Addon features combined

[Tenson]

Hey all, I'm looking for mods that would combine multiple functions instead of using several mods to accomplish similar tasks. I know this is more of a "preference", but if you know of a mod that does more functions, please help recommend them.

1. Chat functions - currently using Prat and Cellular.
I'd like to look for chat mods that can do both. Mainly what Prat does, but doesn't have to be so powerful, and has Cellular capability (whispers in IM format). Prat does a lot more, but I mainly only use: a) class color b) /tt - tell target whisper c) arrow key up/down for prev sentences typed d) shortened channel name (guild->[g], party->[p], battleground->[bg], etc.

Any recommendation would be great.

2. Trade skills - currently use ProfessionBook, Fubar_trainers
Looking for: combining the 2. Fubar_Trainers remembers receipes that you can learn up to 25 levels above your skill (offline viewing). ProfessionBook does not have that, but remembers alt professions and coloring receipes based on level, and no fubar support.

3. Inventory - currently use ArkInventory, Closetgnome
Looking for: combining the 2. ArkInventory allows unlimited creation of virtual windows for organizing bags/banks. Closetgnome is an outfit mod. I'm hoping to find some bag/bank addon that would allow importing settings from outfit mods into bags for easier viewing. I've tried Baggins which has Closetgnome support, but it doesn't provide offline bank viewing...

I hope I'm not being a jerk by requesting these combined features, I just thought that if the functions are similar, maybe the mod can be extended to support multiples.

I did read somewhere that 2.4 might provide blizzard's own version of outfit feature, is that a rumor or confirmed?

Thanks for your time.

[Seerah]

1. Use a smaller chat mod. Take a look at Phanx Chat, idChat, mumble, ... there are others. Find one that better suits your needs. I haven't seen any chat mod that also has IM whisper support. If *any* would have it, it would be Prat, but it doesn't. There might be a branch version of Prat that supports Cellular though.

2. not sure if anything combines those, but it may exist

3. Get Baggins_AnywhereBags or set up a category in Ark Inventory to hold only your CG sets http://wowace.com/wiki/ArkInventory#Rule_Functions I don't think you'll ever see an inventory mod that also lets you set up sets.

The 2.4 set thing is just a rumor, afaik.

[Gemini_II]

1. Try out some of the smaller mods that Seerah suggested. I use LS_Chat even though it's ancient. For IM-style windows I suggest checking out WoW Instant Messenger (WIM).

2. I'm thinking Mendeleev. Adds great recipe info and such to tooltips. Keep TrainerFu.

3. Bagnon/Combuctor supports alt and offline banking, as well as having ClosetGnome support. I think there is more also...

Unfortunately not alot of solutions to combine these mods. Best bet is probably to find the ones that do just what you need. Post back what works or if you find any other alternatives.

[Slakah]

Why combine?

[Seerah]

Bagnon and Combuctor do not have CG support. They don't have support for any outfit mod.

[Tenson]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I've tried almost all the mods that you mentioned, and found that they're dedicated to certain functions (duh). Obviously, these are functions that mod authors feel imortant to include (ok, duh), but I just wonder if there are advanced coders/users out there that might think it's feasible to combine some of these features (or extend support).

Why? Ok, selfishly, I'm lazy, and if I can use one mod instead of 2, I'd choose do-it-all mods. Another reason would be more mods take up more resources (cpu, mem, fps, etc...not confirmed though, just a "feeling" after trying out different, multiple mods).

I will continue to use what I have, but am hoping that mod authors can/will/find it possible to include more features for their current mods.

Again, not necessary, just feel that it's cool to find one. An example of a multi-feature mod that I use is Lunarsphere. I think it was created based on Necrosis-like sphere mods, then was extended to include many features (most of which I enjoy using). I'll let you discover what it can do, as it's too long to list them all. Configuration takes a bit, but once set up, it's very convenient.

Not sure if this will offend the original authors, as extending support from one mod may encourage said mod's use and discourage the other (though not always the case). So, if anyone finds this request a bit rude and inconsiderate, I apologize.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback.

[Tenson]

Hmm. Seerah's link from ArkInventory seemed to talk about support for other outfit mods...not sure if it's old though...

outfit( arg, arg, ..., arg ) matches items in sets from outfit type mods, eg Outfitter, ClosetGnome, ItemRack Args arg: string (set name, case insensitive) Remarks case insensitive comparison if passed no arguments will return true if the item is in any set dynamically chooses depending on which outfit mod is active Outfitter is currently functional ClosetGnome is currently functional ItemRack is currently functional (using the 2.0 beta of ItemRack) after changing the set an item belongs to in the outfit mod you will need to use the reload menu option in ArkInventory to have it update to the new category

If someone knows more about this, would you like to comment?

Perhaps all I need is an instruction manual.

[Rigorous]

Originally Posted by Tenson Why? Ok, selfishly, I'm lazy, and if I can use one mod instead of 2, I'd choose do-it-all mods. Another reason would be more mods take up more resources (cpu, mem, fps, etc...not confirmed though, just a "feeling" after trying out different, multiple mods).

this is, imo, something of a self-defeating argument.

it seems to me that the broader an addon is, the more likely you are to have wasted resources...making addons more all-inclusive leads to bloat and wasted resources. mods that are written to address narrower, more specific needs are less likely to have resources wasted on functions that you may not want.

granted, you may find a single mod that meets your specific criteria, but since not everyone wants the same thing, i think i'd rather run 10 addons that do exactly what i want than run 1 addon that does those 10 things but also 10 more that i don't.

however, i've seen an increasing number of addons written in a modular fashion over the past year (or more) and that does indeed seem to make a significant difference.

