Table of Contents:

General
• Why does this exist?
• "Has my question been asked before?" and the answers to common problems section.
• How to properly search Curse.com.

Addons and You
• OMG AddonX has a keylogger and I was hacked because I downloaded it.
• Where is the addon button?
• Where is my addons folder? XP, Vista, and You
• I really screwed something up, what now?

The Curse Client
• I need help with the Curse client.
• PSYN, you know what I am talking about.
• What is "package reauthentication failed"?

Specific Addon Issues
• I have a question about a specific addon where do I find answers?
• Why does no one post an answer to my problem with AddonX?
• Where can I find addons for a previous patch?
• QuestHelper, Ughh.

What Addons Can and Can Not Do.
• I am looking for an addon to "automatically" do X.
• The minimap and you.
• I want an addon to XYZ in the game world.

Links
• Major World of Warcraft sites.
• Addon Development

• 2009/04/12: Initial release.

Why does this exist?

The reason that I felt that we needed this post it to answer those questions that keep popping up over and over again. You know the ones I mean and if you don't then spend a day or two browsing the forums. The reason that we see alto of these same questions here on Curse.com is that, unlike some of the other World of Warcraft related forums, Curse.com seems have alto of novice or new players who come here for answers to their questions. So, if you think you have a new or unanswered question take five minutes and search the forums for the answer to your question

"Has my question been asked before?" and the answers to common problems section.

"Has my question been asked before?" The short answer, YES. I blame the fact that so many of the same questions being asked over and over again is the poor search functionality on Curse.com. The not so short answer, chances are that your question having been asked before is nearly 100% and I am surprised when I read a new question or problem. The reason being is that there is just so much that can happen in a limited environment like the World of Warcraft and its associated addons and modifications. Not much changes, even with an expansion like Wrath the majority of the questions are just a rewording of prior question.

Now having said all that try the search out in the following section and see what you can find. If you don't have any luck then I say post away, there are a ton of really smart people here with a lot of combined knowledge about WoW.

How to properly search Curse.com.

Start here first before you post your question in the forums

Well I hate to say it but as many of you know the search feature on Curse.com really falls short in may ways. Fortunately we have the good people at Google to help us in our quest for answers. If I could I would add a search box right on this page so all you would have to do is just pop in your question and get your results right away but the restrictions on this forum prevent me from using <form> tags here.

I can however link you to a Google search page which is already set up to handle your search more efficiently. Try these searches out to get the results that you need. Each should open up in a new page and you just have to enter your search term into the search box.

These links will only search the World of Warcraft sections of the Curse.com site.
• Curse.com site.
• Curse.com Forums
• Curse.com Addons

For example if you want a tooltip addon that will reposition (or anchor) them where you want try using the WoW Curse.com Addons link and entering "tooltip anchor" into the search box. Try that search HERE While not all of the results are relative you will see that on the first page alone you have half a dozen results that point directly to addons that will move your tooltip anchor.

OMG AddonX has a keylogger and I was hacked because I downloaded it.

OK, you need to take a deep breath and relax a little. Life will go on and most likely you did not get a keylogger / virus / (insert bad thing here) from an addon. Please take a little time and read the entire link HERE (while it refers to a Mac, it applies to Windows equally) and think about what you may have or have not done that would have resulted in your account becoming compromised. I am sure that in the end you will find that it is not from an addon and the fact that you were hacked after downloading AddonX is ONLY a coincidence.

Tips to prevent your computer from being compromised can be found here LINKY. Read it and take the steps that you need to prevent any problems in the future. Remember that if you are hacked only you are to blame.

Where is the addon button?

The addon button that this question refers to is the button in the lower left of the character selection screen once you have successfully logged in to WoW. If it is there then you have successfully installed your addons. If the button does not exist then you either have no addons installed, you have installed then improperly, or they are installed in the wrong directory. See the next section for more information about where your addons need to be installed. You can check the checkbox in the addons screen to load out of date addons. This is the recommended state since most addons are never completely up to date but will still work properly in the most current version.

