AddOns Enabled...ETA?
 

I take it that Addons are disabled still -- that or I'm more useless at file copying than I had previously considered. Any ETA on when they'll be enabled?

No ETA. Not soon.

Soon (TM)

No set ETA has been announced, but since addons being disabled is to get us to test their UI, probably not for a few patches since the guild UI and such aren't fully implemented.

I wouldn't expect it for a while either.

In BC it made sense to enable addons early because there was a whole sea change in how addons worked and 90% of them were going to break.

In Cataclysm it looks like little is changing in how addons work but a lot is changing with the default UI. There's class-specific UI work with warlocks and druids. All the major panels are being rewritten. They're making new group/raid frames. etc Not to mention there's a lot of emphasis on a new user experience so they want feedback on how to make the default UI better without beta players installing their favorite addons and forgetting that default ever existed.

But we can still contribute. Turn on 'Display Lua Errors' in interface options. It's off by default. As addon authors we can help debug by reporting them in better context (in combat, on player login, on zoning, buffs changing, etc), and sometimes look at the default UI and debug it for them. Like "/chatlist channel" is broken. It looks like it wants another parameter now but the ChatFrame.lua code hasn't changed to pass one.

There are probably a great many changes that aren't in the live Beta code yet - the RealID stuff isn't even in.

Ah well...so much for the logic of "mass-invite of addon authors = addons enabled"

I feel like a fighter pilot who was handed a paper airplane and told "hey, use this instead"

The chat changes from 3.3.5 are not in the build yet either. The last blue post I saw one the forum seemed to be saying don't expect addons for quite some time.

And this is actually why they are letting you guys in now. Help with debugging the default UI, then you get to play with your own when they re-enable them. Not an unreasonable request, in exchange for giving you advanced access to it, so you can have your addons ready to go when the expansion goes live, not to mention just the fun of being able to play with it in the meantime. :)


*pokes those that are whining* :p

yea really guys, be glade we got in at all.

If you think about it, we're the real bug testers for the default UI. Your normal wow player really can only report that it isn't working as expected and that it stops at a given point.

For an addon author we can provide alot more details on how it broke and why it didn't work. :)

My favorite bug report so far was "Try to fly over Dire Maul - you'll be force-dismounted and die."

Haha, I did the same for that area north of Stormwind which is now part of the great sea. It's a complete no-fly zone and it took me ages to get out of there.

I debug other people's code for a living...only I don't get the fun of fixing it here :-/

And I have HMDS (heavily mod dependent syndrome)...I'm not even sure how the default UI is *supposed* to work; I've barely seen it in the last 5 and a half years. Happily addicted and not looking for a 12-step program, thanks.

*huddles in the corner, shivering in fear*

The default UI is ugly in so many ways. They have so many good artists in the company why does none of them get on interface design.

*comforts Vincent*

Because it's an interface not an art book :p

The default interface is also beautiful in so many ways.

I do agree. The Interface isn't ugly, just it's not flexible enough and that's why they gave us addons. :)

My only complaint is that they disabled /run in this build, so I can't even fix basic things wrong with the UI; for example, at lvl 2, my pet bar disappeared, and I have no way of getting it back.

That's because a few smart people made addons out of macros and blizzard didnt like that :<