With or without
 

Is a small change, but can't decide..First pic is with panels, and second without.
I'd like some help deciding >.<




Sorry about the image quality, was too big so had to use Image Shack~

With, most certainly.

Definitely with

It's your UI, so, most definitely go with the way you prefer.

If you like the panels, go with them. If you don't like the panels then don't use them.

I must say, though, that in my experience it occasionally depends on what's going on in the world (what kind of environment your character is in). That makes a big difference about what looks good and what doesn't. Usually (again, in my experience) using panels makes it more difficult to "loose" your UI elements in a difficult situation.

Just my opinion (and probably one of my better "non-answer" answers).

I'd say without, with those particular panels. Having essentially three lines (black, gray, black) between all the bars and buttons adds a ton of visual clutter. Adding a simple panel around the whole object (the whole unit frame, or the whole action bar) instead of panels around every single part of the object (each status bar, or each button) would look much better, and still provide a clear distinction between the game world and the UI.

I vote with :)

Well, this is what I ended up with, but it's missing SOMETHING. I can't put my finger on it, but something is definitely missing >.< Disregard the action bars lower right, in the idle screenie, is just a bar thas out while I'm working on my UI. Please, C&C/suggestions are welcome, nay, NEEDED~

I don't know, pixel fonts are just awful in general (even if I had perfect vision, they'd still be ugly, but since I don't, they're unreadable and ugly), and the whole "sleek pixel border" look doesn't feel like it fits well with the overall aesthetic of WoW. :/

I've gone from your opinion to the opposite over time. I can't stand pixel fonts in chat frames but I feel like the thinoutline on non-pixel fonts looks awful on most UF's and meters (or various other bar displays) and have swapped all of those over to a pixel font with the crisp monochrome outline.

I have some junkish eyesight and don't wear my glasses (though I should 90% of the time), and just can't deal with how most serif (basically, anything but a pixel font) looks like against a colored BG - so, a UF with class colored bars, most damage meters, etc... Basically, can't stand pixel fonts in chat windows/option frames/general UI - but can't stand non-pixel fonts on UFs, bar displays, basically I use them on anything that isn't what I like serif/sans serif fonts on =|

On topic:
I reallllllllllly like the new layout but I don't care for the pixel font. Just my preference, I like pixel fonts that aren't much different than most serif/sans serif fonts. I'd remove the text shadow on the pixel fonts for sure though, but again, just a personal preference, I hate shadows on pixel fonts.

Frames look really nice.

I don't necessarily see why you'd need all of the text info at the top and bottom of the UI, seems like it should be consolidated in one location/be minimized to vital stats. I've never understood why open bagslots/gold needs to be shown, but if you drop those stats you can put the non zone text/coords into that bar and place the zone/coords on the minimap (if you really need to see them at all time - ie a main map mod that shows coords if you need them on the fly).

Still, overall, I think it's really sharp - awesome job!

I think you should remove the glaze on the action buttons. Doesn't quite fit with the rest.

The glaze looks like it somewhat fits with the statusbar texture, but would be better to just edit the texture on the hotbars to shadow the buttons instead of the glossy look.

Placement of data feeds and font (overall) have been ( and will probably continue to be) the hardest part of overall UI design, for me. I've tried just about every known font there is, lol. And having bag space and other data feeds...well, just trust me when I say that the ones shown, are the ones Ive faltered without, lol. All have scripted kgpanels behind them, bag space opens bags, gold opens token panel, coords open the world map, durability opens character panel, etc. I blame WoW Interface and these forums for my fascination with pixel fonts. I can't remember off the top of my head whose UI it was...but prompted me to try a pixelated font, and after that, I was lost. Trust me, I WISH I could use the neuropol font, is my favorite, but never seems to look right, anymore. Thanks, all of you, for taking the time to look, and comment, it really makes my day, when I sign on, and see that people have taken the time to look, AND comment . As for button facade..Ive tried so MANY diff skins, but this is only one with ability to properly show a pixel perfect border, no matter resolution. (pHishr's Random1)

Fake editi: For those of you that TL/DR ( an internet phenomenon that irritates me at an almost cellular level) Thanks for looking, and thanks for commenting, will be updating new pics, later, saw a serif based pixel font (Kyou) gonna try that out, along with first ever (for me) mouse-over kgpanels, lol.

If you can read anything on the screen without your glasses, you're better off than I am. Without my glasses, at a normal viewing distance, the WoWI logo at the top of this page is just a yellow blob, and I can't even identify anything else as being text. :p

That describes my vision perfectly. If I squint hard enough, I can read the logo and can begin to make out some of the text, but the eyestrain is too much to bear.

However, I see perfectly fine with my glasses on. :D I have eye exams regularly to help stay on top of my prescription. I'm 25 right now though, so I'm not exactly looking forward to old age. :(

I can try and make one that matches that skin if you want

That would be extremely cool!

If you could toss me a link to the statusbar texture you use (or a link to the media pack its in) that would be super!

