AddOns: How to Install and Maintain — Guides
By Keldesh
Last Updated:
2022/12/26
Changelog
Patch: 10.0.0
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Blizzard allows players to create and use AddOns to improve the quality of the game. AddOns can do a lot for a player from changing how the UI looks to giving them notices of certain events with a boss.
Some players believe they cannot play without a set number of AddOns while other believe in the purity of the game and that using AddOns takes away from how the game should be. Sometimes Blizzard even takes notice of some AddOn and will incorporate it into the default game UI. Some AddOns have been broken and some rendered obsolete. While some have been around for years, ever evolving with the game.
This guide is going to walk you through how you can find, install and maintain AddOns for your game; whether you are using a handful of AddOns or have a few hundred you use.
Installing and using AddOns is an at your own risk.
This guide is to help those who may be stuck, and is not to troubleshoot AddOn or installation issues. Please direct AddOn or game issues to Blizzard or the addon author.
If you are having issues with AddOns or GUI in-game contact the AddOn author or Blizzard.
ANATOMY OF THE ADDON
Wowpedia:
AddOns (sometimes called add-ons, or mods) are collections of Lua/XML code that augment, modify, or replace World of Warcraft’s default user interface. Addons vary greatly in scope and size — they may display information not presented at all by the default UI, add functionality to the default UI (e.g. additional buttons you can press to do things), modify the default UI’s appearance (e.
g. by changing colors or positions of UI elements) without changing its functionality, or even replace the default UI entirely.
AddOns are a Quality of Life (QoL) feature that is part of World of Warcraft. AddOns allow us to change the entire look of the basic UI (like ElvUII), fix Blizzard’s shortcomings with some aspects of the game (how DBM has done), or obtain and store information that we can use to better our playing (similar to Altoholic or Auctioneer).
You do not need to know detailed aspects of the AddOn, but you should have an understand of what the parts are for safety reasons. Such as knowing what the basic file types are for an AddOn. AddOns are created with the combination of some specific files. The core types you will find in an AddOn would be:
- TOC File (Table of Contents)
- LUA Files
- XML Documents
However, depending on what the AddOn does you may also see:
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An AddOn will never require you to use an exe (executable) file.
If you download an AddOn with an exe file do not run it.
If you are interested in writing your own AddOn, or just wanting more information on what these files do, check out the following resources:
- World of Warcraft Programming
- How to Create a WoW Addon
- Addon Programming Tutorial
- WoW Addon Writing Guide
- Your last addon: Babysteps with Lua
OBTAINING ADDONS
I am only explaining how to do this through the two main World of Warcraft Official Fan Sites that host AddOns. I will not include other sources. These two sites spend a lot of time and money to make sure that AddOns and your browsing experience is safe and secure. They also have created a good community for support of the AddOn Authors. Since the safety cannot be verified for other sources I will not be including them.
AddOns may be on one site and not the other. Also versions may differ between the sites. Either because the author doesn’t update one as much as the other, or they may use different numbering because of how the sites are set up.
Both sites are good, but which one you use is usually up to individual preference or which AddOns you are wanting to use. Many people use both.
CurseForge and WoWInterface are packed full of AddOns. In fact, over 6,500 AddOns and counting. With so much to choose from how do you track down the AddOns that you want to use or are best for your playing style? There are 3 basic ways to do that on CurseForge and WoWInterface.
Known AddOn — If you know what the AddOn’s name is you can do a quick search for it using the search feature. You will need to know the name of the AddOn to use this feature. Make sure you use spaces between words as it is in the AddOn’s name or it might not find it.
Known Category — If you know what you are wanting an AddOn for, but don’t know the name or if there is an AddOn out there, you can use the Category (CurseForge) or Stand Alone (WoWInterface) feature. This will sort AddOns by the categories the author has put it in.
Best if you are looking for Class, Profession, Playing Style, etc. specific AddOn.
