nUI -- A full feature standalone UI replacement

[spiel2001]

For those you who would like to be able to skin your action bar buttons, Kodewulf has released a second optional addon for nUI that integrates support for ButtonFacade into nUI.

You can find Kodewulf's new download at http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info11540.html
You can download ButtonFacade at http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...tonfacade.aspx

Thanks again to Kodewulf for helping me make nUI better!

[spiel2001]

I'd like to ask the group a question that is a little sensitive and perhaps a bit of a loaded question... but I think you all know how much I value your feedback.

As I think most people who have dealt with me and with nUI know, I spend a lot of time listening to the users, trying to implement solutions to their needs and trying to find a balance between wide ranging preferences, what's practically possible, etc.

I consider it a personal responsibility to respect everyone's input, their suggestions and in particular to deal with any errors in the program.

BUT...

As nUI grows in popularity, I'm seeing a phenomenon occur with increasing frequency and (a) it kind of gets under my skin and (b) it flies in the face of my policy of trying to address as many needs as possible and to respect everyone's input.

The bottom line is that I'm getting more and more private mail as well as public input from folks telling me how to "perfect" nUI that clearly indicates they have read nothing of what it is nUI is about, have read none of the history of nUI, have read none of the patch notes, to do list or known issues and, frankly, leaves me wanting to tell them to take a long walk on a short pier... which of course I won't do.

So, that leads to the question: I recognize that some people are just never going to make the effort to educate themselves before they begin to espouse their ideas of what perfection is, but how can I go about better communicating to users what nUI is, what is planned and why things are as they are... or is this just something that can never be overcome?

Is it wrong for me to simply hit the delete button when I read these messages? For some reason, it leaves me feeling guilty. ~frown~

[Kodewulf]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 As nUI grows in popularity, I seeing a phenomenon occur with increasing frequency and (a) it kind of gets under my skin and (b) it flies in the face of my policy of trying to address as many needs as possible and to respect everyone's input.

Yep. Unfortunately it's a double edged sword. The more people that use your UI, which is what you want, the more varied opinions and interactions your are going to get.

Originally Posted by spiel2001 The bottom line is that I'm getting more and more private mail as well as public input from folks telling me how to "perfect" nUI that clearly indicates they have read nothing of what it is nUI is about, have read none of the history of nUI, have read none of the patch notes, to do list or known issues and, frankly, leaves me wanting to tell them to take a long walk on a short pier... which of course I won't do.

I have felt like that more than once. It got to the point with one of my addons that I actually handed over the development to somebody else, because no matter how hard I explained what my vision was, nobody listened. This particular person was willing to incorporate those changes in the code and maintain it, so I ended up distancing myself from the project. I'm glad that he stepped up and tried to please everybody, but I think he also realized that it is an almost impossible task.

Originally Posted by spiel2001 So, that leads to the question: I recognize that some people are just never going to make the effort to educate themselves before they begin to espouse their ideas, but how can I go about better communicating to users what nUI is, what is planned and why things are as they are... or is this just something that can never be overcome.

A lot of people are just "using" our addons. No matter how much you try to tell them it's beta/alpha/rc code, they will never grasp the concept. Others, on the other hand, like to be on the cutting edge. These are the ones that will pay attention to the changelog, keep in mind what the developer envisioned when he started the addon and also provide feedback to improve the addon. From our point of view, the developers, it's very difficult to try to put yourself in the shoes of the average user, the guy that just wants it to work. We have a different mindset, we live with the bugs, we provide the feedback, mainly because we know how important it is to the process. Trying to bridge that gap between average user and power user is always a very difficult process.

Originally Posted by spiel2001 Is it wrong for me to simply hit the delete button when I read these messages? For some reason, it leaves me feeling guilty. ~frown~

The community, us nUI addicts, can also help putting people on the right track. I must confess that, although I read every post, I don't participate as well as I should. There are a few guys in here that are providing stellar support. There are always alternate things that can be suggested. The issue with raid frames comes to mind. Grid, PerfectRaid and even the raid options for X-Perl are excellent to hold a person over until you implement them in nUI. I've personally used all three and it's just a matter of personal preference as to which you prefer. So there are also other alternatives that can be suggested for a lot of things that people aren't happy with. There might also be other developers out there that will provide integration for certain functionality. I hope that I started the ball rolling by providing two VERY basic mods to nUI.