[disclaimer: i am confident that there are undoubtedly many situations where the above may not be 100% accurate, and my fallacy will assuredly be pointed out. i'm speaking in generalities...but since i'm not a programmer, i could be waaay off base...and will likely be told so.]

[Seerah]

Originally Posted by Tenson Hmm. Seerah's link from ArkInventory seemed to talk about support for other outfit mods...not sure if it's old though... If someone knows more about this, would you like to comment? Perhaps all I need is an instruction manual.

It's not old, and I use AI and know what it can do - else I would not have linked it.

And I'm not much of a coder either, but what I have learned through my trolling of UI forums, listening to developers, and foray into the world of addons, I would agree with Rigorous.

[Tenson]

Oh, so it's actually better to install several modular-like addons (for example Ace2 ones that I mostly use) to handle various functions, each dedicated to a certain task, than having a single do-it-all mod? I guess, aside from this 'super-mod' that does 10 things I want and 10 things I don't, the performance may be better by using more mods of various functions?

Performance-wise, is it better to have several modular mods of the same base (Ace2), that handles the features that I like, than to have a mod-does-all which meets my needs/wants?

In any case, thanks for all the feed backs.

[Rigorous]

Originally Posted by Tenson Oh, so it's actually better to install several modular-like addons (for example Ace2 ones that I mostly use) to handle various functions, each dedicated to a certain task, than having a single do-it-all mod?

when i say "modular" i'm referring to a design where there are separate parts with specific functions which can be entirely disabled at the addon screen leaving very little or no overhead. or, more specifically, like Grid having a core functionality that is augmented by other mods that provide additional specific functionality. either way, you're only using the parts that you need. i'm not referring to the somewhat "modular" design of Ace2 and its libs (although that is, imo, part of the beauty of Ace design).

Originally Posted by Tenson I guess, aside from this 'super-mod' that does 10 things I want and 10 things I don't, the performance may be better by using more mods of various functions?

precisely. "may" is an important distinction tho...any mod is only as good as its author.

a more specific example of the "super-mod" situation i was talking about, from my own experience, is Prat. i used Prat for a rather small number of features and i disabled everything else in it and it still used alot more memory than i thought it should have. i've since replaced it with a couple of other mods that do only those things i want and i'd bet they use 20% (or less) of the mem that Prat did. i'm not saying Prat is a bad mod, i'm saying that i didn't need all of its features and using it consumed more resources than was necessary to accomplish my goals.

Originally Posted by Tenson Performance-wise, is it better to have several modular mods of the same base (Ace2), that handles the features that I like, than to have a mod-does-all which meets my needs/wants?

that isn't necessarily true. a well coded "mod-does-all" mod that provides you with exactly what you want may well perform just the same or better than several mods doing the same thing. however, finding a mod which provides exactly what you want (and only what you want) will probably be more difficult than finding several smaller mods which achieve those goals (and only those goals).

although my ui is almost entirely Ace-based, and because i don't want to open this can of worms, i'm just going to say this about Ace: Ace doesn't necessarily make it a better mod...but the concept of what you say is correct as i understand it.

[Gemini_II]

Rigorous summed that up nicely. Finding the addon or addons that work for you is what's key, whether they be Ace'd or not. Bottom line is an addon is only as good as it's code. I've used all-in-wonder addons and modular ones all to mixed results, and it often changes over time as other projects are developed and current ones abandoned.

[Tenson]

Yeah, I've used many addons even before I found Ace2. I think the nice thing about Ace2 is that they're updated fairly quickly, especially with patch changes. Most of the mods that I've used can be updated by a TOC change, but for those that were disabled by Blizzard, unless the authors continue to update them, they will no longer work.

The only thing I have about Ace2 mods is that their forum is horrible for searches, especially within specific threads (for example, there is a thread all about PitBull unitframe layouts with customized code for import/export, but for the life of me I cannot use the search feature inside that thread to find the various information, and browsing through 20+ pages just isn't fun...).

That's why I love about the forums and mod comments here at WoWinterface. It's easy to find, clear to read, and very interactive between authors and users.

What other chat mods would you suggest, Rig? I definitely like Cellular, or WIM (if they still update it), and I also don't use all the features that Prat provides (I'm not knocking Prat either, as I've loved it ever since I've used it). My laptop isn't that great on performance, so anything that I can do to help improve it would be nice.

Basic chat functions that I'd like:
-colored class
-shortend channel (guild->[g], party->[p], etc)
-hide arrows but allows pageup/down
-jump button on mouseover to the latest chat (useful when I'm looking through combat log to find how I died, then couldn't page quick enough for the latest event due to fast scrolling during raids).
-using arrow keys to scroll through past few lines that I've typed. For example, if I type "LFG tank+dps heroic Arc", then I can arrow up/down to select that same sentence, retaining the channel (even after I type /g to chat with guild), to say that LFG again on either /LFG channel or /general or /trade (Ok, I know it's not good to use trade channel for LFG, but sometimes it's easier than LFM).
-typing /tt allows me to whisper someone, then Cellular takes over the /whisper function

Again, thanks for such great feedbacks and comments. It's one thing to have answers to my questions, but I also feel more educated by everyone's suggestions. Thanks!

[Slakah]

Heres my personal belief "Swiss army" mods tend to be more inefficient (in my experience) due to the requirement of options menu to be able to disable/enable the functions and configure it to your liking. While small "Do what it says on the tin" mods have an in built option where you just remove the mod to remove it's function thus I tend to prefer smaller scope mods which do one thing and one thing well.

any back to the chat question, I use a modified idChat and teknicolour. If your not willing to get your hands dirty then I would suggest mumble or phanx chat.