Our UI Manager

[Cairenn]

Since it keeps coming up lately just wanted to give everyone a heads-up. The existing UI Manager is end-of-life and no longer supported. It will be replaced with a new version soon which is currently in closed Alpha testing.

[jonathon]

woohooo... can't wait to see what you guys have cooking in the kitchen.

[Shirik]

As a teaser I can probably let you in on a few secrets:

• OSGi Interface - The MMOUI Manager now interacts with a framework known as OSGi. This allows ANYONE to write modules for the application so that it can connect to other sites, add in new unpacking utilities (such as if someone wanted to write something to unpack 7zip, for example), etc. The possibilities are endless.
• Multi-Game Tracking - As a side effect of being able to link any site to the MMOUI Manager, the MMOUI Manager is now capable of tracking and updating multiple games in a single pass.
• News Features - A panel is added which allows for the display of news information (such as what you are reading now). This interfaces with OSGi so that anyone can link the MMOUI Manager to any site.
• Automatic Updates - The MMOUI Manager now checks an update script to allow for automatic updating of the core and any supported modules
• Improved Addon Heuristics - The MMOUI Manager has advanced heuristics now in place which automatically detects the ID of any addon to update. This eliminates the need for users to manually type in the ID of any addon not in their favorites list (which was required previously). It also eliminates the need to log in to access your favorites list.

This is not an all-inclusive list and just was what I can think of right now off the top of my head, but I hope it lets you get an idea of what to expect in the new version.

-- Shirik

[Ravarin]

Wow, very much want. Can't wait.

[Darxon]

ooh sound Great

[Psychoshamoo]

[gothicknight]

any chance of a progress report or an update on who things are going with the Ui Manager please

[Shirik]

It's still in Alpha.

Our test users have encountered a few major issues which have been since resolved. It does appear to handle all addons appropriately now. Things that need to be addressed for sure before it can move to beta:

• There is an issue with Mac OS that we are having trouble pinning down where the program fails to start up.
• We would like to create an out-of-box-experience to help detect your addons on the first pass before moving it to Beta. This is purely to help usability because some of the things you see when it first starts up are confusing.
• The automatic updating of the program still needs to be fully tested. There were issues which appear to have been fixed, but we need to do some good testing on it before it can move forward.

All-in-all things seem to be going well. I just don't want to release it to beta until it's in a relatively stable state.

[p3lim]

Will the beta version be open for public to test?

[Shirik]

The beta will be public, yes.

[MaikuMori]

Are you going to change the wow interface API?

I have a personal addon updater which currently uses the old API. The source is public, it's just that I haven't mentioned it anywhere, because I'm still improving/implementing some of the features I wanted it to have. It was intended to be aimed at programmers, not general public and therefore has advanced features (before/after update hooks, ability to write custom updaters to grab addons from other sites then wowinterface, etc). I would really love if there was a public API (the very same old one or improved one).

At very least please don't shut down the old one.

~Maiku Mori

[Shirik]

The API has completely changed, unfortunately.

Whether or not the old API will stay up is in question. Currently I don't see any major reason to shut it down, but that decision is not up to me.

[ChaosInc]

ETA?

(10 chars)

[FinsterDexter]

Originally Posted by ChaosInc ETA? (10 chars)

Good question...

Especially since you guys have now disabled the old one and there is now no client at all.

[Seerah]

Soon TM

It is still getting a couple kinks worked out before it's deemed in a state finished enough for a beta. It looks good, though.

Remember, too, that Shirik has school, etc, outside of working on this. Even though he's spent countless nights with hardly any sleep to get it up and running, he's still human.

[Shirik]

Originally Posted by Seerah Soon TMhe's still human.

what you talking about o.o

[Cairenn]

[Edit]: We've reconsidered and decided to re-enable download of them for now, until the new one is ready. Please be aware, however, that they may not work as well as could be hoped for.

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The UI Manager download was removed at the beginning of the month because of the number of problems it is experiencing now. If you have an existing one, you can still try to use it, but because so many people were having problems with it, we disabled new downloads of it. Sorry. =/

[anseloth]

any chance of an update on the ETA for the beta on this? any info at all would be good, even if you have to leave a lot of room for error when you give a time frame for this. that is, assuming a time frame is even possible to give right now.

also, until the beta has started, i was hoping to use the old UI manager, but i can't seem to find the download link for it. the post before this one says in the edited in section that there should be a download available, of the outdated UI manager. i know that the link i want is probably right under my nose, but after 2 or so hours of searching, i give up on soloing the search.

[Torhal]

If I had to guess, I'd say Soon™

[Cairenn]

Originally Posted by anseloth any chance of an update on the ETA for the beta on this? any info at all would be good, even if you have to leave a lot of room for error when you give a time frame for this. that is, assuming a time frame is even possible to give right now. also, until the beta has started, i was hoping to use the old UI manager, but i can't seem to find the download link for it. the post before this one says in the edited in section that there should be a download available, of the outdated UI manager. i know that the link i want is probably right under my nose, but after 2 or so hours of searching, i give up on soloing the search.

Windows version
Mac/Linux version

As to time frame, I can't really say at this point. Shirik has classes, etc, so he's trying to get the updater programmed around all the rest of his responsibilities. Sorry. =/