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Addon Spotlight: Community choice #3


Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, I spotlight your suggestions for Community Choice 3!

Oh, WoW Insider community, you always pull through for me. This week, we're doing another Community Choice Addon Spotlight highlighting some of your favorite addons.

When I'm not ranting about Tol Barad, I'm writing about addons. What that means is I get to read a lot about addons and people's impressions of them. It's nice, once in a while, to have you guys recommend something for me to feature. Hey, this whole column is all about getting information to you guys, so it's a real boon to the community to have your input as well. Remember, you can email any addons you think deserve the spotlight to mat@wow.com.



Shadowed Unit Frames

Hey Mat, I'm an Alliance paladin tank, and recently I've been trying to find a unit frame addon that's easy to set up and has the same functionality as X-Perl. I love X-Perl, but recently it's been buggy and not often updated. I tried Vudho, Pitbull, Grid, and Healbot, but all of them were either missing a piece of the puzzle, or ludicrously difficult to set up (I'm looking at you, PitBull). Simply put, Shadowed Unit Frames is clean, lightweight, and frankly, has the nicest set-up and options page of any unit frame addon I've ever seen.

Cheers,

Satomii the Tank

Satomii and I are on the same page with regards to Shadowed Unit Frames. I could never really get into some of the more robust unit frame mods out there, mostly because I don't usually have too much information in them other than health and simple buff and debuff tracking. My unit frames have self-applied buffs and debuffs larger than others over the enemy's unit frame, and that's pretty much all I've ever needed.

There was sadness in the air when Shadowed, the creator of said Shadowed Unit Frames, decided to leave the addon sphere. Fortunately for us, being the smart guy he is, he handed off the project to very capable hands. Now, we can rest assured that our favorite unit frames will still be available for many expansions to come.

I love Shadowed Unit Frames because it's simple enough out of the box but deeply customizable if you're into that sort of thing. You have every unit frame available to customize: raids, groups, arena and more. Frames can also be faded in and out depending on activity for the avid minimalist. My favorite feature, however, is that making each bar look identical is incredibly easy by configuring multiple frames at once, instead of doing each separately. Love it.

Download Shadowed Unit Frames at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].

TitanSocial

Hi Mat,
I have a lot of friends from various realms and my Real ID list is getting pretty big because it takes three lines for each friend. I was looking for an addon that would display only their names, with optional information in a nice, compact frame. Since I'm also a TitanPanel user, I hit up WoWInterface and found my new favorite friends addon, TitanPanel Social. It's only in beta, but I've been loving every second of it.

Thanks,

Venny


If you're a TitanPanel user, you've already experienced the awesome addons you can slot into the bar and how much information can be at your fingertips despite the addon's being so compact. Enter TitanSocial, an addon that I had hoped people would write in about, because I've wanted to talk about it ever since it was first linked to me. Community choice wouldn't be complete without an addon that can help you manage your friends, after all.

I used TitanSocial when it was still in beta, and the addon worked competently then and hasn't given me any trouble since it released. Titan Social contains a massively customizable interface showing you who is online, from guild members to Real ID friends, giving you quick and basic information any way you want it. The addon is modular, so you can turn off guild, Real ID, or friends independently of each other.

Anything that manages my friends information better than the regular interface can is cool in my book. One day, I'm hoping for a simplified friends window that does something like TitanSocial, giving me all the information in one line opposed to the bulky way it's done now. Great suggestion for the community spotlight, Venny.

Download TitanSocial at [Curse].

Marking bar

Hey, I just wanted to write you about a new addon I found on Curse called Marking Bar. It combines a lot of the features of other popular marking addons, and my guild loves it and can't live without it in the new instances.

Thanks,
~Michelle


I've been looking for something like this for awhile, especially with the advent of the new raid

control panel. Marking Bar's no-nonsense approach to easy marking and raid flare selection makes the addon quick to use and compact enough to have out all the time on your interface. Kind of like when you have a kitchen appliance on the kitchen counter versus keeping the thing in a cabinet underneath the sink -- you're never going to use the damn thing unless it's in view at all times.

Marking bar lets you mark mobs, drop the new raid flares, and perform ready and role checks for your raid. It's simple, compact, and just plain works.

Download Marking Bar at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].


Addons are what we do on Addon Spotlight. If you're new to mods, Addons 101 will walk you through the basics; see what other players are doing at Reader UI of the Week. If there's a mod you think Addon Spotlight should take a look at, email mat@wow.com.