out of place, I haven't quite figured out what to do with it, it's mainly just utility items/spells or used for when I make use of a macro for certain bosses).
kgPanels All those gray boxes with light gray borders around just about everything. Definitely a complicated addon to get everything working just right but I really like the payoff.
Power Auras Very useful for keeping track of uptime of certain things (Serpent Sting, Improved Steady Shot, Rapid Fire, etc).
MiksScrollingBattleText Pretty standard scrolling combat text addon. I really like this one because it allows you to throttle spells (will show hots and certain dots grouped together as to not flood my screen with fairly arbitrary info).
Recount Keeps the competition up with my fellow hunters more than anything :D
Omen Keeps track of threat, but I could probably get rid of it since I show threat % on my target frame.
RaidCheckList With the vast amount of pet buffs hunters can bring, this allows me to choose the proper pet buff that might be missing (or lets me use my pink tallstrider if all buffs are covered).
TidyPlates I primarily started using these with a tank alt to help see threat and it kind of carried over to my hunter. I just like them being a little more customizable and easy to see if I have threat on an add.
Sexy Map It's sexy looking. It's also nice hiding all the unneeded icons on the map.
PhanxChat Pretty standard chat addon. Main thing I like about it is being able to have the input box on top of my chat frame as opposed to under it.
Taking a closer look at my UI after writing this, I see that it does seem pretty cluttered on the bottom 1/3 of the screen, but I still feel it serves me well. I really like the way it looks and the functionality is pretty much all there as well. Hope everyone likes it.
Elleyna
Raid frames: The DPS version
As a tank, primarily, I like to keep my raid frames around as a small Grid window for Intervenes, aggro notifications, and other assorted uses. My previous raid group was exclusively 10-man, but now that I am a regular in a 25-man group, the dynamic of Grid has changed to a larger display. It hasn't been an issue because the Grid blocks are square and small.
I am not sure why the Grid raid frames for Elleyna are as large as they are. Misdirect seems like it would be better used via macro (which it appears you already have done) on the tanks or by sorting Grid based on tanks and doing some fancy clicking. Other than that, I wouldn't imagine the raid frames needing to be so large for a DPS class unless you were also the raid leader.
Slimming down the raid frames could save a good amount of space and even allow for the player frame block setup (which I very much like) to move out of the center, reducing even more clutter. Also, expand on the faded bars concept with the traps -- I love the faded trap bar and think the rest of the UI would benefit from some fading. A 20% scaling down of UI elements would get rid of more of the space being used up at the bottom of the UI than you could imagine, and it would still look just as great as it does now.
Omen is one of those addons that you sort of just ... have. I've incorporated Omen into everything I've done just because it is such a staple in terms of threat, threat management, and the raid game. However, Omen isn't an addon that needs to be around all the time. Here's my suggestion for in-combat Omen use in raiding environments.
Layer Omen on top of another addon that does not have a great use during combat. Many people layer Omen on top of their DPS meters since, really, long-form DPS analysis happens after the fight is over. During the fight, you can keep either a smaller, more personal Skada window showing just your DPS to make sure you're pulling your weight, or just scale down Recount to the point that you see a bare minumum of your own stats and do the long-form analysis within the addon itself, rather than the list of raiders.
Also, there's a bunch of space on the right side of the screen where you might think about stacking these addons. Keeping them out of the way isn't even an issue, since they are pretty much "secondary" raid addons that don't really come up much in terms of raiding and boss fights, especially with hunters and Misdirect.
Keybind to victory
Get rid of that little bag icon! Why do you need it? For bags, I've always found that the B keybind is the best for opening all bags, not just the primary bag. B will also open bag windows on bag addons like AdiBags and ArkInventory. These addons also have displays for quickly showing free bag space, and the icon really isn't all that necessary. So get rid of it! You say you want to. Now, just take that scary step into the options and rid yourself of the looming, dastardly icon. I have faith in you, Elleyna.
In fact, if you ever feel that a piece of your UI is just sort of hanging out there, see what life is like by removing it and leaving it gone for a week. If you're floundering and flailing about during that week over the horrible life you've committed yourself to, maybe it's time to bring that UI element back. Chances are, though, that you'll just grow into the UI without that addon. Don't be afraid to turn options on and off -- they aren't going anywhere and can easily be toggled back.
A good foundation
Elleyna's UI is a competent build on a good concept that meets all of her DPS and hunter needs. Some more fading and scaling would do her well to fix some of the cluttered addons on the bottom of the screen, since I feel like the clutter is the result of size, not position. Also, I'd swap the traps and action bar positions for a "large to small" pyramid-like structure for more room to work with in the center. The structure of the target/ToT/ToTT works nicely but probably doesn't need to be as big as it is, especially since a DPSer's focus probably isn't over there most of the time anyway.