I Don’t Care — If you are just wanting to see if there are any cool AddOns out there, or what is popular you may want to use the Popular or Latest Updated on CurseForge or What’s Hot or Latest Addons on WoWInterface. These will showcase the newest AddOns and the most popular downloaded ones.
You figure out some AddOns you are wanting to install, and see what they are all about in-game. So your next logical step would be to download them. This is how you would manually download AddOns. You can skip all this by using an AddOn Client instead, which can make installing and maintaining a lot easier. However, there may be reasons you have to manually install.
Once you have found the AddOn you want to install go to its CurseForge or WoWInterface page (depending on which site the AddOn is located on). You will be greeted with a lot of information about the AddOn. Read through, and make sure that it’s the correct Addon.
Also read through the comments to see if there’s any current issues with the AddOn.
Over on the right side you will find your download option. Click on the Download (CurseForge) or Download (WoWInterface). This will pop up a window asking you if you want to open or save the file. You want to save the compressed file, and I would suggest to a location you can easily remember and access; like your desktop.
If you are updating or installing more than one AddOn make a folder that clearly shows what is in the folder. Something like Installing AddOns on your desktop where you can place the downloaded compressed files.
INSTALLING
Installing AddOns seem to be a fairly intimidating process for a lot of people. If you break it down, and make sure you have located everything before hand it’s a fairly easy and quick process. However, if you do not wish to mess with it please consider using an AddOn Client.
You will need an extraction program to decompress the zip files that the AddOns are downloaded in.
Make sure you only extract one AddOn at a time so that you make sure everything is properly extracting.
Windows
Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 has a built in ZIP extractor. Double click on the file to open it, inside should be the file or folders needed.
7-Zip: Right click the file, 7-Zip, select «Extract Here»
WinRAR: Right click the file, select «Extract Here»
WinZip: You MUST make sure the option to «Use Folder Names» is CHECKED or it will just extract the files and not make the proper folders how the Authors designed
Mac
Mac has a built in extractor, but many say it fall short.
Stuffit Expander: Double click the archive to extract it to a folder in the current directory.
File Juicer: Drag and drop the archive to extract it.
This is where some people may get messed up. Each AddOn zip file has at least 1 folder within it that is the name of the AddOn and contains all the AddOn files. You want to keep those folders intact.
Some AddOns like DBM has multiple «sub» AddOns with it’s core. These also have their own folders. You do not want to merge these into one folder. Keep everything in the formatting the author put it in.
Next, we need to install them into the folder so that World of Warcraft can load them, and we can use them in the game. Make sure you are logged out of World of Warcraft before installing the AddOns. They won’t load into your game until you start running World of Warcraft and after you login.
Easiest way to locate you AddOns folder, for those on Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8, is this way:
- Right-click the icon you use to launch the game.
- Click Open file location to open the World of Warcraft folder.
- Located your _retail_ > Interface > AddOns folder
NOTE: As of patch 8.1 (Tides of Vengeance), Blizzard has changed the file path structure in the World of Warcraft folder. Your folders are now located in a _retail_ folder inside your World of Warcraft directory.
This is more than likely in preperation for Classic release at a future date.
You may also see a _ptr_ and/or _beta_ as well. These are for your PTR and Beta versions of the game, respectfully.
However, you can manually locate it. The location of your AddOns folder can vary depending on your OS and your directory set up.
By default, for Windows, you will be look in:
C:\User\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\_retail_\Interface\AddOns
For those who have the same install of WoW since TBC the path changed during the install of one of the later expansions. If you did not agree to the change, it may still be in the old location.
By default, for Macs, you will be look in:
Macintosh HD/Applications/World of Warcraft/_retail_/Interface/Addons/
Whatever your OS or your set up it should always be:
… World of Warcraft -> _retail_ -> Interface -> AddOns
Once you locate your AddOns folder open it up. Go to your the Zipped AddOn file and open it.