That's my 2c worth. I think I sprained my wrist typing all this, so I'll be quiet for a while now.

AND DON'T EVER FEEL DISCOURAGED BY THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK THAT YOU RECEIVE!!!

[Tehryn]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 I'd like to ask the group a question that is a little sensitive and perhaps a bit of a loaded question... but I think you all know how much I value your feedback...

KodeWulf echoed my sentiments exactly. I think that you do an awesome job with nUI. Having said that, you will NEVER be able to please everybody. Not gonna happen. And likewise you will ALWAYS get people who voice their opinion without getting themselves informed first. Comes with the job .

Personally I have a big problem with non-constructive or unreasonable criticism, but I would say this: It's unlikely that anyone of us out there can create a WoW UI interface like you're doing. For what it is worth I acknowledge and respect your expertise, professionalism and enthusiasm. Try to ignore the clueless few.

[Seer]

Originally Posted by Kodewulf Yep. Unfortunately it's a double edged sword. The more people that use your UI, which is what you want, the more varied opinions and interactions your are going to get. <snip> That's my 2c worth. I think I sprained my wrist typing all this, so I'll be quiet for a while now. AND DON'T EVER FEEL DISCOURAGED BY THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK THAT YOU RECEIVE!!!

Well said.

[Kodewulf]

I have PartySpotter installed and noticed that it puts it's legend on the Worldmap, which isn't a problem. Unfortunately it tries to attach the legend to the Worldmap in the InfoPanel as well. Don't know if it's something you can look at, or if it's the author of PartySpotter that has to fix it.

It's nothing serious, so don't spend to much time scratching your head. Just wanted to let you know.

[saanlem]

It is YOUR ui. It is impossible to please all those that use nUI.
In my humble opinion, this project has moved far beyond the original purpose.

I would suggest you go with what you, as the developer, want. There will be some good input from some others, most can be passed over, as you wish. It is, afterall your UI project.

[spiel2001]

Originally Posted by Kodewulf I have PartySpotter installed and noticed that it puts it's legend on the Worldmap, which isn't a problem. Unfortunately it tries to attach the legend to the Worldmap in the InfoPanel as well. Don't know if it's something you can look at, or if it's the author of PartySpotter that has to fix it. It's nothing serious, so don't spend to much time scratching your head. Just wanted to let you know.

That should be easy enough to test for the presence of in the Battlefield info panel code and just move the legend to the blank area on the other side of the map.

[Kodewulf]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 That should be easy enough to test for the presence of in the Battlefield info panel code and just move the legend to the blank area on the other side of the map.

I actually haven't tested to see if it shows up in the Battlefield map. I just happened to notice this when I joined a party and I'm using the 4.00.01 alpha so the default info panel is now the map, instead of the minimap, otherwise I probably wouldn't have even seen it.

[MeqTrader]

Having been a nUI user from the early hours I must say that I love this UI although I sometimes switch for other UI's on my raiding main somehow nUI always pulls me back on my multibox team mainly because of the overall nicely integrated look and feel and base info it provides.

Sure Í know there's no real raid frames which I like, but hey, I've still not found any I can use on all my diff toons so why should nUI be any different, raid UI's are a special breed and especially the ones over 10 men are only really used by a fraction of the user population.

And remember, ok apart from the people who clearly should be told to read the documentation (<-- politly, means RTFM), some feedback is clearly mend to support and offer ideas.

So please please please, do NOT focus too much on the negative but enjoy the positive.

"The glass is half full, not half empy"

[AsheruWolf]

spiel2001 I hope you don't take this the wrong way but here is a little review with both sides of your UI looked at. First off it is a nice UI with one of the smaller downloads out there as everything you have done is built in. Frame and scale wise the nUI gives you a sort of wide screen feel which at first can be different for those not used to it. With built in Player, Party and 10 man raid function Ill be totally honest and say that I never use anything but player mode to see my focus and target as well as my own player. For raiding I use Grid and Click2cast. While I like the options of being able to use the built in raiding tracker as small as it makes the unit health and no exact numbers to me as a resto shaman healer I find it easier to just use the KISS method and Keep It Simple Stupid.

