Wanting to build a UI but not sure quite how...

[Nerdus]

Hey there WoW Interface as you can see I am new here (I recently made the account) I have known about your guy's site for quite some time now and have been drooling over a lot of the UI's that have been made.
I am curious as to how you can make a UI I have read articles saying you use LUA or even XML but how do you do all that? I am quite good at making UI's with addons (mine right now is just PitBull4 and Bartender with Masque and Power Auras with a few leisure addons like TipTac and Recount.) so is there like a beginners guide or a way to make one with some simple stuff.
Can yo help
Nerdus
(also I will be making wow videos in the future for my YouTube channel I do plan on one being how to code/ make a UI in WoW so all this help will be greatly appreciated I will make a post to my channel when I start posting hope I get some support thnx.)

[Coote]

Originally Posted by Nerdus so is there like a beginners guide or a way to make one with some simple stuff.

There's a few places you could look to for some help familiarizing yourself making addons.

http://wowprogramming.com/
http://www.wowpedia.org/AddOn_programming_tutorial
http://www.lua.org/pil/

If you need further help, you're always welcome to ask on the forums. Many of us tend to also hang around in the #WoWUIDEv IRC channel on Freenode.

[Fizzlemizz]

Most UI replacement packages are made up of a combination of addons obtained from a site like this one with a pre-set configuration of each addon. Making a full replacement from scratch (unit frames , action bars, raid frames.....) would require a great deal of work.

My advice start by by knowing exactly what piece of the puzzle you need ie. what are you trying to do that you can't do (or can't get done the way you want) using an addon already available (try different addons in the same category or ask here as it's more than likely somone has had your requirement already).

Then... see reply 1

[Nerdus]

thnx for the help also was wondering how do people make all there own skins and such for addons such as pitbull and kg_panels and dominoes and bartender?

[def9]

KG Panels is a great mod for importing art and theres a video tutorial linked on the wowace page if you want to learn how make your own. There is also several packs like Viviens Art Packs for kgPanels you can grab and import to learn with.

Masque with one of the many pre made skins available for download are easily found here or on curse's site for skinning Bartender.

[Phanx]

Masque doesn't just work with Bartender. It also skins Dominos, Macaroon, and most other action bar addons, buff addons, and any other icon-based addons.

Also, you'd create custom graphics for kgPanels (or anything else) in Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.NET, or some other image-editing program. You can create them from scratch, or use other images as a starting point. If you're new to image editing, you'll probably want to start with an image that's similar to what you want to end up with, and modify it, instead of trying to create your own from scratch.

Finally, images in WoW (called "textures") must follow certain rules about their format, color depth, and dimensions. You can find more information about these rules on Wowpedia's SetTexture API page.

[haylie]

You don't need Lua or XML based addons to make a good UI. Any good addon will do. This is what I recommend when building a UI from scratch:

Just sit down and think what the shortcomings of the default UI are. Take care of the basic problems, like centering, positioning, removal of unnecessary artwork, among other things. This is where your role and class come into play. Figure out what you want and need out of your UI.

Once this is done you can start adding features you wish the default UI would have: timers, cooldown trackers, threat meters, boss mods, etc. Try to get basic positioning out of the way at this point. Make sure important things are closer to the center or where your eyes are focused most of the time. Unnecessary things can and should be moved to the sides or removed altogether. Size matters, make sure things aren't too big or too small, depending on their importance.

Try to see if you can use the same addon for more than one purpose. For instance, use your unit frame addon for buffs, debuffs and timers instead of downloading a separate addon for each one. Or use an addon that tracks both threat and damage. This helps reduce addon clutter and memory/CPU usage and in the long term will make it easier to maintain and update your UI.

Once you feel you have every feature you need and have found good positions for every element of your UI, you can start thinking about skins, panels and artwork. Try to find a unifying bar texture and font for all or most of your UI. Don't have more than 3 fonts in your UI. Decide if you want a general color theme or class/reaction colors. Decide if you want/need panels and artwork. Make sure these follow a certain theme. Avoid unnecessary artwork clutter. Avoid artwork that makes it harder for you to get information out of your UI.

Once you think you are done, start over. By which I mean, go back to the beginning and make sure all your bases are covered. Are the shortcomings of the default UI solved? Are important elements for my class and spec clearly visible and accessible? Does my UI look clean? Does it have a unifying theme? Make small changes and adjustments, join a few pugs, make sure everything is working properly, make sure you have everything you need. Think of all possible scenarios (vehicles, boss-specific mechanics, pvp) and what you might need in them, and make sure your UI provides them.

Then show off your UI. Ask for criticism. Do not be afraid of criticism. If someone tells you to position your unitframes that way, and you say no, be prepared to justify why you want them the way they are. Each UI is unique, each person has a unique playstyle, but you should always strive to improve yourself and find new, better ways to do things.

Hope this helps

[Xandrietta]

Just browse the Screenshot gallery, or youtube vids, even a google search of wow pics/ui pics.

Sometimes just looking at what other ppl are doing might give you some good ideas.

[Nerdus]

thanks for all the replies this will serve me well I am very happy with how the response was on all this thank you very much.

[Kendian]

Originally Posted by haylie You don't need Lua or XML based addons to make a good UI. Any good addon will do. This is what I recommend when building a UI from scratch: Just sit down and think what the shortcomings of the default UI are. Take care of the basic problems, like centering, positioning, removal of unnecessary artwork, among other things. This is where your role and class come into play. Figure out what you want and need out of your UI. Once this is done you can start adding features you wish the default UI would have: timers, cooldown trackers, threat meters, boss mods, etc. Try to get basic positioning out of the way at this point. Make sure important things are closer to the center or where your eyes are focused most of the time. Unnecessary things can and should be moved to the sides or removed altogether. Size matters, make sure things aren't too big or too small, depending on their importance. Try to see if you can use the same addon for more than one purpose. For instance, use your unit frame addon for buffs, debuffs and timers instead of downloading a separate addon for each one. Or use an addon that tracks both threat and damage. This helps reduce addon clutter and memory/CPU usage and in the long term will make it easier to maintain and update your UI. Once you feel you have every feature you need and have found good positions for every element of your UI, you can start thinking about skins, panels and artwork. Try to find a unifying bar texture and font for all or most of your UI. Don't have more than 3 fonts in your UI. Decide if you want a general color theme or class/reaction colors. Decide if you want/need panels and artwork. Make sure these follow a certain theme. Avoid unnecessary artwork clutter. Avoid artwork that makes it harder for you to get information out of your UI. Once you think you are done, start over. By which I mean, go back to the beginning and make sure all your bases are covered. Are the shortcomings of the default UI solved? Are important elements for my class and spec clearly visible and accessible? Does my UI look clean? Does it have a unifying theme? Make small changes and adjustments, join a few pugs, make sure everything is working properly, make sure you have everything you need. Think of all possible scenarios (vehicles, boss-specific mechanics, pvp) and what you might need in them, and make sure your UI provides them. Then show off your UI. Ask for criticism. Do not be afraid of criticism. If someone tells you to position your unitframes that way, and you say no, be prepared to justify why you want them the way they are. Each UI is unique, each person has a unique playstyle, but you should always strive to improve yourself and find new, better ways to do things. Hope this helps

Votes a sticky~