Select all the files in the Zipped File, and drag and drop the AddOn’s folders from the zip into your _retail_\Interface\AddOns folder. Make sure you do not drop them into a folder of an AddOn already installed.
Sometimes, for whatever reason, there may be more than one World of Warcraft Folder (multibox, bad/old installs, PTR, etc.), and because of that your AddOns may not end up in the correct place. So to check and make sure they are log into World of Warcraft and go to your Character Select Screen. In the lower left corner you will see a button labeled AddOns. Clicking on this will bring up all the AddOns you have installed to that client.
Scroll through and make sure you see the AddOns you just installed. If you don’t see it, double check the location you installed them.
OUT OF DATE
World of Warcraft doesn’t stay the same. There are expansions and patches. When these happen the World of Warcraft tags older AddOns as «out of date». This tag prevents the them from loading unless the game is told to.
For some AddOns, following a patch, there is nothing that is broken or needs to be updated, and the AddOn works just as well after the patch/expansion as it did prior, and all it needs is a simple TOC update. In other cases, if there are major changes to say like the API in the game it can take days, weeks if not months for AddOn authors to get broken AddOns fixed.
Just because it is out of date doesn’t mean that you don’t have the latest version of the AddOn. So it is best to check and see if you have the latest version of the AddOn. Both WoWInterface and Curse shows what version of the AddOn you are getting on the AddOns page.
If you have the latest version you may want to load out of date AddOns. As mentioned prior sometimes there is nothing wrong with the AddOn except the TOC needs to be updated. However, loading out dated AddOns that are broken by a patch/expansion can cause issues with your game, the AddOn and other AddOns. So use with caution and make sure you disable AddOns that are broken and waiting an update.
To load out of date AddOns log into World of Warcraft and on your Character Select Screen in the lower left corner in a button labeled AddOns. Clicking this pulls up all your AddOns installed.
At the top you will see a Load out of date AddOns. Checking this will tell the game to load those AddOns that are not currently updated.
Using this feature can cause issues with your game and/or AddOns if you load an out of date AddOn that is badly broken by an update. So if you have issues after turning this on turn it back off, or use Option 1 in the Basic Troubleshooting to find the bad AddOn(s) and disable it.
MAINTAINING
So now you have your AddOns installed, but like everything AddOns get updated: bugs fixed, new features added, etc. Maintaining one, two or even a handful isn’t that bad. Usually AddOn aren’t updated often. However, what if you have 20, 30, maybe even 100+ you have to maintain. There are several ways to maintain your AddOns.
One of the most easiest ways is to install an AddOn Client and let it do all the work for you.
However, this may not work depending on your OS.
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Cursebreaker |
instawow | Minion | Overwolf | WoWUp | |
| Acct Required | |||||
| Adverts | Sub $2.99/mo | ||||
| OS Support | |||||
| WoW Versions | Retail, Classic, TBC | Retail, Classic, TBC, PTR, Beta | Retail, Classic, TBC | Retail, Classic, TBC, PTR, Beta | Retail, Classic, TBC, PTR, Beta |
| Repositories | WoWInterface, Tukui, Townlong Yak, Github, Wago | WoWInterface, Tukui, Townlong Yak, Github, Wago | WowInterface | CurseForge | WowUpHub, WoWInterface, Tukui |
| Friendly UI | |||||
| Author Support | |||||
| Multiple Games |
Both CurseForge* and WoWInterface offers a My Favorites section where you can fav your AddOns.
They require you to have an account with the site respectfully, but can save you a lot of time.
* Replace YOURACCOUNT in the address with your CurseForge Account Name. So like https://www.curseforge.com/members/KELDESH/favorites
Though a little different they show information you need to know to quickly maintain your AddOns.
First, make sure you have favorite all your AddOns. Once again CurseForge and WoWInterface may not have the same AddOns. So you may need to do this with both sites.