I can't remember which media pack these came from, I have them all in one SharedMedia file. Although they DID come from here on WoW Interface.

Not sure, but give it a try

I'd get rid of the glaze like Quse mentioned, and choose a different font. Keep to pixel, though.

I'd also try to get the same font on every element except possibly chat. Your nameplate font isn't the same as your unitframe font.

I'm 27. I just had an eye exam last week, and the prescription for my left eye is still exactly the same as it was when I was 17. My right eye, unfortunately, has gotten about 25% worse. :(

In addition to fixing the font used for unit names in the 3D world, you might also consider using two fonts in your UI: one for short pieces of text such as on unit frames, and a more easily readable one for longer areas of text such as chat and tooltips.

A couple other things I noticed in your latest screenshot:

• The buff icon to the right of your target frame needs to be shrunk down by a few pixels so it lines up with the target frame properly.
• The mostly-empty green bar in the center just above your action bars needs to be moved up a few pixels, leaving a gap equal to that between the lower action bar and the info bar thing.
• The combat icon doesn't really match the pixellated style of your UI. You might consider making your own custom texture without gradients or anti-aliasing.
• The icons on your scrolling combat text should have an outline to match. This may require modifying your combat text addon.
• The count text on your buffs is cut off by the edge of the screen. Move the buffs down, or move the count text inside the icon.
• The LFG icon inside your minimap looks very strange and randomly placed. Consider moving this to the info bar, and replacing the icon with text.
• I agree with previous posters that the glossy effect on the action buttons does not match the pixel style.
• The info text at the top of the screen looks orphaned. Consider putting it inside an info bar, like the one underneath your action buttons.
• Finally, make sure that everything around the edges of the screen is the same distance from the edges of the screen. There's more space to the right of your minimap than above it, for example, and more space below your chat frame than to the left of it.

Good suggestions all =) The text up top is in about the best place I can put it, if I stretched and put it into bar mirroring bottom it would run into buffs up top, and have a hidden bar on bottom, under action bars that contain mounts, foods, etc. The in combat text IS a custom made panel, using same font as UF, haven't figured out how to put one on target frame yet, lol. As for moving text from above buffs, that bothers me, as well, but they're your addon (PhanxBuffs), and I cant figure out where to edit to move count inside or below buff >.< Plus if anyone can point me in the right direction to call text, instead of LFG eye, I would greatly appreciate it, would rather have text for that as well as difficulty flag. This is an updated pic, showing some of these suggestions in effect.
Edit: I apologize for screenie quality but had to change to png then back to jpg so it would be small enuf to upload >.<
Also, I use Miks combat text, so no clue whatsoever where to add an outline to icons, I would LOVE to.

Buffs.lua, lines 99-101:
The middle line (the one in yellow) is the one you would need to change to move the count text.

You'll find similar (if not identical) lines in Debuffs.lua and Enchants.lua if you want to modify those as well. Nearby lines affect the position of the timer text.

I was talking about the "crossed swords" icon on the target frame. It's the default "in combat" icon, so that's what I assumed it was indicating there.

You removed the screenshots from your previous post, so I can't look back and see if there's something else that may have been confused here.

MSBT... so much code to search through... good luck. :p

Worked Like a charm, thanks, lady.
I haven't removed any screenies, but am going to try an amended script so I can change the targets combat status, I agree, the crossed swords throws off the whole rhythm. As far as MIk's yes......LOTS of code, lol. I could alwmost swear there was a forum post about outlining icons tho... Anyhow, my thanks, as always, lady, for taking the time to respond ~

Working out the kinks, I believe it's actually getting much closer to Ideal for me.
I forgot to turn of boss frames in Stuf, of course, and REALLY need to figure out how to outline icons in MSBT. Also, need to figure out where to put the 'hidden' bar at bottom, am trying really hard to get use to keybinds and just 2 action bars, but being a 'clicker', it's hard, lol.

This what it looks like when I try to use a regular (non-pixel) font. It didn't always. I'm trying to figure out why... Ive tried my 8x multisampling, tried no outline, with outline thinoutline, still looks smudgy. Or it does to me.

This is what I ended up with. I'm pretty satisfied with it, I think. C&C/Suggestions needed~

Looking good. Is that Pixel Arial I see?

A few suggestions:

1. Move the rep bar to an Info bar on the bottom. Plenty of space down there, and simply showing a X% Rep is more than enough.
2. The transparency of the bottom Info bars feels conflicting with the rest of the UI, but I'm not sure whether I'd make them completely opaque. Maybe just less transparent with the same background texture as other status bars.

Yes it is. I may >.> <.< or may not have found it in a copy of RealUI. ;)
I have been changing the info bars opaqueness around, as well. I can't really seem to find the 'perfect' setting~

Well, personally I'd get rid of the background on the Info bars. :p

I tried that first, actually. But that font, on my monitor, looks really bad without a background...the outlinemonochrome, just fills the text, instead of outlining it. It has something to do with how I've modified sStats, but haven't been able to pinpoint, and fix yet~

Have you tried using Thinoutline as fontflag for your chattext instead?

