How to Install WoW Addons
by Erik
March 6, 2007 – 9:30 amI thought I would add a little post here about how to install add ons, since I have a few friends who have managed to do this incorrectly.
Most addons are downloaded as a “zip” file, which decreases the actual file size so it takes less time to download. You must then “extract” it using a compression tool such as Winzip, WinRAR, or if you have Windows XP you can use the built-in tool. When you extract the files you will be prompted for the location you want them to go to. You will need to know where your World of Warcraft program is installed in order to pick this location correctly. Mine is the default location for Windows, which is “C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft”. Yours may be different, but you can easily determine where it is located by finding the shortcut (icon) you use to launch WoW. Right-click on the shortcut, and choose properties. Look for the “target”; this is the location of your World of Warcraft files. (Ignore the “launcher.exe”; this is the name of the file, and you just need the path.)
Now that you have the location of the WoW program, you need to look for the sub-folders. The first sub-folder is “Interface”. Be careful; I have seen some installs with “1interface” as well, so be careful to choose the correct one. In the Interface folder there will be a folder named ”AddOns”. This is the folder into which you want to extract your downloaded Addon. If it was packaged correctly, it will install a new folder with a name that should be something similar to the Addon name. If you are installing an update to an Addon that you already have, you will likely be prompted to overwrite the existing one, to which you should say “Yes”, of course.
Hope that helps!
P.S. Valdesta mentions in a comment below (everyone should read this!) that we must be careful when picking addons. Exe files, as well as .bat and .com files, can actually be keyloggers or something else we don’t want. Be sure that the add on you are adding is one from a reputable source! Thanks for bringing this up, Valdesta; we can never be too secure with our computers.
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- Oct 1, 2007: Gatherer Addon For World Of WarCraft
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10 Responses to “How to Install WoW Addons”
Addons are great, I couldn’t live without them!
One thing you might want to note, however, is if you download an addon that uses an .exe you might want to be careful with it - some of the very popular ones (wowecon, thottbot’s, etc) are just fine but there’s constantly someone creating a keylogger and uploading it as an addon to try to steal accounts.
I’ve got an entry about protecting yourself online:
Protect your account: avoiding hacks and keyloggers
The general rule is, if it’s just .lua files and text files etc, it’s a fine addon. If it’s an .exe or has a .bat or .com file, BEWARE!
Valdesta
62 Troll Hunter
Zul’jin
WoWGrrl player blog and tips and tricks, etc.
By Valdesta on Mar 8, 2007
Awesome points; thanks for bringing them up. I will be adding these pointers in the post above as an addendum.
Erik
By Erik on Mar 13, 2007
this is the greatest addon help i have ever recieved thank you
By Mooninites on Apr 6, 2007
Awesome! Glad to hear that it helped
By Erik on Apr 7, 2007
hey,
im having a problem loading addons. ive followed the directions correctly, but i dont have (and never have had) a button that says “addons” on the character selection screen. does anyone know what i need to go to get this button?
if so please email me at
travis.nevers@gmail.com
thank you
By travis on Jul 2, 2007
yes i want to know that 2, cuz i dont hawe that addons buton …
plzz help out how to get that button…
By Ilvers on Oct 1, 2007
when i try to extract the files to the interface addons folder it comes up with about 268 error messages that say specified folder cannot be found or somethin…… do you know anything about what this means
By Kenny on Oct 7, 2007
i extracted the folders correctly, and i can see them listed in the addons button ingame, but my titan panels still arent there! this is my first time setting up my own system, so any ideas would be super
thanks!
Binkey
lvl 21
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