Check the date. If the last time you updated was before the date showing you’ll need to update. To help make it easier you may want to check once a week and update AddOns on a weekly bases. That way you have a better memory from the last date was.
SAFETY
There have been cases where people have been infected with a malicious program (virus, malware, PuP, etc.) because they thought they were install a legit AddOn, and were not. Here’s a few things you can do to make sure you are as safe as possible when using AddOns.
- Never click on anything in an AddOn. You do not need and should not have an exe to install or use an AddOn. All AddOns can be installed manually.
- Only download and use Addons from reputable sites such as Curse and WoWInterface. They spend a lot of time and money making sure the AddOns you get from them are safe.
- Type in popular AddOn domains into the Address Bar. Do not rely on Google results. There has been a few cases of bad adverts on Google leading players to fake AddOns sites, which resulted in their computer become compromised.
- You should never have to pay for an AddOn. If you are being charged to have access to an AddOn you may want to question why.
BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING
There are some common fixes to most of the simple issues that may happen when using addons. If you choose to do these you do so at your own risk, and I am not responsible for any lost data or damage.
Option 1
If you are having UI issues, but don’t know which addon may be causing the issue.
- Get an addon like Addon Control Panel and install it. This will allow you to turn on and off AddOns without having to log in and out of the game.
- Turn off all your addons through the panel and /reload (make sure you set ACP to protective mode and not turn it off).
- Turn each addon back on one by one. /reload between each one until you find the one causing the issue.
- Check and make sure they are up-to-date and check any of the comments on the addon pages either on Curse or WowInterface.
- Report a bug to the author.
Option 2
If you are having UI issues, but it’s not an addon.
- Exit WoW and right-click the icon you use to launch the game.
- Click Open file location to open the World of Warcraft folder.
- Rename the Cache, Interface, and WTF folders to something like Cache-broken, Interface-broken, WTF-broken.
- Relaunch the game. If the issue isn’t fixed you will need to contact Blizzard’s support.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Thank you for reading this guide. If you found it useful please remember to vote it.
Please do not post for assistance in the comments. They will be ignored or reported.
If you are having issues with your addons contact the author of the addon. If you are having issues with your ingame UI contact Blizzard.
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How To Update Addons in Dragonflight Pre-Patch with Addon Managers
Dragonflight Pre-Patch has arrived and with it a need to update all your addons for all the UI changes coming with the new expansion. Addon Managers can help you quickly update a large number of addons with a few short and simple clicks. Unfortunately, there’s not a one-stop shop for Addon Managers, so we’ve compiled a list the best and brightest as you prepare your UI for Dragonflight launch!
Curseforge Standalone App
Overwolf’s Curseforge App is one of the few addon managers with access to the Curseforge API and addon database.
With some addons remaining exclusive to Curse, this addon manager tends to be the go-to option for many players and will likely be the best choice for updating most of your addons at one time.
If you prefer you can download the Curseforge app complete with the Overwolf app; however, we recommend downloading the standalone Curseforge client which is a straightforward addon manager free of Overwolf’s overlays and other frills. Updating is as simple as clicking a button, with a separate section for searching the CurseForge repository to download other addons. Currently in Alpha, this client only supports Windows and World of Warcraft addons.
Curseforge Standalone Client Download
Tukui Client for ElvUI
If you’re looking for an Addon Manager to update or install all things ElvUI or TukUI then the Tukui client will be your priority download. The Tukui Client is a lightweight addon installer for all addons on tukui.org including the major addons ElvUI and Tukui, aswell as all community-made plugins for the two UI replacements like AddOnSkins, Shadow&Light, MerathilisUI, BenikUI, LuckyoneUI and many more.
The Tukui Client is only available for Windows users at the moment.
