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Cooldown Timeline 3 (CDTL3)

CooldownTimeline tracks your ability cooldowns as moving icons along a horizontal timeline bar. As a cooldown expires it slides toward a "ready" zone on the right; when it fires, a configurable alert plays. Supports all spec cooldowns, and more!
CDTL3-12.1.png

CDTL3-12.1.png

cdtl-main.gif

cdtl-main.gif

cdtl-secondary-tracking.gif

cdtl-secondary-tracking.gif

cooldowntimeline-01.png

cooldowntimeline-01.png

Description

CooldownTimeline 3 (CDTL3)

WoW: 12.1 (Midnight) · Flavors: Retail, MoP Classic, TBC Classic, Classic Era · Maintainer: Nelnamara · Original V2 author: cliffclive · Original author: Vreenak (US-Remulos)

CooldownTimeline tracks your ability cooldowns as moving icons along a horizontal timeline bar. As a cooldown expires it slides toward a "ready" zone on the right; when it fires, a configurable alert plays. Supports all spec cooldowns, ICDs, auto-attack swings, and optional Masque skinning.


Features

  • Visual cooldown timeline — icons slide along a bar toward a "ready" marker as their cooldowns count down
  • Auto-detection — discovers spec abilities automatically on login and spec change; no manual setup required
  • Multiple lanes — separate bars for different cooldown categories (offensive, defensive, etc.)
  • Bar frames — castbar-style cooldown bars with per-frame textures and colors, class color, spell school color, and the new Dynamic Color mode (bar blends toward a ready color over its final seconds)
  • Configurable ready zone — sound alerts and flash animation when a cooldown comes off cooldown
  • Internal cooldown (ICD) tracking — tracks proc ICDs alongside regular cooldowns
  • Custom cooldown list — manually add any spell not auto-detected
  • Shared cooldown support — optionally hide redundant entries when abilities share a CD
  • Auto-hide — bar hides when out of combat (configurable)
  • Masque support — skins all cooldown icons through Masque if installed
  • LibSharedMedia-3.0 — custom fonts, textures, sounds, and borders via LSM
  • One movable settings window/cdtl3 opens the complete configuration (every panel as a tab) in a movable window; no digging through Blizzard's fixed Settings frame
  • Minimap button — left-click opens settings, right-click toggles frame lock
  • AceDB profiles — per-character or shared configs, with import/export

Requirements

Dependency Required Notes
None All libs embedded
Masque Optional — skins cooldown icons

Installation

  1. Install via the CurseForge app, or download the release zip
  2. If manual: extract to World of Warcraft\_retail_\Interface\AddOns\
    • The folder should be named CooldownTimeline3
    • It should contain CDTL3.lua, the .toc files, and subdirectories
  3. Log in and type /cdtl3 to open options

First run: The bar appears in the center of your screen, unlocked. Drag it to your preferred position, then lock it via /cdtl3 lock.

Upgrading from CDTL2: your settings migrate automatically (CDTL2DBCDTL3DB) on first load.


Usage

Slash Commands

Primary command is /cdtl3 (or /cooldowntimeline3). The old /cdtl2 still works as a legacy alias.

Command Description
/cdtl3 Open the settings window (movable; every panel is a tab)
/cdtl3 lanes Jump straight to the Lanes tab
/cdtl3 ready Jump straight to the Ready tab
/cdtl3 bars Jump straight to the Bar Frames tab
/cdtl3 filters Jump straight to the Filters (per-spell) tab
/cdtl3 profiles Jump straight to the Profiles tab
/cdtl3 lock Lock all frames (disable dragging)
/cdtl3 unlock Unlock all frames
/cdtl3 test Toggle test mode (fills bar with sample icons)

Settings Window

Open with /cdtl3 or the minimap button — everything lives in one movable window:

  • Lanes — each lane's size, position, icon scale, direction, and appearance (textures + colors, class color)
  • Bar Frames — castbar-style bars: textures, colors (custom / class / spell school), Dynamic Color, and bar text
  • Ready — sound, flash color, and display duration for ready alerts
  • Filters — per-spell tracking: enable/ignore, lane and bar assignment, custom CD time override
  • Global — detection modes, tooltips, colors, import/export
  • Profiles — AceDB profiles for per-character or shared configs

Auto-Detection

On login and spec change, CDTL3 scans your spellbook and builds a cooldown list automatically. You can supplement this with the custom detection list in options, or force-track a spell with its ID. Detected spells appear in Filters once they've been cast at least once on that character.


Known Issues

Issue Status
Some proc ICDs require manual entry if not in the built-in database Add via custom detection in options
Bar may briefly appear at 0,0 on first ever login before position saves Drag to position and /reload once to persist
Talent-reduced cooldowns may show the base duration (Midnight reports base CD) Set Custom CD Time on the spell in Filters
Masque theming requires Masque to be installed and enabled Optional dependency — works without it

Changelog

v3.0.7

  • All settings now live in one movable window/cdtl3 opens the full configuration with every panel (Lanes, Ready, Bar Frames, Filters, Profiles) as a tab. Previously most settings — including the lane and bar color options — were only reachable through Blizzard's unmovable Settings frame. Blizzard's AddOns entry is now just a launcher button
  • New slash shortcuts: /cdtl3 lanes | ready | bars | filters | profiles
  • New: Dynamic Color for cooldown bars — blends from a warning color into a ready color over the final seconds (Bar Frames → Bars)
  • New: Spell School Color toggle for bars
  • Midnight 12.1 (Curse of Ula'tek) compatibility — aura tracking hardened against 12.1's secret-aura rules; no more errors in combat, Mythic+, or PvP
  • Fixed aura-triggered entries recording spell ID 0 (long-standing CDTL2 bug)

v3.0.4 – v3.0.6

  • Fixed the Custom CD Time override being overwritten by the live (base) cooldown every frame (3.0.6)
  • Fixed checkerboard minimap button / AddOns-list icon on Midnight — TGA textures (3.0.5)
  • Fixed secret-cooldown crashes on Midnight (Lane view error spam); completed the CDTL2 → CDTL3 rename with automatic settings migration (3.0.4)

v3.0.0 – v3.0.3

  • CDTL3 continuation: Midnight compatibility (SetFont secrets, nil-checks), minimap button, profile-wipe fix on Classic flavors, automated CurseForge/Wago release pipeline

v2.6r3 (cliffclive)

  • Near-complete V2 rewrite: multi-lane support, AceConfig options, auto-detection overhaul, Masque + LibSharedMedia integration, ICD tracking, shared cooldowns, AceDB profiles

v1.x (Vreenak)

  • Original Cooldown Timeline addon — the cooldown-icon timeline concept

Roadmap

  • <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Improved spell detection — catch more proc ICDs automatically
  • <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Compact mode — smaller single-row layout option
  • <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Retire the legacy CDTL2DB declaration — once users have migrated off CDTL2

Credits

Role Credit
Original addon Vreenak (US-Remulos)
V2 rewrite cliffclive
Midnight patch & CDTL3 continuation Nelnamara

License

Personal use. Credits to original authors above.

The Cooldown Timeline 3 (CDTL3) Team

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