Since Elven asked for feedback, all I can say is UI is really subjective. We all have preferences and what works for one may or may not work for another. Some prefer minimal addons, while others like to run highly custom.
My UI evolved from reflecting on other peoples' setups - along with lots of tweaking the details!! I gradually took what I liked about their UIs and made it into one design that works for me. My goal was to have lots of information easily viewable while keeping a clean setup that maximizes my view of the game world during combat.
I use this UI for every class/spec. Cast bar, raid frames, cooldown timer etc are set tight and central. Stuff I really don't need to watch during combat like dps/hps, chat, extra buttons, and floating combat text are compacted at the screen edge.
(the top set are function, the bottom set are aesthetics. you can look up what each does on curse.com)
Specific addon notes:
Stuf: I highly prefer because it is so highly customizable, particularly for being able to view stacks of buffs / debuffs on a given target (this is very useful!!) It takes time to set up but is well worth it and copies over to your alts.
Elkano: Notice the red debuff bar right above my character frame. Being able to quickly and easily identify your debuffs and their stack counts is simply essential. Further debuffs stack upwards just like the buff bar at the left of screen.
Quartz: My cast bar is thin and runs in-line with my top action bar, just above it. My target's cast bar is wide and goes just above the target frame. The GCD timer goes just below my cooldown timer (very top of the art frame)
Dominos: In healing specs I set vital keybinds to numbers 1-5 so I can just hold down Shift or Alt to access binds from those rows. This lets my left hand stay by the movement keys & click heal with my right hand.
PowerAuras: I use this for buffs that I really need to track. Rainbow Dash and the green timer is for my Harmony buff, which ideally is always up. Celestia and the teal timer is for Tree of Life, which changes how my spells behave so it has a timer too. Fire pony is for Power Torrent, and the Velocity buff off my trinket has a different fire pony - those have no timer, because if they're up I just know to spam hots. Keep the aura icons translucent - you want to notice when they're up, but you also need to be able to see what's happening around you.
Also since it's kind of part of the UI here are some Healbot binds I use.
Resto druid:
Click: L - regrowth M - wild growth R - lifebloom Thumb - nature's swiftness +Alt: L - nourish R - rejuv Thumb - innervate +Ctrl: L - healing touch R - swiftmend +Ctrl+Alt L - tranquility M - treeform R - dispel Thumb - battle res
Disc priest (mana hymn + archangel are keybound)
Click: L - heal M - pw: shield R - renew Thumb - inner focus +Alt: L - penance M - mass dispel R - binding heal Thumb - power infusion +Ctrl: L - greater heal M - prayer of healing R - flash heal Thumb - leap of faith +Ctrl+Alt: L - divine hymn M - pw: barrier R - dispel / cure Thumb - pain suppression
Comments questions feedback are plenty welcome. Hope this is helpful to someone. ^_^
Since I liked what Cammie & Kah did, here is mine all labelled.
For caster dps I just move HealBot to the side and enable the spell timer from ForteXorcist, which goes right above my cooldown timer. Although I usually run the spell timer only when it's a boss encounter with a fairly small number of targets, since in light of keeping the data useful to me, with lots of adds it's easier to just watch timers that run atop the unit frames from my TidyPlates than clutter my screen with timers that I'll likely let expire anyway. Being able to see the area under and immediately around your character is pretty important. (Eventually I might move those timers to above my target's cast bar, and find a new place for raid frames during dps).
My eclipse bar goes just to the right of my player frame, and for dps I have slightly different auras - since taking advantage of haste buffs is essential to Balance druids, I end up tracking Nature's Grace + the haste buff from my staff, both with timers. So anytime they're up I want to be pushing cast times.
Above is a SS of my UI when practically nothing is active. See how bare it looks? (No pun intended :P) That helps things stand out when they pop up, like bars & auras.
I LOVE that. I hate how cluttered mine gets when there's nothing going on at all. Does Healbot let you click to select players, since it is replacing your raid frames? Or do you have to set a hotkey/key combo for it to act like a regular raid frame? This drives me bonkers with Vuhdo. I don't want two sets of frames, but if I click the person in the Vuhdo list, it wants to cast all the things! Especially problematic with Allu's tank set up where clicking taunts. >.>
Did you program Power Auras yourself, or is there a good tutorial somewhere? I've been looking into doing that. My Killing Machine procs are driving me up a wall because I don't get warning soon enough and blow them with FS instead of Oblit.
One set of frames is all you need. My keybind for targeting a raid member is Shift+Left click, and I use Shift+Right click if I need to focus them. I'm pretty sure Vuhdo will let you do the same thing.
That's a good aura idea for your frost spec. Also for my Frost DK one aura I run is for when runic power maxes out. If that happens during Killing Machine and my runes are up then I usually just FS so that the runic power isn't wasted - it might be a little dps lost at the beginning but long-term it can help the rotation. There are a lot of good things to aura for frost dk.