Tukui Client Download
WowUp
WowUp was the primary addon manager prior to losing access to the Curse API. WowUp still supports addons from repositories on Wago.io, TukUI, WowInterface, Github, and the WowUpHub. WowUp offers simple addon management to organize your addons and display the information you need. Automatic addon detection combined with simple easy to use controls allow you to quickly and easily manage your addon collection of any size. Easily switch between all of your World of Warcraft installations organized however you like.
WowUp Download
Wago App for Addons & WeakAuras
A more recent newcomer to the Addon Manager game is the Wago App brough to you by the folks at Wago.io. While the Wago App is continually building out their already substantial addon repository, their modern client does offer the unique feature of being able to update your WeakAuras in addition to your addons.
Search, download, and update all of your WeakAuras directly on your desktop. The Wago App brings Wago.io directly to your PC.
Wago App Download
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Update your addons with Curse Client | Addon Managers | WoW Guides
Not so long ago I saw in the comments that there are people asking how to comfortably update their addons. That’s why I decided to make this guide.
I will tell you about the system I use. You decide whether you want to use it or not. Although this program has a new version, it is in beta testing, so for now I prefer to continue using this version. nine0003
This is Curse Client, owned by Curse.com which hosts many add-ons. To use the Curse client, you must register on the Curse.com page. Registration is easy and I can guarantee that your email will not receive spam, and if we uncheck the box to receive information, we will never be bothered by unnecessary emails.
After registering on Curse.com, we download the program from the same page. Click on «Client», in the page menu:
On the page that opens, we click the «Download» button, in my case for a PC. If you are using a MAC you already know, to another button.
Download and install the program, and once done, a new icon will appear on your desktop:
Open the program. Now we need to add WoW to the program so that he can follow it. Curse supports add-ons for more games, so if we have them installed, we can also add them from here. nine0003
Click on » Add game »
We will get this window:
There we enter the name of the game (only in my case: wow), select the type in « write » And now we have to tell you where our addons are located. To do this, click the Browse button and a small window will open. There we go to the folder in which we installed our game and select the folder « World of Warcraft » (eye, do not select add-ons folder).
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Once this is done, we press the button » Manage games «:
We will have a game added to the program and we will be able to monitor our addons from it:
The parameters we need configure:
- Enabled : Yes, manage addons for this game .
- Release preference : Release (it will only inform us if there are updates to final releases, no beta releases)
- Library Preference : Normal (recommended).
We already have everything set up so that the program informs us about updates to our add-ons, if this is the final version, and we can start using it. The main thing in the final versions is to avoid problems. Beta versions, although somewhat stable, can have problems, and it’s better not to have problems, right?
Click on the «wow» button (remember that in my case I call the game wow) on the left. In this window we will see 2 or 3 tabs (depending on whether we have add-ons that the program does not track because they are not included in the Curse.
com database). nine0003
These tabs:
- Your add-ons
- Find add-ons
- Unidentified addons (uncontrolled addons)
Let’s go to Find Addons and update our database. We click on the tab « Find add-ons » And then on the button « update «. The program will then indicate that it is updating the list via the progress window:
Once this is done, we move on to « Your add-ons ” And do the same, click on the button “ update ”:
This will scan our add-ons and tell us which ones an update is available for. The program shows progress through 2 tabs:
At the end, the program will indicate which addons are outdated with an icon and highlight them:
Select it and click on the «Update» button (this button changes from «Reinstall» to Update» depending on whether the addon is updated or not):
After updating the add-on, it will be marked with a different icon, telling us that it has been recently updated:
The program in its regular version (not paid) will allow us to update only 1 of 1 addons.
Premium version (paid) will allow us to update everything at the same time and at a faster rate. It’s up to you which version to choose.
Added
To clear up some doubts about the problem with the curse profiler and its installation, I would like to clarify that program SI which asks us when we run the installer if we want to install this feature.
Even so, if we installed it by accident (which I guess happens to many, because when we install something in English, almost most people click «Next» -> «Next» -> «Accept -> Accept»), we can configure the program so that it does not use the curse profiler from the program options:
Tools ——> Options
Uncheck the option “ By default, the de Curse Profiler add-on is automatically installed and character profiles are loaded. «
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▷ How do I install or update add-ons in World of Warcraft?
