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Addon Spotlight: Errormonster and a mailbag

Mathew McCurley
Updated ·7 min read

Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley 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.

Something peculiar is happening to my addon interface folder -- it is becoming more streamlined. Whether this is a product of Blizzard's own default UI's becoming more capable or addon developers' just fusing options together, it feels like fewer addons are doing more things, and I cautiously approve. My UI has remained relatively unchanged since the end of Wrath of the Lich King, so little tweaks and changes these days are big deals.

My inbox was overflowing with questions again this week, so I figured we could answer some more of them and see what kinds of recommendations we can get out there to readers who need a little guidance and help. People do, however, still like an addon recommendation as well as questions, so you'll get a shorter recommendation this week, since there isn't much to say, and a lengthy mailbag. Sound good? Wonderful.



Errormonster

Errormonster is one of those addons that people don't realize the significance of until they have it. Lua errors can range from important to not really all that noticeable, and despite getting Lua errors, players can still use a set of addons that conflict with each other to great effect. Sometimes things just don't always sync up well between two bits of code from disparate creators and authors.

What Errormonster does is block some of the standard error messages that the game spits out due to errors, system messages, and more and moves them to a frame of your choosing. Want to redirect your error messages away from the middle of the screen and, instead, to a tab you've specifically created for errors on your Chatter? Errormonster is your addon. You can even send errors to a boss mod addon, if that's your bag.

I wanted to recommend something like Errormonster because as patch 4.2 essentially winds down and we begin to look forward to patch 4.3, we may get some addon issues down the road. It's always good to be prepared, especially if you don't want a torrent of error messages plaguing your gameplay experience whenever there is a new, major patch.

Download Errormonster at [Curse].

Extended mailbag time!

Hello Mat!

I'm not sure if you're in the practice of answering emailed addon questions, and if you don't I'm sorry for bothering you. In case you are, here's my question.

You know that box that appears in the bottom right corner of the screen when you mouse over a player, a mob or a spell on an action bar? Is there an addon that lets you disable it, or move it around? I've recently fixed up my UI the way I want, but the box, I've found out, appears right over some features which I'd really like in that corner but I don't know how to get rid of it.

Thanks for your time!
Iceworth
Moon Guard-H [US]

Thanks for the email, Iceworth. That particular UI element is called the tooltip and there are plenty of addons that change the tooltip's behavior. TinyTip and TipTac are the two bigs names that get tossed around whenever you talk about tooltip customization, both offering a plethora of options from information displayed to the location of the tooltip, which will solve your problem of having the tooltip pop up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

Download TinyTip at [Curse].
Download TipTac at [Curse].

I was wondering if you had any good ideas for an addon for rogues. I'm looking for something that will show me my energy and combo points in the middle of my screen. Timers on my rupture would be a big plus. As a note I currently use the stock UI but I've been using it for over a year and am a little intimidated to change it. In short I'm trying to get away from staring at the top left corner of the game as I often find myself standing in the bad stuff or the boss moving away.
Thanks in advance.

E.

Thanks for the email, E. Rogues have lots of cool addons to choose from, giving them access to their full suite of abilities and information that any good rogue needs to have available. A rogue friend of mine clued me in to an addon called SliceAdmiral a few weeks back when I made mention that I would potentially bring my baby rogue out of retirement, and it seems like a good start for what you're looking for.

SliceAdmiral has an energy bar, combo point bar, audio reminders, timer bars, and more. Plus, there are plenty of options, and everything is in a compact little UI. I think SliceAdmiral might be just up your alley.

Download SliceAdmiral at [Curse].

Hello again,

So once again I find myself thinking about add-on's and as such I had a couple of comments and questions for you. Recently I have gotten back into heavy farming on my druid. I find it relaxing flying around Uldum listening to music, especially after trying to lead a 10 man on Ragnaros for the 50th attempt all the while still wiping on seeds and FIRE GODDAM I HATE THAT FIGHT!!!!

Anyway.... I have some essential add-ons I use for mining and herbing, most notably Gathermate2 with Gathermate2_Data and Routes a fantastic add-on that lets you add routes (lines) to your mini map that connect to all the various nodes you set it up for. Just follow the line mindlessly and herb/mine till your hearts content.

The last add-on I use (and what leads me to one of my questions) is Bulkmail. Well I used to use it. See I went to use it again last night and got lua errors out the wazoo. It makes me sad because nothing was better than setting up all those autosend features on my farmer then when i visit a mailbox and all the stuff I just farmed was automagically mailed to my main with no clicking or typing on my end. I was wondering if you knew of any mail add-ons that functioned similair to bulkmail. The closest I have come so far is the alt-click function in Postal.

Are there any add-ons that you use for farming that you just can't live without? Could this make a good add-on spotlight article? Essential farming add-ons?

As always thank you for your time.

Nazurutarg - Horde-Hydraxis

Thanks for the email, Nazurutarg. I always feel bad when I have to give out this sad, sad news. It's like telling a small child why his goldfish is getting flushed down the toilet. Every few months or so, I get asked about auto-mail features, and it breaks my heart.

A while back, when the Auction House auto-posting addons and code was fixed to prevent addons like QuickAuctions3 from reposting items for players, the mail system was also hit with a similar nerf -- you are not allowed to have an addon automatically mail items for you to players. Mail must be done manually to prevent mail spam and other lame ends the mail system was being used for before the changes.

So no, there is nothing essentially wrong with the addon that you were using. It just doesn't work anymore. And, I promise, the little goldfish is just going home to be with his mommy and daddy, and it's just so tired from having so much fun being your pet.

As for the second part of the question, let's make that our comment question for today. What addons can you not live without for farming? I personally have not done a ton of farming lately because all my farming professions are gone. My main only has production skills at this point. Commenters, what can't you live without?

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@wowinsider.com.