Where is my addons folder?

There is not a standard answer to this question. Most installations should fit into one of three possible locations. The "Addons" folder will NOT exist if you have not run WoW before.

Default installation directories...
• Windows XP - "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\Addons\"
• Windows Vista - "C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\Interface\Addons\"
• Custom Installation Directory - "<WOW>*\Interface\Addons\"

*<WOW> refers to your World of Warcraft installation folder. Mine is in "G:\Games\WoW\"

A few notes here about the directories and why they are where they are. Blizzard decided to change the path in Vista a few patches ago. This IS a good thing. Vista acts very differently than any previous Windows version and it handles directory permissions correctly. If you were to just leave WoW in the "Program Files" folder only administrators would be able to use addons and you should NEVER be using an administrator account for daily use anyway. Another point of interest is that WoW is directory neutral. This means that at any time you can just drag and drop the entire WoW folder from its current folder and drop it wherever you like. Only do this if you are having issues with your addons not being recognized. Also, once you do this you now fit into the "Custom Installation Directory" line item and your addon folder path is now in a different location.

I really screwed something up, what now?

As a last resort you have a few options at your disposal. First of all you can try and manually remove your addons and their associated saved variables. You can do this by finding the offending addon folder inside the "Interface/Addons" folder and then delete it. You then need to navigate to "WTF" folder found in the same parent folder that your "Interface/Addons" folder is in. Once you are in there do a search by hitting "[Ctrl] F". This will open up a search window. Once there make sure that search sub folders is checked in the advanced options and that you are searching for "files and folders". In the search box you needy to enter your addon name and nothing else. Be accurate and don't abbreviate. Once you get your results verify that they all belong to your addon, they will have your exact addon name and an extension like .lua or .lua.bak. Highlight all the results and hit delete. You have now removed one addon completely.

Options two and three are more drastic but serve a similar purpose. Your next option is to entirely delete the "Interface\Addons\" folder and the "WTF" folder. This completely removes ALL of your addons and their saved variables. If this still does not help then run the repair utility (repair.exe) in the the WoW installation folder. This will set your WoW installation back to a default state. This will remove all of your local settings like your video and audio settings along with all of your addons and some miscellaneous other items.

I need help with the Curse client.

Not much to be said here. Read the FAQ HERE and see if that has your answer. If not then you really need to post your question in the "Curse Client Support" forums HERE. The Curse Client can only be properly supported by the creators and others who have much more experience using it than me. I never use an automatic addon installer.

PSYN, you know what I am talking about.

The infamous PSYN error. This occurs because you are clicking on a link on a page that your browser does not know how to handle. This is analogous to clicking on a .torrent link and not having a torrent client installed. There can be a few reasons for this, all out of the scope of this topic. You are most likely on Firefox, if so check THIS link. If not I suggest that you just run the Curse client installer again with your browser CLOSED.

What is "package reauthentication failed"?

"package reauthentication failed" is a funny error. I'm not sure that there has even been a straightforward answer to this problem. Most solutions involve logging out and back into the Curse Client. Any proven solutions are welcome, just leave me a PM.

I have a question about a specific addon where do I find answers?

All questions that are about a specific addon are always best asked in that specific addons comment section. While there are a ton of really, really, smart people who browse these forums you have a much better chance of getting a good answer from others who use that addon or even the author themselves on the page where the addon is hosted and not in a general forum.

Why does no one post an answer to my problem with AddonX?

Be patient, people are reading your post. If no one answers you that probably means that they do not have an answer for you. Please, please don't bump your own thread since it is in bad netiquette to do so. If someone else feels that your question is important enough they will make sure that you stay at the top. Frequent poster es to most forums will read each and every new post so if they know the answer they will most likely answer it. If you post falls to the next page, or a few pages beyond then think to yourself, "did I ask a question that has been asked a thousand times before and I just didn't search for it well enough?"

Where can I find addons for a previous patch?

