Do you prefer to use/see wow themed GUI's over custom themes
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Ones that use textures from the client.
- Consistency in design between different addons is one of the most important features of GUI implementation because it relates to intuitive use. We have a simple API that integrates seamlessly into the UI as is with no downsides*. Having every addon configuration screen accessible from one place in the options menu is better than slash command exclusive ones.
- They're friendly to skinning addons & texture replacement.
Which widgets do you prefer to use/create for certain tasks?
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When you should use each widget type seems pretty obvious to me.
Checkbox for binary on/off options. Dropdowns for mutually exclusive multiple choice options. Sliders for numbers, and always include a linked editbox.
Do you prefer to use templates provided by Blizzard or your own?
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The Blizzard templates are inadequate for fully streamlining the process. If I were doing complex GUI work (something I can't already do with a couple dozen lines of code myself) I'd use AceGUI or one of the smaller similar options libraries (i.e. tekkub's).
I don't know what a toolbar is in this context.
The most important element of a GUI however is how intuitive it is. It shouldn't take a user more than 20 seconds (arbitrary number) to find an option if they make an effort. I'm not going to pick on any particular addon, but I will say that even as an experienced user I still have trouble finding options I've used before in some addons.
I'm a fan of list/sub-menu as well as tabs for more complex GUIs, but once again you need to have an intuitive labeling scheme for these. In my opinion, DXE is a great example of having all of the positive traits I mentioned in most cases. It's has very complex options because of the need to edit individual alerts, but it handles it elegantly; I've rarely spent more than a few seconds at any one point trying to find an option.
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Note: I recall there being a bug at some point with the addons menu if you had too many addons registered for display in the option's window - I don't know if this still exists. If it does that's a downside, but users will rarely have that many option-dependent addons installed even if every addon author switches to this consistent integrated method.