Sarbie

I have stepped down from the project for good but I will still be checking in on the site every now and then and lending Sarbie a hand where I am able. Polydwarf has his hands busy with his new job working on a top secret MMO project as a UI developer for one of the most respected studios in the industry.

Be on the lookout soon for an update from Sarbie when we’ll putting up the new version for download!

I will be keeping this site and the downloads section up and running for the foreseen future but Polydwarf and I will no longer be updating the compilation. When we started this project we greatly underestimated the amount of upkeep we would have to do to keep it working smoothly after each major patch. Without going into details, we simply did not have enough time to clean things up after the 3.3 patch dropped.

While I am sad to close the doors on Taeo UI I am happy to bring you an announcement for my latest project. After realizing I could not keep up with Taeo UI I wanted to try a different type of project where the users themselves would supply the content and updates.

That said, I welcome you all to check out WoW UI Gallery. WoW UI Gallery is a community for custom WoW user interface enthusiasts. If you’ve ever gotten involved with the custom UI scene you are likely familiar with the “Post Your UI” threads that crop up on nearly every WoW related forum. These threads are a great place to go when you’re looking for some inspiration for your own UI. However they tend to grow to monstrous size very quickly and it’s difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for.

The WoW UI Gallery aims to solve this by providing a single place for everyone to submit their UI complete with hosted screenshots and vital details such as class, screen resolution, and addons used. The submitted UI’s are categorized and searchable making it easy to find that Tanking Death Knight UI you’ve been looking for! You can also rate and comment on each UI. Once you’re done browsing you can join the conversation in the forums too!

I’d like to thank everyone who has downloaded and supported Taeo UI during it’s admittedly brief lifespan. And I apologize to those who were counting on us to keep it going. Polydwarf and I have definitely learned our lesson – don’t bite off more than you can chew!

Thanks,
Signing out, Taeo

Poly and I would also like to thank everyone who has supported the release! Whether by donating, giving feedback, or helping to troubleshoot in the forums – we really appreciate the gesture! On that note, we really like seeing people helping each other out on the forums and to encourage this we’ve created a moderator rank. If any active posters would like to volunteer please let us know! We’re looking at you Exius! haha

Lastly, I’m excited to announce that the first Taeo UI skins pack is now available for download! This impressive pack has been created for us by Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle. Shelbi is a super talented designer and these skins really show it! We hope you all like them as much as we do.

I’ll leave you guys with a little preview of Shelbi’s skin pack – and if you have some skin ideas and Photoshop chops head over to our skins forum to get instructions on how to make your own!

EDIT: Wow I have apparently been convinced we were a patch ahead for a while now and noone corrected me! lol… fixed the post title!

• Hassle free, zero-configuration setup
• Easy to use skinning system
• Unique dynamic profiles system adjusts the UI to the current situation
• Simple configuration menu for those who want to tweak their UI
• Lightweight – Taeo UI won’t stress your computer’s resources
• Flexible design fits every class and every role
• Don’t forget it looks great!

Today we also would like to announce the birth of the Taeo UI Forums. We decided to add forums to the Taeo UI website in order to offer a higher level of support to our users, especially during the beta. Now you don’t only have Poly and myself to turn to for assistance but other Taeo UI users as well. It is our hope that a few enthusiastic users might step up to become moderators themselves.

Over the next few days and weeks I’ll be touching up the site and adding stickies to the forums. Right now we have a Skins forum however sometime down the road we would like to turn it into a full fledged gallery where users can submit, download, and rate custom skins! In the mean time make sure you check out the beautiful skins that Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle has created for us.

Lastly, Poly and I have been trying to come up with a good way to reward those who donate to Taeo UI. Now that we have forums we could pretty easily whip up some snazzy animated avatars much like the blues from the official forums. What do you all think?

The configuration screen can be accessed from Blizzard’s default AddOn listing (main menu, interface, addons tab). It can be broken down into four main areas:

1. Profile Management

   Meta-Profile Box – All profiles are listed in the “Meta-Profile” box. The current profile can be changed by selecting another profile from the list. Profiles are shared across all characters and servers, so there’s no need to make two different profiles if two characters share the same options. When loading TaeoUI on a new character, you are given the option of not making a new profile for that character if you want to use an already existing profile.

   Reset to Defaults – This button allows you to reset the current profile to the default options. If you really mess up a profile or want to redesign from the beginning, this button can be your friend.

   Remove – Removes the current profile from TaeoUI and deletes all its associated profiles from the compilation addons.

2. Profile Creation

   New – Type the name of a new profile into the box and click okay for it to be created. New profiles are added to the Meta-Profile box and are automatically configured with default settings.

3. Visual Options – Note: Click the “Update” button to update the UI with your selections.

   Main UI Width – This slider controls the width of the main graphical panels (everything but the addons that hang out in the space between the main UI and screen edge, like the buff bars). It can vary from 50% of the screen width to 100% of the screen width. If it is set to 100%, there will be no room for addons that sit in the gap by the screen edge, but you can move those using some other configuration options.