Even the menu bar, my dreaded arch-nemesis, looks nice with a little bit of polish on it from kgPanels. Wow, kgPanels, you can really make everything look better!
See you guys next week, and keep sending in those interfaces!
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, or visit Addons 101 for help getting started.
Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
perderedeus Jun 7th 2011 3:16PM
Why have Recount showing during combat? Or... the micro-menu buttons are visible, but the pet bar is hidden?
It's not a bad layout, but... wow, priorities. As a raiding hunter, I run a lot leaner. No Recount during a fight. Omen runs svelte... it shows my threat versus the tank and eschews all else - I'm not here to keep an eye on another raider's threat. Raid frames are kept small for most fights - again, I can't heal anyone other than my pet, I don't really need to know if the Warlock is dying in a fire. Micro-menu, bagbar... they're hidden, as are all Professions shortcuts or gadgets (MOLL-E, Jeeves, etc.). And no Scrolling Combat Text - I really don't need the spasmodic bits of text zooming by, telling how much a HoT is healing me for.
Udderpowered Jun 7th 2011 3:22PM
I'm not entirely sure where to ask this, but as this is an addon column I'll risk it here:
I'm currently using threatplates, and it's fine so far, but is there any way of getting my threat percentage to show up on the nameplates instead of the hp percentage? By the time the plate turns yellow it's usually too late to pull aggro back I find. :/
Pantro Jun 7th 2011 3:25PM
yup this time I'm convinced of using kgPanels =p
kaosgrace Jun 7th 2011 3:57PM
I'm always amazed by DPS UIs that manage to clutter up more space than my healer UI while providing less useful information.
Why so much text on the player/target frames? Can you actually read all that in combat? Would you want to?
Why the menu bar? If you must have it , why give it prime combat-visible bottom-screen real estate?
Why is Recount bigger and more central than Omen?
Why is Omen so peripheral, with such tiny bars, that it's practically illegible - but your target's target's target is smack in the middle of your screen with a 1/4-inch-thick bar?
And for the love of all that is holy, skin your Omen bars to match the rest of your bars, and pick a SexyMap theme that doesn't clash garishly with...well, everything.
Luvaria Jun 7th 2011 4:24PM
Not a fan. Not nearly organized enough for me and takes up too much screen real estate.
Jack Mynock Jun 7th 2011 4:30PM
I'm not what you'd call a micromenu nazi, but you could slide it to the left just a little and integrate it into the side of the chat frame almost seamlessly. I think you'd be surprised by how far that would go toward making it "invisible."
leggomymuoio Jun 7th 2011 4:32PM
Personal preference is exactly that. I stated in my email that I'm aware that some elements could certainly use some overhauling.
Complaints:
Raid frames: yes, they could be smaller. I show them all for a two reasons really, knowing when it's a wipe and casting MD on a target that isn't my focus (my MD macro goes focus>friendly target>pet).
Bag icon: I really only show it so I can see how much bag space I have available and if I really need to hit the vendor to empty some of it out. It doesn't take up much space so I haven't thought too much of it. I could probably handle getting rid of it though (I always open with B) and be fine.
Micro menu: point taken, really serves no purpose, I use keybinds for all of those things.
Recount: I show my meters because I like to. It doesn't take but a second to glance down and see if I'm living up to my own expectations.
Omen: Yes, I probably should style it, for some reason it just never occurred to me. I could also move it to the location of where the micro menu currently is. I also do like to see if tanks are struggling/dps is overpowering in which case I can throw a MD.
Text on player frame: Personal preference, I like it but could probably trim some of it down.
And for what it's worth, I play on a 24" screen, so some of the text that may appear small and illegible appears perfectly fine to me.
leggomymuoio Jun 7th 2011 4:33PM
Sorry, this is Elleyna, I thought it showed my name properly.
talkaboom Jun 7th 2011 5:17PM
I looked at your screenshot at 100% resolution, and your Unit frames are HUGE! You can get away by reducing them to 50% of their current size at the very least. You could get rid of the portraits too.
Like stated above, lose the power bars on the raid frames.
I keep recount on during combat too, and since you have the real estate for it, its no big deal.
And unless you pvp and raid in the same spec, you could lose all the melee ability buttons.
Overall, there is something very tidy about the UI, it looks attractive and unless you actually try to find whats wrong, it looks very nice at first glance.
.
