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Polymorphic: The Right UI at the Right Time
Published by on Tuesday, July 07, 2009

This week I’d like to show off a new feature that I had hinted at in a previous post. This feature, which goes by the name of “Dynamic Profiles,” adds a simple but powerful bit of automation to TaeoUI.

In a nutshell, Dynamic Profiles (DP) allow you to attach different TaeoUI profiles to different “situations.” A situation in this case is a distinct activity or location, like fighting in a battleground. There are currently three situations: Normal, Raid, and Battleground; but there will likely be a fuller set at release time. When a situation is triggered (you enter a battleground, for example), the profile attached to it is automatically loaded with no UI refresh required. Your current UI simply shifts into the UI you chose for this situation. What this means is that you can setup TaeoUI for specific activities instead of trying to handle everything in one UI config. For example, in a raid config, Grid can be centered to make healing easier, while in the normal config, it can be put off to the side or hidden entirely. Because TaeoUI seamlessly and effortlessly switches profiles for each situation, it’s as if you have multiple, highly optimized UIs instead of one general one.

In the screenshots below, the normal config…

…shifts to the BG config when I enter Warsong Gulch.

TaeoUI Dynamic Profiles will ship as a separate add-on for those that desire its functionality.

~Polydwarf

Share 14 Responses to “Polymorphic: The Right UI at the Right Time”

1. Posted by Peter on July 7, 2009 at 11:28 pm

   Perfect for Dual Specs IMO. I daresay there will be quite a number of people who will grab this optional addon.
   Cannot wait for 2.0 release, seriously!
2. Posted by Exius on July 7, 2009 at 11:43 pm

   Uhm, This is freakin’ sweet! Can I haz 1280×1024 version please?

   Looking foward to the most recent release sometime this month!
3. Posted by cragro on July 9, 2009 at 4:26 am

   I just wanted to say - I’ve never been enormously bothered by my UI - I’ve tarted up a couple of little bits but mainly to help with healing. But I was converted in a moment seeing your UI on wowinsider! Can’t wait for this to come out. gz on a great UI :p
4. Posted by elmos on July 9, 2009 at 2:42 pm

   What is the estimated ETA for Version 2.0?

   I love your UI!
5. Posted by Taeo on July 9, 2009 at 7:51 pm

   @Peter We’ll definitely look into including an option to change profiles when switching between primary/secondary specs.

   @Exius When it’s done it will support nearly any standard resolution!

   @cragro Thanks for the compliments!

   @elmost We try not to give any ETA’s (dont want to disapoint! lol) but we’re going to make an attempt to have 2.0 done by the end of the month.
6. Posted by Tawny on July 12, 2009 at 4:17 pm

   I’m definitely looking forward to the next release of the UI, especially the scaling feature, al 1440×900 doesnt seem as compatible with the current release as the new will be.
   Though its probably not the right place for this, the report bugs link on the download page does nothing :s, I’m experiencing a pretty annoying one. For some unknown reason, links in chat have stopped working, so a hoverover, or clicking on them does nothing whatsoever, as does shift-clicking a persons name to /who them.
   I’ve checked all of the addon settings, and nothing seems to be causing this.
   Help pl0x?
7. Posted by Taeo on July 12, 2009 at 7:18 pm

   #tawny Whoops. Sorry about that. I’ve fixed the link on the downloads page.

   As for the chat log issues. The AddOn we use to configure the chat box is called “Chatter”. The Taeo UI defaults should make a box appear when you click on a hyperlink allowing you to ctrl+c copy the text and paste into your browser. You can get to the configuration for chatter by entering the slash command “/chatter”
8. Posted by Tawny on July 22, 2009 at 8:59 pm

   @Taeo
   Thanks for that advice, I managed to sort out some other issues I was having.
   As for the no Tooltips showing, I’d somehow managed to make the window Noninteractive, man do I feel silly.
   /shamed.
   Anyways, Keep up the good work, and I’m very much looking forward to the new version of your UI to be released.
9. Posted by jfurrer on July 24, 2009 at 9:07 am

   Simply… cannot… wait…
   This looks absolutely amazing and now that I don’t have to reconfigure everything for 1440×900, it’s even cooler.

   Any updates?

   Any chance we could set up an email link for when it’s ready??

   Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see the finished product…

   Regards,
   –J
10. Posted by Doc on July 24, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    Its a great UI, but its missing some of the great features from addons like RatingsBuster, Auctioneer, and TitanBar. But still great, keep up the good work; Cant wait for final release of 2.0!
11. Posted by Taeo on July 24, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    @Tawney Glad you got everything worked out!

    @jfurrer We probably won’t be sending out emails because the beta release is really just around the corner! If you make use of an RSS reader you can subscribe to our feed at http://www.taeoui.com/feed

    @doc Polydwarf and I have considered including some addons that you have mentioned but ultimately decided to leave them out. Basically we are trying to avoid any kind of bloat that does not add to the look or functionality of the UI design we already have in place - that means we won’t be including anything like Auctioneer, Recount, Omen, Deadly Boss Mods, etc.

    It’s not that we don’t like these mods - in fact I use all of them myself. However not all users of Taeo UI use these addons. Those that do use them can (and are welcome to) add them to Taeo UI on their own. In most cases these addons don’t need to be integrated into the look and feel of the UI. We will most likely include either a download for or links to a list of “suggested” addons for people who do want this kind of functionality.

    There are some extraneous functionality addons you could make a case for being universal and/or beneficial to all players. We may incorporate these into Taeo UI as we see fit. I made a case to Polydwarf for Postal being one such exception but we’ll see. RatingsBuster might fit into this category.

    Oh and as for TitanPanel - we use an addon called SLDT which handles alot of the same functionality.
12. Posted by Doc on July 25, 2009 at 1:04 am

    What are your thoughts on a future release of the UI which would include Cartograhper 3.0 the google maps version of Cartograhper? Oh, and thnx for the the reply, i rarely expect one when posting in forums and sites.
13. Posted by Taeo on July 25, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    @doc I think we could probably throw Cartographer in there as well. I’m not sure what this Google maps version is you speak of but I’m gonna look it up right now!
14. Posted by Taeo UI 2.0 Beta Released - Forum Live - Taeo UI on August 3, 2009 at 4:00 am

    [...] dynamic profiles system adjusts the UI to the current [...]