   Buffs Anchor – Allows you to position the buff bars in any one of the four screen corners. If they’re positioned at the bottom-left or bottom-right, they’ll expand or contract to fit flush against the screen edge and main UI edge.

   Unit Frames Anchor – Controls the position of the main unit frames and their attached bars (player, target, and target of target unit frames, with their class timer and cast bars). The options are “Bottom,” which sits just above the main UI panels and “Top,” which sits at the top of the screen.

   Grid Anchor – This option controls the layout and location of the Grid unit frames. If “bottom-left” is chosen, Grid is formed into a 5×5 square that sits between the main UI and screen edge on the left side. If “center” is chosen, Grid is formed in a series of long rows and is centered just above the main UI. To use this option, the unit frames should be anchored to the top.

   Side Panel Anchor – Allows you to move or remove the side buttons. Options are: left side, right side, and none.

   Skin Set – Changes the skins on the panels. Download and install skin packages to add more choices.

4. TaeoUI Addon Options

   Show Warnings – Allows you to turn off warning messages that appear if addons are missing.

This coming week I’ll be taking my vacation while Taeo gets the site ready for the beta release. When I return next Saturday, I’ll be ready for some bug fixing in preparation for the official release. In the mean time, feel free to post any bugs you run into on the forums and know they’ll be looked at in a week’s time.

~Polydwarf

In other news, we recently got another email from Shelbi Roach containing a whole set of fresh TaeoUI skins. Some of you may remember her Paladin themed set from a couple of weeks ago. Well here’s a first look at her five newest creations.

Needless to say, we’re thrilled with her work, and we hope that you guys are too.

That’s it for Polymorphic this week, we’ll see you in the Beta!

~Polydwarf

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

Skinning TaeoUI is as simple as making your custom graphics, and then filling out a few lines in a template add-on that we supply. Once the template is completed, TaeoUI will auto-recognize your add-on as a custom skin set and add it the configuration menus. At that point, the user can select your skin and click update to try it out. From the user’s perspective it’s even easier. Just download a skin, drop it in the AddOns folder, and apply it from the config menu.

Because we chose to place skins in their own add-ons, they can be downloaded and added to TaeoUI at any time after installing main package. This choice also means that they can be indepentantly packaged by their creators, and distributed without having to involve us in the process at all. But don’t think you’re through with us yet =P. Taeo is looking into adding a special section of the site for hosting user contributed skins. Stay tuned for more info on that feature in the future.

In wrapping up, I’d like to thank Jon and Shelbi Roach once more for the awesome skins that prompted this new feature. That does it for this installment of Polymorphic.

~Polydwarf

Lots of new features were added to the auto-config this week. Since there are so many to mention, I drew up a numbered diagram to make it easier to see what I’m talking about (click for a larger version).

1. Chatter – This add-on provides a number of cool chat features like shorter channel names, coloring player names by class, and streamlining the scrolling process (no more huge, ugly arrow buttons). The TaeoUI auto-config handles resizing and positioning the chat window in its little graphical niche for you (it also handles the combat log on the right side).
2. SLDT – Simple Light Data Text provides lightweight displays of vital statistics including durability, gold count, fps, etc. It also often provides tooltips that display more in-depth information when moused over. The default TaeoUI SLDT displays are automatically left, center, or right aligned, and move with the main panel as it changes size.
3. Pitbull – Pitbull Unit Frames offer an absurd amount of configuration options for the adventurous user. In TaeoUI, we use them to display information on the player, target, and target-of-target (ToT). The amount of information shown is custom selected to be no more or less than is needed (no redundant cast bar or buff/debuff display on the player frame, for example).
4. Alternate UF – Number four is an alternate anchor point for the unit frames. It opens up more space on the bottom of the screen for other components that you may want to put there. For healers, we plan to create a custom, low-profile Grid layout to get your raid frames up front and center.
5. Class Timer – This add-on create and displays timers for class specific abilities. In the screenshot, you see Renew because the test character is a Priest. We auto-configure the Class Timer bars to anchor to the player and target unit frames. We also change their position and direction of expansion (up or down) depending on where the UFs are anchored (they’re on the bottom side, growing down for the top anchor, and top side, growing up for the bottom anchor).
6. Quartz Target Bar – Quartz adds a target cast bar to the target frame. Unlike the Pitbull cast bar (which is always visible, and a black bar when no spell is being cast), Quartz appears when it is needed and disappears when spell casting is complete. It is always positioned on the opposite side of the unit frame from the Class Timer bars.

What remains to be added is a set of raid frames (Grid) and some non-spatial add-ons like HitsMode for a nicer combat log display. Look for a first release of the no-hassle TaeoUI 2.0 sometime in July.

~Polydwarf