On a totally non related note, I will never understand the fascination people have for the default sexymap texture. Something about it really irks me. The square texture looks so much better. :P
Dreyja Jun 7th 2011 5:30PM
Actually, for once I'm seeing a UI that makes sense. Others seem so trimmed down that they are unbelievable to me.
As a hunter, I'd need just about all of my buttons at SOME point, barring memorizing 20+ keybinds, none of the really sleek-looking UIs I see on here seem even remotely realistic.
I say - good on ya. :)
rice2007 Jun 7th 2011 6:16PM
@ Dreyja - It sounds like you're saying that you don't have your keybinds memorized so you keep them displayed so you can look at them. First of all, how long have you been at end-game? If you're new to 85, totally understandable. If not, I challenge you to hide your bars and go through your spellbook. If you've been at endgame for a while, I'm pretty sure you can subconsciously hit every key of an ability without thinking about it.
I've been playing with only the first bar displayed (as it changes with certain vehicles) ever since I dinged 85. I probably couldn't tell you where all my spells are mapped off the top of my head, but if you called one out, I could hit the proper key.
Rhezecar Jun 7th 2011 4:49PM
Well, here's definitely some room for improvement. Raid frames especially. Make the frames shorter by about 1/3 of their width, remove the mana/energy/rage/RP bar and the combat text. You'll have so much more space.
Then... do you really need to see 3D portraits on the unitframes? I don't know if SUF has 2D zoomed portraits like Stuf, but they sure look better than the base ones and don't move. And you could also shorten the 6+ digit HP pool numbers. A good solution would be (if that's possible with SUF) that it shortens the numbers only on 6+, so you could have like 78563/126.8k HP, for example.
Also, why do you have so many debuff icons on your target frame? The only ones you really should see on your target as a raid DPS are already on the nameplates. Therefore they can be completely removed.
Shorten the chat. You totally don't need it to be THAT wide.
If you really don't know what to do with the action bar on the right, at least make it around 30-40% visible. And definitely hide the bag icon.
Since you don't have any stuff at all to the left of your buffs, they could be made to show 10-15 on each row as opposed to the default 8. Get a simple buff addon if that's needed for the case.
The map really looks out of place. I recommend setting the Simple Frame layout, and to make it even more consistent, putting a kgPanel border around it.
So.. tooltip. Isn't really much of an issue, but it can be moved to the right with the addon MoveAnything. The name says it all. :)
And finally, you could move the crucial elements of the UI to save space (e.g. Recount and Omen to the right, player frame to the left assuming you've dealt with the raid frames and so on).
Phew... that's a big chunk of text. Hopefully you'll take some of these advices in mind. Don't assume that your current UI is bad, I've seen far worse than yours. Good luck with your UI! :)
Jennifer Jun 7th 2011 5:26PM
Wow, that's cluttered. I prefer not having 800 things on my screen to distract my attention.
Kole Jun 7th 2011 6:20PM
Let me first say; I love SexyMap. BUT...and it is a big but(t), I will never understand why people use the stock borders. It's ugly and it takes up space. One of the first things I do is hit the clear/start over button and just make it the shape I need for my UI (usually just "square".)
I also use titan panel and Microbuttons so my character/help bar doesn't need to be anywhere on the screen.
But as the OP and others have said, to each their own...
Lyrd Jun 7th 2011 6:22PM
I don't see much of an issue here.
I did LOL when I saw you had Mik's heals scrolling by with the name of the person that cast them. I thought, "If our mage, Timpek, has a similar setup he would actually see that in fact I do NOT heal him ever with direct spells."
seso Jun 11th 2011 8:48PM
Completely unrelated to the subject (sorry), but I have no idea where else to ask. Below, is a [heavily] cropped screenshot, that doesn't even show what it is that I'm requesting...but it's worth a shot anyway!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/sesosuk/miniscreen.jpg
In Battlegrounds where there is a flag carrier (I'm looking at you, Warsong Gulch and Eye of the Storm), there is a chunk of text at the top, telling you who is carrying the flag. All nice and useful, yes yes. However, the default settings, make all of the names show up as a lovely garish yellow font.
Ew.
Disgusting.
Unhelpful!
On one of my alt characters a little while ago, I seem to have enabled something that allowed that tiny bit of text to adjust to the class colours, which was wonderful! Only thing now though, is that I can't quite remember how I did this! Was it through Options > Interface? Was it an AddOn? I just don't know.
I've had a look at some AddOn's floating around, but they all seem to over-complicate the situation. I don't need to change any styling, positioning, size, font or display, just the colour of the default font.
Anyone got any ideas? D: