WeakAuras AMA - Live on Wowhead at 7pm CET Today!

posted 2018/12/08 at 10:31 AM by perculia

Ask your questions in the comments, or as a reply to this linked Twitter post, and they may be answered! We're posting this at 6pm CET and the AMA will start at 7pm CET.What is WeakAuras?hereOfficial WeakAuras CommunityJuggernauthereWhat's New with WeakAuras?BudstemplatesWeakAuras Companionwago.ioyour aurasAura Updating SystememptyriversCustom Author OptionsStanzillaTwitterInfusBuffTrigger rewriteIf you are interested in our development work, please check out our GitHub page and Patreon blog.WeakAuras AMAWeakAuras CompanionAny ETA on the WeakAuras app recently announced or other details on the project you'd like to share?
Stanzilla: We're currently trying to finalize a first release, so far everything works as intended, we're just trying to make the UI a bit nicer and more understandable. If there are any designers out that that want to help, please check out https://github.com/WeakAuras/WeakAuras-Companion! We might have a first release in about a week or so!Any plans to make it so you can import weakauras straight from a wago link?Stanzilla: Our current work on the WeakAuras companion (https://github.com/WeakAuras/WeakAuras-Companion) should help with that, addons themselves can't really access any data outside of the game so we need some helper tool to do it.

emptyrivers: The basic usage that we're planning currently is that you can star a WA on wago, and then whenever that wago updates, you will be able to process the update in WeakAuras the next time you log in.Will there be a Weak Auras updating tool to scan your WeakAuras.lua file and see if there are any updates out there on wago?Stanzilla: that's exactly what we are doing! https://github.com/WeakAuras/WeakAuras-Companion

Infus: It works slightly differently from what you suggested. It can automatically download the updates and on next login the WeakAuras UI will announce that updates are available. One extra click to start the upgrade process, because WA wants to know what user settings to keep.
Buds: Please note that it is still in heavy development and we have not yet release an executable for public testing.Feature Requeststhere's any chance in future, where we can use the "muted sound channel"as default WA sounds volume?e. if my music sound is disable but in max vol. on settings, all my WA with sound in music channel works at max-vol, even disabled(master channel for output but with music vol.)Stanzilla: That sounds like a very specific use case, please open an issue on the GitHub project so we can talk about it :) https://t.co/w6M1lCGmRs

Infus: I'm not 100% sure how the sound settings in WoW work. We are just playing a sound on a channel, and assume that it uses the sound volume of that channel. So that might be a wow bug, or a misunderstanding how it actually works. Create a ticket and we'll figure that out with you.Why can't we nest groups inside of groups? For example. Have a dynamic group of auras inside of a group that contains other group or items such as energy bars etc.emptyrivers: The short answer is that nobody has done it yet. The slightly longer answer is that there's a lot of back-end assumptions which prevent us from simply enabling the option. As for that specific example, a way to achieve that is planned, and will be added in the medium term.Will WA be able to take advantage of the multithreading optimisations 8.1 brings?emptyrivers: Sadly, no.when are we getting checkmarks backStanzilla: hah, that's actually an ElvUI change! We don't like it either :(With the companion app increasing Weak Aura's out-of-game footprint, do you foresee a future where auras can be created /modified outside of WoW entirely and merely imported in when complete?Infus: So wowhead actually has a small feature where you can create a aura from any buff and wago has a feature where you can edit the code that is embedded in the aura.

In general though, I doubt we would ever do that, since it would probably require writing a separate entirely duplicated way of configuring auras and then effort to keep them in sync. That's a huge effort for a rather small gain.General QuestionsMany of us are heavily reliant on WAs and can do very clever things using custom codes. With all the advancements to the addon, especially in these last few years, do you ever wonder if Blizzard may eventually break custom codes? Is it even possible?Stanzilla: They always do it when it gets into areas they don't want addons to touch, otherwise we follow the same rules as "standard" addons do, so they can't really break stuff for WeakAuras custom code only.

Infus: For example they broke attaching to nameplates and radar type checks a while ago.Is it hard to stay committed to the game when you don't necessarily agree with the direction it's going or priorities of blizzard?Stanzilla: very hard. there have been very long periods where we don't even play the game, just do addon stuff.

emptyrivers: Thankfully, it's possible to continue development on WeakAuras with just a trial account. So it's not an interruption if one of us wants to stop playing the game for a while.

Infus: Addon development is fun even when the game isn't as fun as it used to be.Will WA benefit at all from the DX12 improvements and optimization.Stanzilla: Not directly, everyone benefits from more FPS though :)How did you came up with the idea to create an addon like Weakauras where you can customize literally everything?Stanzilla: mostly as an successor to PowerAuras if you remember that.

emptyrivers: WeakAuras began as a lightweight clone of PowerAuras, some 8 years ago or so. But the idea behind WeakAuras (an abstraction layer on top of the WoW user interface API to make it easier to create visual elements) isn't too uncommon in software in general.I'd consider myself "intermediate" at writing my own WeakAuras. Can you recommend resources to take me to the next level? eg; custom triggers etc. Many thanks!Stanzilla: Definitely the wiki (https://github.com/WeakAuras/WeakAuras2/wiki) and Discord!What would you say is the main reason for the rise in popularity (even ubiquity!) of WeakAuras over the last couple of expansions?