GamesWorld of Warcraft
Jose AlfredoJanuary 24, 2022Last update: January 24, 2022
0 2.332 4 min read
When we start playing a video game, we want to make the most of what the game has to offer. In World of Warcraft, a complete game with many options, we can use each of them without any problems.
If you want to play it, you will have a lot of fun. We encourage you to continue reading to learn more about how to install and update add-ons in World of Warcraft. Since it’s very easy to download, install and take full advantage of famous video games these days, it will be very easy. nine0023 install World of Warcraft add-ons or extensions. We will help you to do it without problems.
1 Clash Royale account recovery methods — Android and iOS
2 How to install add-ons in World of Warcraft?
3 Is it possible to update addons in WOW?
4 How do I set up World of Warcraft expansions?
5 Tips for a better gaming experience
5.
1 Video game design, know the best software
How do I install World of Warcraft add-ons? nine0182
after downloading and installing wow we found many possibilities and different options to improve the experience. We are currently able to improve the game with the most famous extensions or add-ons included in World of Warcraft and allow us to improve the gameplay and appearance in a simple way.
In order to download and install it correctly, you must go to the official Twitch page and have an affiliate and active account, then in order to install the extension or add-on, you must follow these steps:
- We go to the tab that we find called «Mods»
- From the many games that we will find, select World of Warcraft.
- You will be faced with a varied list of add-ons that you have installed, of course, if you have downloaded them, select the «Search for additional extensions» option.
- After selecting this option, a list of the most popular extensions will appear.
- Or you can search for a specific extension by simply entering its name.
- After searching by name, select the one you prefer and press «Install»
So easy! , it’s so easy to use Twitch extensions. We recommend that you download them. But remember that you must keep the game closed when you start downloading add-ons, because this way the changes are made automatically without any problems.
Is it possible to update addons in WOW?
Over time, add-ons have been perfected and updates are needed. It all depends on the type of game, in the case of World of Warcraft it is easy to manage, downloading addons is not at all difficult. All you have to do is go to the Mods section and find the extension you want to update. nine0003
If there are updates available, you just need to click «Update» — in such a simple and fast way you can get new add-on updates.
How do I set up World of Warcraft expansions?
When updating add-ons on the configuration tab, you will find these two options: Uninstall and reinstall addons , allows you to easily use these functions.
You just have to click on the name of the addon you want to edit or change because you will find a small menu with different options. nine0003
You have the option to activate it on the tab above the name of the extension. By pressing the option, you can install the extension on the desired slot. If the slots are active, you will need to replace another active extension.
When you buy World of Warcraft, you will understand what this game and its add-ons have to offer us. We hope you can try it and benefit from it.
Tips for a better gaming experience
- choose kingdom
Logging in might not be fun, but choose a game world We have different derivatives. There are 4 prototype servers you can choose from: Normal, PvP, RP, and RP PvP-, but it shrinks if you want to participate and you might get surprised in player-to-player combat.
If you want to use the realm at your own pace and only worry about the dangers that Azeroth presents, a regular realm might be the way to go.
- create a character
When creating a character, keep in mind that you will spend many hours with this character. For many, this can be an important decision, as they must choose an appearance with which they can be identified, for example: Horde or Alliance . You have to choose the race, the appearance of your person, and from there the adventure begins.
The choice of race can also be beneficial for you, as you will receive unique abilities and bonuses for some looks. For example, gnomes have the ability stoneform, this talent increases armor and protects them from diseases, bleeding and poisons for a few seconds, and not only that, but also strengthens their weapons.
This may sound complicated, but we recommend that you choose the race mix you like when choosing your first character. You might have to pick to do some research and try out the classes to avoid a lot of damage and thus gain experience.