I still want to figure out how to make a timer for duration on my ghoul! In some situations being able to consume it at the last couple seconds it's alive would be pretty nice.
Since Elven asked for feedback, all I can say is UI is really subjective. We all have preferences and what works for one may or may not work for another. Some prefer minimal addons, while others like to run highly custom.
My UI evolved from reflecting on other peoples' setups - along with lots of tweaking the details!! I gradually took what I liked about their UIs and made it into one design that works for me. My goal was to have lots of information easily viewable while keeping a clean setup that maximizes my view of the game world during combat.
I use this UI for every class/spec. Cast bar, raid frames, cooldown timer etc are set tight and central. Stuff I really don't need to watch during combat like dps/hps, chat, extra buttons, and floating combat text are compacted at the screen edge.
Addons included:
*Healbot
*ForteXorcist
*Stuf Unit Frames
*Dominos
*TidyPlates
*Elkano's Buff Bars
*Quartz
*Skada
*EavesDrop
*BigWigs
*PowerAuras
*Sexymap
*Masque
*Kgpanels
*SharedMedia
*Prat
*BaudManifest (not pictured)
(the top set are function, the bottom set are aesthetics. you can look up what each does on curse.com)
Specific addon notes:
Stuf: I highly prefer because it is so highly customizable, particularly for being able to view stacks of buffs / debuffs on a given target (this is very useful!!) It takes time to set up but is well worth it and copies over to your alts.
Elkano: Notice the red debuff bar right above my character frame. Being able to quickly and easily identify your debuffs and their stack counts is simply essential. Further debuffs stack upwards just like the buff bar at the left of screen.
Quartz: My cast bar is thin and runs in-line with my top action bar, just above it. My target's cast bar is wide and goes just above the target frame. The GCD timer goes just below my cooldown timer (very top of the art frame)
Dominos: In healing specs I set vital keybinds to numbers 1-5 so I can just hold down Shift or Alt to access binds from those rows. This lets my left hand stay by the movement keys & click heal with my right hand.
PowerAuras: I use this for buffs that I really need to track. Rainbow Dash and the green timer is for my Harmony buff, which ideally is always up. Celestia and the teal timer is for Tree of Life, which changes how my spells behave so it has a timer too. Fire pony is for Power Torrent, and the Velocity buff off my trinket has a different fire pony - those have no timer, because if they're up I just know to spam hots. Keep the aura icons translucent - you want to notice when they're up, but you also need to be able to see what's happening around you.
Also since it's kind of part of the UI here are some Healbot binds I use.
Resto druid:
Click: L - regrowth M - wild growth R - lifebloom Thumb - nature's swiftness
+Alt: L - nourish R - rejuv Thumb - innervate
+Ctrl: L - healing touch R - swiftmend
+Ctrl+Alt L - tranquility M - treeform R - dispel Thumb - battle res
Disc priest (mana hymn + archangel are keybound)
Click: L - heal M - pw: shield R - renew Thumb - inner focus
+Alt: L - penance M - mass dispel R - binding heal Thumb - power infusion
+Ctrl: L - greater heal M - prayer of healing R - flash heal Thumb - leap of faith
+Ctrl+Alt: L - divine hymn M - pw: barrier R - dispel / cure Thumb - pain suppression
Comments questions feedback are plenty welcome. Hope this is helpful to someone. ^_^
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For caster dps I just move HealBot to the side and enable the spell timer from ForteXorcist, which goes right above my cooldown timer. Although I usually run the spell timer only when it's a boss encounter with a fairly small number of targets, since in light of keeping the data useful to me, with lots of adds it's easier to just watch timers that run atop the unit frames from my TidyPlates than clutter my screen with timers that I'll likely let expire anyway. Being able to see the area under and immediately around your character is pretty important. (Eventually I might move those timers to above my target's cast bar, and find a new place for raid frames during dps).
My eclipse bar goes just to the right of my player frame, and for dps I have slightly different auras - since taking advantage of haste buffs is essential to Balance druids, I end up tracking Nature's Grace + the haste buff from my staff, both with timers. So anytime they're up I want to be pushing cast times.
Above is a SS of my UI when practically nothing is active. See how bare it looks? (No pun intended :P) That helps things stand out when they pop up, like bars & auras.
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Did you program Power Auras yourself, or is there a good tutorial somewhere? I've been looking into doing that. My Killing Machine procs are driving me up a wall because I don't get warning soon enough and blow them with FS instead of Oblit.
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Here's a good tutorial for PowerAuras: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dstFgS9dM9A
That's a good aura idea for your frost spec. Also for my Frost DK one aura I run is for when runic power maxes out. If that happens during Killing Machine and my runes are up then I usually just FS so that the runic power isn't wasted - it might be a little dps lost at the beginning but long-term it can help the rotation. There are a lot of good things to aura for frost dk.
I still want to figure out how to make a timer for duration on my ghoul! In some situations being able to consume it at the last couple seconds it's alive would be pretty nice.
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(The comment has been removed)
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