For instance, and you may not think that it's either of these things, do you think that it's due to a change in the players or changes to the game?Infus: I think there are multiple reasons for that. WeakAuras has always been pretty popular, although not as popular as nowadays. We also had a good community around WeakAuras, where people shared their work so that others could learn from it and built their own stuff and I think having that kind of community acts as a multiplier for everything.

For example, when Kraziyto started the WA Discord, that took off by itself and nowadays is filled with experts answering questions, like yourself.

Or for example, when people started creating small boss mods for their guilds, it was entirely natural for them to share them.

And I think we managed to add a few good new features in the last few years.Where do you see your strengths and potential weaknesses compared to other similar addons (such as tellmewhen)? How would you plan to address any weaknesses you've identified, or are identified by users.?Infus: I think our biggest strength is actually that there's a huge helpful community around WeakAuras. I don't actually know what tellmewhen does and how it does what it does.

We do keep in mind what users want, and especially do keep track of what users are doing to figure what feature to tackle next.What's the hardest part about developing a WoW addon?emptyrivers: Probably the inconsistencies and lack of documentation in the WoW API. There are a lot of gotchas and easy mistakes which you simply won't know about until you stumble across it.
Infus:Apart from the apis that rivers already mentioned, keeping backwards compatibility is often a lot of work.
WeakAuras for Specs

Blood Death Knight WeakAuras

Arcane Mage WeakAuras

Assassination Rogue WeakAuras

Frost Death Knight WeakAuras

Fire Mage WeakAuras

Outlaw Rogue WeakAuras

Unholy Death Knight WeakAuras

Frost Mage WeakAuras

Subtlety Rogue WeakAuras

Havoc Demon Hunter WeakAuras

Brewmaster Monk WeakAuras

Elemental Shaman WeakAuras

Vengeance Demon Hunter WeakAuras

Mistweaver Monk WeakAuras

Enhancement Shaman WeakAuras

Balance Druid WeakAuras

Windwalker Monk WeakAuras

Restoration Shaman WeakAuras

Feral Druid WeakAuras

Holy Paladin WeakAuras

Affliction Warlock WeakAuras

Guardian Druid WeakAuras

Protection Paladin WeakAuras

Demonology Warlock WeakAuras

Restoration Druid WeakAuras

Retribution Paladin WeakAuras

Destruction Warlock WeakAuras

Beast Mastery Hunter WeakAuras

Discipline Priest WeakAuras

Arms Warrior WeakAuras

Marksmanship Hunter WeakAuras

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Survival Hunter WeakAuras

Shadow Priest WeakAuras

Protection Warrior WeakAuras

Comments

Comment by perculiaAny ETA on the WeakAuras app recently announced or other details on the project you'd like to share?

Excited we could set this AMA up with you! Some good questions on Twitter!Comment by StanzillaAny ETA on the WeakAuras app recently announced or other details on the project you'd like to share?

Excited we could set this AMA up with you! Some good questions on Twitter!https://github.com/WeakAuras/WeakAuras-CompanionComment by asakawaWhat would you say is the main reason for the rise in popularity (even ubiquity!) of WeakAuras over the last couple of expansions?

For instance, and you may not think that it's either of these things, do you think that it's due to a change in the players or changes to the game?Comment by InfusWhat would you say is the main reason for the rise in popularity (even ubiquity!) of WeakAuras over the last couple of expansions?

For instance, and you may not think that it's either of these things, do you think that it's due to a change in the players or changes to the game?Comment by InfusExcited we could set this AMA up with you! Some good questions on Twitter!Comment by xevraiWith the companion app increasing Weak Aura's out-of-game footprint, do you foresee a future where auras can be created /modified outside of WoW entirely and merely imported in when complete?Comment by brianspenceniWhere do you see your strengths and potential weaknesses compared to other similar addons (such as tellmewhen)? How would you plan to address any weaknesses you've identified, or are identified by users.Comment by InfusWith the companion app increasing Weak Aura's out-of-game footprint, do you foresee a future where auras can be created /modified outside of WoW entirely and merely imported in when complete?Comment by InfusWhere do you see your strengths and potential weaknesses compared to other similar addons (such as tellmewhen)? How would you plan to address any weaknesses you've identified, or are identified by users.Comment by leobolinIt still baffles me we don't have any sort of nested groups or even just a good way to organize all our auras. It quickly gets out of hand when you play multiple classes. Why is this not a high priority?Comment by InfusIt still baffles me we don't have any sort of nested groups or even just a good way to organize all our auras. It quickly gets out of hand when you play multiple classes. Why is this not a high priority?Comment by mrbudsWe know WeakAura's users wants to organize better their auras, as Infus said it's not an easy task. Shift+click, ctrl+click and drag'n drop of multi selection were added in the last months to help you move your auras around. We have also considered to add a tagging system, but it doesn't really solve a problem that can't be work around, but it's something we want to improve.

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WeakAuras AMA - Live on Wowhead at 7pm CET Today!

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