There is only one answer to this question: Pay for the game like everyone else! You can not, let me repeat myself, can NOT, be playing on a server that is on a previous patch UNLESS it is an ILLEGAL server. I understand that there are certain current releases to addons that are broken, or bugged, and a previous release worked just fine. Please give the author time to fix the addon. If you absolutely need a previous version you should almost always be able to find archived releases on the addons main page.

QuestHelper, Ughh.

Any and all questions relating to this or any other specific addon should follow the guidelines set out in the I have a question about a specific addon where do I find answers? topic. Questhelper questions, like any other questions about a specific addon, are always best asked on that specific addons hosted page.

I am looking for an addon to "automatically" do X.

With very, very, few exceptions there is no automation in World of Warcraft. This means that you can not automatically buff, target, track, attack, cast, walk, run, jump, fly, swim, etc... This is all set out by Blizzard to prevent bots. So, if you are about to ask if there is an addon to 'auto magically' do an action then the answer is NO. There are a few exceptions, like I said, and they are limited to actions such as creating 50 bandages or smelting 100 ore.

The minimap and you.

The minimap, oh the minimap. The source of soooo many questions lately. Blizzard provides addon authors very limited functions to interact with the minimap. This means that you can only track one thing at a time, you can NOT be notified when a tracked item comes into range, you can NOT select a target by clicking on the tracking dot on the minimap, etc. The only thing that you can actively do to interact with the minimap is to 'ping' it. That is, you can left click on it to show a location to the others in your party / raid. That's it.

I want an addon to XYZ in the game world.

When i say 'game world' I an talking about the actual 3D window with all of the NPCs, players, and terrain in it. There have been questions about increasing the range of the nameplates to making enemy players show up as pink. Each and every question has the same answer, in the end we are limited how we can affect the game world. While it IS technically possible to change what you see in front of you it would get you permanently banned. What you see is what you get.

Major World of Warcraft sites.

A list of some of the more popular World of Warcraft sites.

• WoW Ten Ton Hammer
• WorldofWar.net
• BlizzPlanet
• WoW Curse Gaming
• Arena Junkies
• World of Raids
• Wowhead
• Allakhazam
• WoW Interface
• WoW Warcry
• WoW Wiki
• WoW Radio
• TankSpot
• WoW Achievements

Addon Development

Creating an addon is not as as hard as it sounds and while some may just write it off completely I suggest that everyone takes a few minutes and look into an addons code. Take any addon (the smaller the better) and open it up in Notepad. Yup, that is all that you need to make an addon, Notepad. All addons are just simple plain text written in the Lua programming language. It may look complicated to those without any programming experience but for those of us who have a background in programming we feel right at home.

While I say those of us with a background in programming, I feel that anyone can write an addon even if it is just a simple one. While a FAQ about addon development would take away from the point of this whole post I felt that this needed to be put here to just get it out there. There is no mystery to addons or their development, no years and years or training and education needed to write one, just a little determination on your part. It really is easy and maybe someone will take it upon themselves to write up a little tutorial to get people started.

Regarding replies and questions to this post:

In hopes that people take into account the time and effort that I put into creating this thread I ask that you take your time and think before you post a question here.All off topic replies should be removed or edited to remain on topic. This is the whole point to this post is to answer those common questions and not new ones. So if your question is not addressed in this thread then please start a new thread of your own.

I ask that anyone who feels that they have something to add to this thread please, please, feel free to add your information to your own reply and I will surely link to it from the TOC on the first page. I accept that I am not always right and sometimes I am just reiterating what I have read myself so keep that in mind and please set me straight if you see an error.

I ask that if this post is stickied that it remains unlocked and open for people to add to. I have reserved the whole first page to keep this thread open for more information to be added at a later date or as things are updated by Blizzard. It also keeps people focused on the information contained in this thread and not on the comments posted.

I will make every attempt to address the on topic questions and comments that are directly related to this post. Any and all comments for additions or modifications to the previous topics will be taken seriously and addressed as such. Off topic comments will be ignored completely.

I ask that all comments relating to spelling, grammar, and omissions be made via a private message and not in a reply in this thread. All requests for additional information should be posted as a reply.