I have, but there is no difference from OUTLINE, It's really kind of aggravating. I can have multi-sampling and anisotropic turned all the way up, and it
MAKES
NO
DIFFERENCE. :(

Which is why I use pixel fonts. I would rather use Neuropol, or Xenara, they're both my personal faves, but they just look smudged, unless I have them set at 18 or above :(

Yep, just the reality of outline on normal fonts.

Had to go with pixel for chat, but it's not too bad, I think I got them all to match, for once. Not sure if I'm going to change nameplates, which is why is a non pixel font. Suggestions/C&C welcome, please~

This might be sounding like no big deals, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyways :P

It seems to me that your castbar isn't centered, it looks like it's a bit to much to the left. Am I wrong? My eyes might be tricking me.

Another thing that really isn't a big thing is the buffs, they should be placed one pixel higher to match the top border of the minimap imo :)

I like those nameplates a lot. Which ones are they?

Dnameplates http://www.wowinterface.com/download...amePlates.html with a diff font and texture. Background visibility has been lowered, as well~

Been playing around (again) with a panel UI. Let me know what you think, please~

I'm going to go back on subject for this thread: Without.

>.> The panels are REALLY bulky and distracting.

I think the panels could work, I would just lower their opacity by a good bit. But if it's this opacity or not, I'd say no panels.

I'd agree.

If you do go with the panels I'd line your unitframes up with the edges of the chat boxes.

Or just put those elements back in the bottom left/right corners and they wouldn't be as much of a distraction.

Well, this is what I ended up with...not too sure, but seems to work ok. C&C/Suggestions welcome, as always~

I like it - a lot.

Suggestions:
- reduce the number of players shown in your dps meter
- hide threat bar ooc
- reduce buff icon and minimap size (player buffs next to minimap).
- align your debuff icon with... something. Looks random where it is.
- center the text on your raid frames
- consistent spacing on the outside of the screen; tooltip and raid frames are on the very edge whereas the minimap is ~5px off the edge.

Seriously, looks good, just incredibly nitpicking on my end. Like, equal spacing top to bottom on items like the text on your minimap - nitpicking to that level because it's a pretty good layout!

Also, just wondering what those boxes on the left and right side of your bottom bar (under your bars) does.

I also hate text shadows on pixel fonts with a passion, but that's totally personal preference =|

Looks really good, Kendian. :)

Dang, this is looking good! And I usually have a hard time with pixel fonts ;)

The only things I can think of is the tooltip and raidframes, they should (imo) have the same spacing between them and the screen edge as the, for example, minimap has.

The health and power text on player and target unitframes looks like it should be positioned 1 pixel lower aswell.

These might be silly nitpicking but that's the only things I can think of - and I think that's a good thing ;) Great looking!

The one on the left opens my Interface (game|addons) the one on the right opens my LoadIT addon. They both have an overlay (low opacity/class colored)
when moused over.

Thanks, you 3, for taking the time to look, and comment~ :D

Just some minor changes, mostly cosmetic. As always, C&C/suggestions always welcome~

I think I'm really close to being satisfied with this. (small things to do, i.e. font size on debuff stack, get rid of dispellable debuff on raid frames) Please C&C and suggestions needed, wanted~

Well, I can't read anything at all in that UI, but I guess it's for 21-year-olds with 20/5 vision and 60" monitors. :p

Showing 28 players in your damage/threat/whatever meter seems a bit excessive. I'd limit it to 10 or even 5, and let users scroll if they really want to see #28. (Also, how are you getting 28 players on your meter in a 25-player raid?)

It might balance out better to move the objectives tracker to the top left, above the raid frames. Alternatively, you could just hide it during combat.

The tiny bars just above the action bars seem out of place... they don't line up with anything, the action button glow overlaps them, etc. If the bottom one is showing rep, why not use the info bar below your action bars to show rep since it's not showing anything else as a statusbar? I also have no idea why you have your ToT's name shown next to your holy power bar and a rep bar.

I usually only show 10 in dps meter, lol, was checking it out previously, forgot to put it back, and usually have quest tracker hid in raid, but just switched to a newer one, and haven't played with it yet, the bars above my action bar is threat meter and holy power. I tried having holy power on my unit frame, but being a clicker, my focus is generally right there hovering over my buttons =(
I also just updated freebgrid and forgot to turn off dispel able debuffs.
I'm almost twice 21yrs, and my monitor is only 23 inches, but I do have 20/13 vision :p
Thanks for looking and commenting, lady~

Trying to show some of the details and scripted panels that this community has helped me with over the years. Fullscreen and highest res to see the pixel perfect borders.

http://youtu.be/ISD46SvMtto

Panels scripted for Seerah's awesome Sstats AddOn
http://youtu.be/5BpwJ9hOD8E

Would love C&C/Suggestions~ :)

Would love screenshots instead of videos. :(

Some small changes, mostly cosmetic, have really tried to streamline how it looks and feels. As always, comments, criticisms, and suggestions are welcome~