DropCount: In general, DropCount tells you where stuff is. It's a repository for loot, quests, vendors, trainers, books, locations, ores, herbs, ratios, etc.

A day-to-day usage example could be when you are at the auction house and see an interesting item. You mouse-over it, and:
1) press <Alt> to display a list of creatures that drops said item.
2) press <Ctrl> to display a list of vendors that sells said item.
If the item can be looted off a creature, the item tooltip will display which zone has the best drop chance.

Another usage example could be if you need to level f.ex. tailoring and you need a lot of cloth. Mouse-over the cloth item and press the key binding for "Track item on worldmap". (Set-up: <Esc>, “Key Bindings”, scroll down). The item's drop areas will be shaded in the world map.
This works for an unlimited number of simultaneous items, and even creatures.
NOTE: This functionality was introduced in v1.50, and as such only limited data has been possible to supply with that version. Share your data and help each other out. New versions will be released when sufficient data has been submitted.

Looking up information
DropCount comes with free-text search. Just open the search window from the minimap menu and enter whatever you need to find, or parts of it.
Example: Enter "bouquet of black roses" to find all vendors of this item.
Example: Enter "bouquet of" to find all such matching items. Should return a list of known flower bouquets and where to get them.

Already a DropCount user?
- With your substantial database already in place, all possible care is taken during upgrade to keep your data in top working condition. When you install a new version, DropCount will perform a database maintenance cycle when merging new data with your existing data. Parts of this will be experienced by the player as quite heavy CPU usage, and your screen may become slightly choppy at certain isolated incidents. This is all dependent on the size and health of your database. You can however keep playing, as the maintenance is heavily throttled when you enter combat to make sure your gaming experience is at its best in combat.
- The maintenance cycle will only be run once after upgrading the addon, and you can even log out during maintenance. However, the maintenance will rewind a bit before continuing when you log back in after interrupting it. No harm done, though. It will keep going until it has made it through all your data. When all data has been through maintenance, you will not be bothered by it again until you install a new version.

DropCount needs you
When you play, DropCount is adding to its database. Because of this, your database is unique. We hope you will consider submitting your data to DropCount. Doing so will make you a participant in the growing family of DropCount data submitters, and your unique data will be part of the next release. Thanks to all submitters for your fantastic help so far.

- You may be sitting on some unique data without even knowing about it. Share it with the rest of us by submitting your database.

The easiest way to find the database is to search your computer for the "LootCount_DropCount.lua" file. There will be several found, and the biggest one is the database. This file can be submitted by:
1) Email to "dropcount@ducklib.com".
2) Upload at DuckLib ( http://www.ducklib.com/index.php/dropcount ). Only raw data-files allowed.

Submitter's privacy
The database does not contain any personal information. The most personal information you will find is your language locale. But you don't need to take my word for it. The database is a text file. Search it with a text editor for your server names, toons or whatever else that may come to mind.
NOTE: If you do this, only view the file. Do not save the file from the text editor. The technical reason is that the file is heavily dependent on keeping its original byte coding. Your text editor may change that without telling you when you save the file, and your database will be broken beyond repair.
You probably don't want that.

Memory usage
Some users have expressed concern over the memory usage of DropCount considering many (most) do not need or want all the data the addon has.
As of DropCount v1.50, a data selector has been implemented. From the minimap menu, select "Data...".
NOTE: Data you unselect will be permanently deleted.
NOTE: These options apply to all toons within the same account.