All my key bindings are bound so I rarely ever have to click anything but on the off times I do I do enjoy the setup and ability to have many extra buttons at my disposal. Granted while the integration of Omen, Recount and other things are nice I did disable the mini map and have it up in the corner so I can see where my raiders are as well as check omen for my threat and so on.

Your UI is a nice UI but as you own notes say its no where near what you would like to have it be. My best that I can do is just say keep working on it. Alot of people enjoy your UI and you have a good thing going here. Im always looking forward to the next release.

[spiel2001]

My thanks to everyone for their input.

[Martinus]

As many said before me. This is your project. Hell, I'm sure you you play alot less and to work on you great ui. As it is, you ui fills almost every need I have. I hadded only a few addons and I'm an happy camper.

I know you are working very hard to get this ui ready for Wotlk. And i thank you for that.

If I could, I would help.

Mart

[Amerginne]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 Amerginne -- can you please post the macro you are using here or e-mail it to me at [email protected] so I can play with it. I have a 70 BM hunter I can test it on and see if I can sort out what the issue is. I can't seem to reproduce it otherwise.

Well seems i found the problem , it was my own stuppid mistake.In my macro , kill command was still there.And since new patch , kill command does not trigger anymore on crit.So casting bar stopped when macro everytime wanted to use kill command with 1 min CD.I removed kill command in macro and putted into my trincket macro and everything works like a sharm.But thx again for your time.

[spiel2001]

In the interest of having a little fun and doing something other than writing code for a change... I took a little time this evening to play with a couple of alternate dashboard skins for nUI.

For those of you who would like an "alternate" look for nUI (same layout), check out the new skins at http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info11577.html (a bas relief skin) and http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info11576.html (a dragon skin)


Screencaps of each are attached to this post.

[gothicknight]

Hey i am a big nUI fan, and i was wondering if somebody could make a gloss black skin for nUI. I would do it myself but i dont have the first clue on how to do it. Similar to the black gloss used in http://www.wowinterface.com/download...slaughtUI.html (the chat windows is what i am refering to).

Spiel if u could do something like this i would be more than happy to donate a bit extra for the time.

Oh and i know you have asked that we don't ask for features until un v4, but do you have any plans/ or could please add support for Libsharedmedia so we can change the textures of the bars and hud please (i am really after the litestep bar textures for nUI). I can wait till v4, just thought i would mention it.

Thanx for your great work.

P.S i love the new skins Spiel. Very nice work

[spiel2001]

I'll take a crack at this for you later tonight.

Originally Posted by gothicknight Hey i am a big nUI fan, and i was wondering if somebody could make a gloss black skin for nUI. I would do it myself but i dont have the first clue on how to do it. Similar to the black gloss used in http://www.wowinterface.com/download...slaughtUI.html (the chat windows is what i am refering to). Spiel if u could do something like this i would be more than happy to donate a bit extra for the time. Oh and i know you have asked that we don't ask for features until un v4, but do you have any plans/ or could please add support for Libsharedmedia so we can change the textures of the bars and hud please (i am really after the litestep bar textures for nUI). I can wait till v4, just thought i would mention it. Thanx for your great work. P.S i love the new skins Spiel. Very nice work

[fludder]

One small thing I've noticed over the past day or two (so it was probrbly a result of the latest patch)... When I log in the minimap is displaying round. I type /nui roundmap once and the map stays the same and I get the message minimap is now set to round. I type /nui roundmap a second time and it goes back to square with a message in kind.

Is there a way other than /rl or typing /nui roudmap 2x to resolve this?

Oh and BTW GJ on the skins they look quite nice

~Fludder

[iljott]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 In the interest of having a little fun and doing something other than writing code for a change... I took a little time this evening to play with a couple of alternate dashboard skins for nUI. For those of you who would like an "alternate" look for nUI (same layout), check out the new skins at http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info11577.html (a bas relief skin) and http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info11576.html (a dragon skin) Screencaps of each are attached to this post.

Awesome new skins Spiel. A job well done!!

[gothicknight]

Originally Posted by spiel2001 I'll take a crack at this for you later tonight.

Thank you so very much