AddOns: How to install and check them
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:45 am
When you install AddOns there are quite some issues to consider. AddOns need to be:
If the button is not present, then one of the listed prerequisites has not been met.
The right Location.
An AddOn is a set of files and folders. It may be just a few, but could be many. Obviously it would be messy were they just thrown somewhere so they are not. An AddOn lives inside a folder usually with the same name as the AddOn. So you will never copy files by them selves rather you will copy a folder in place. ZIP folders are NOT folders. They are files. So the goodies are inside the ZIP file and needs to be copied to the outside.
You can find where an AddOn folder should be copied to by first locating the WoW-Mania.exe file. In that folder or directory (different names for the exact same thing) you must locate another folder called Interface. In the Interface folder you must find the AddOns folder.
So the folder hierarchy looks something like this (not pretty - trying to avoid images):
Folder containing WoW-Mania.exe
________|
____Interface
________|
_____AddOns
Checking that the AddOn is correctly in place
For WoW to recognize that this is indeed an AddOn there must be a file with the extension .toc at the top level in your new AddOns folder. An example using the Carbonite addon:
I copy the carbonite folder into the AddOns folder. I should now see:
AddOns
__Carbonite
____Carbonite.toc
If you don't find the .toc file, then have a look in folders deeper in your AddOn. It might be that you are looking at an incorrectly packaged AddOn containing multiple AddOns. In that case you will be copying multiple folders, one for each packaged plugin. You will just never be copying a file into the AddOns folder
Checking the correct game version
Wow-mania is not even close to the current state of WoW. So we are using AddOns woefully out of date, but they are current to us. So when you are picking addons from curseforge or where ever, then these addons must be applicable to the game version you and I are playing: 3.3.5a.
Unfortunately plugins do not know what game version you are playing, nor are they interested in knowing that. The AddOns concern themselves with something called the interface version.
To get the interface version you can execute the following command in any WoW game just like if you were saying "hi" to a fellow player:
So within that folder you must copy the folder containing your new AddOn.
You should get the answer: 30300
You should read this as 030300 meaning version 03, revision 03, sub-revision 00 or 3.3.0
If you use a text editor like Notepad++ and open the .toc file in your addons top-level folder then you should see something like this (copied from Carbonite.toc):
The first line says it all. If this number is higher then the game interface version, then WoW will flatly refuse to accept this addon as it is clearly requireing a newer game version. If the numbers match - Wow is happy. If the number is lower than the WoW interface number then WoW will require you to accept running outdated plugins - which is what we do since not all versions of the addon we want is available. And it usually works - just not always.
Correctly constructed
No I won't go into more details here. You just have to accept that you are not the only person to fail. There are a ton of addons out there and not all are working. So ask around, don't assume right away that you are "just not getting it".
Correctly activated
Once you see the AddOns button, be aware that WoW will default attempt to activate all addons. This doesn't mean that they will activate. You will have to enter the AddOns menu to verify. Dependencies may exist that are not met. In that case you will have to hunt down additional addons to satisfy the needs of the addon you want activated.
I think I have covered all aspects which means that I probably forgot a few. Others will comment on that, but I just wish you good hunting.
Ironmand/Gnist/FireAndIce/Goldfingyr/Coldfinger/Tazz
- in the right location
- applicable to your game version (Wow-Mania is 3.3.5a)
- constructed correctly. They may be defective!
- correctly activated
If the button is not present, then one of the listed prerequisites has not been met.
The right Location.
An AddOn is a set of files and folders. It may be just a few, but could be many. Obviously it would be messy were they just thrown somewhere so they are not. An AddOn lives inside a folder usually with the same name as the AddOn. So you will never copy files by them selves rather you will copy a folder in place. ZIP folders are NOT folders. They are files. So the goodies are inside the ZIP file and needs to be copied to the outside.
You can find where an AddOn folder should be copied to by first locating the WoW-Mania.exe file. In that folder or directory (different names for the exact same thing) you must locate another folder called Interface. In the Interface folder you must find the AddOns folder.
So the folder hierarchy looks something like this (not pretty - trying to avoid images):
Folder containing WoW-Mania.exe
________|
____Interface
________|
_____AddOns
Checking that the AddOn is correctly in place
For WoW to recognize that this is indeed an AddOn there must be a file with the extension .toc at the top level in your new AddOns folder. An example using the Carbonite addon:
I copy the carbonite folder into the AddOns folder. I should now see:
AddOns
__Carbonite
____Carbonite.toc
If you don't find the .toc file, then have a look in folders deeper in your AddOn. It might be that you are looking at an incorrectly packaged AddOn containing multiple AddOns. In that case you will be copying multiple folders, one for each packaged plugin. You will just never be copying a file into the AddOns folder
Checking the correct game version
Wow-mania is not even close to the current state of WoW. So we are using AddOns woefully out of date, but they are current to us. So when you are picking addons from curseforge or where ever, then these addons must be applicable to the game version you and I are playing: 3.3.5a.
Unfortunately plugins do not know what game version you are playing, nor are they interested in knowing that. The AddOns concern themselves with something called the interface version.
To get the interface version you can execute the following command in any WoW game just like if you were saying "hi" to a fellow player:
Code: Select all
/run print((select(4, GetBuildInfo())))
You should get the answer: 30300
You should read this as 030300 meaning version 03, revision 03, sub-revision 00 or 3.3.0
If you use a text editor like Notepad++ and open the .toc file in your addons top-level folder then you should see something like this (copied from Carbonite.toc):
Code: Select all
## Interface: 30300
## Title: Carbonite 3.34
## Version: 3.34
## Author: Carbon Based Creations, LLC
## Notes: Copyright 2007-2010 Carbon Based Creations, LLC
## DefaultState: Enabled
## LoadOnDemand: 0
## SavedVariables: NxData, NxCombatOpts, NxMapOpts
## SavedVariablesPerCharacter: NxCData
Correctly constructed
No I won't go into more details here. You just have to accept that you are not the only person to fail. There are a ton of addons out there and not all are working. So ask around, don't assume right away that you are "just not getting it".
Correctly activated
Once you see the AddOns button, be aware that WoW will default attempt to activate all addons. This doesn't mean that they will activate. You will have to enter the AddOns menu to verify. Dependencies may exist that are not met. In that case you will have to hunt down additional addons to satisfy the needs of the addon you want activated.
I think I have covered all aspects which means that I probably forgot a few. Others will comment on that, but I just wish you good hunting.
Ironmand/Gnist/FireAndIce/Goldfingyr/Coldfinger/Tazz