HoldToShow
Keep your screen clear. Hold Ctrl when you need your chat and quests.
HoldToShow is a small companion addon for EllesmereUI. It lets you hide the chat window and the quest tracker completely, then bring both back instantly by holding a single key. Let go and they disappear again.
Why you might want it
Chat and the quest tracker take up a large part of the screen, yet most of the time you are not reading them. In a fight they are just more text next to the things that actually matter: the boss, the floor, your party.
Hiding them outright is easy, but then you have to dig through settings every time you want to check a quest objective or read what your group said. Showing them on mouseover is better, but you have to move the cursor to a corner of the screen and find an invisible frame, usually at the worst possible moment.
With HoldToShow your hand is already on the keyboard. Press Ctrl, read, release. You never move the mouse and never open a menu.
Features
- Hold Ctrl to show chat and quests. Both appear while the key is down and hide when you release it.
- Works in combat. Check an objective or a party message in the middle of a pull.
- Chat stays open while you type. Press Enter and chat appears on its own, so you can always see what you are writing. It hides again when you send the message or close the edit box.
- Uses EllesmereUI's own visibility system. HoldToShow does not move, reskin or replace anything. Chat and the quest tracker keep the position, size and look you gave them, and fade the way EllesmereUI fades them.
- Nothing to configure. No options window, no slash commands, no saved settings. It is a single small file, and it does nothing until you press the key.
What it looks like in play
- You are questing and want to see how many mobs are left: hold Ctrl, glance at the tracker, let go.
- Your party is talking during a dungeon: hold Ctrl, read chat, let go, and your screen is clear again.
- You need to answer someone: press Enter as usual, type, send. Chat shows while you type and hides afterwards.
Setup
- Install EllesmereUI (required) and HoldToShow.
- In the EllesmereUI options, set the Visibility of Chat and of the Quest Tracker to Never.
- Hold Ctrl in game.
If you leave either of them on another visibility setting, it simply keeps following that setting and shows as well while Ctrl is held. Your other frames are not affected.
Good to know
- While chat is hidden you will not see incoming messages until you hold Ctrl, so keep sound alerts on for whispers if you rely on them.
- Ctrl is the only key, so this works best if you do not use Ctrl in your own keybinds. Holding it for any other reason shows chat and quests too.
- The addon requires EllesmereUI and does nothing without it.
Source code and issues: https://github.com/SlivaNilow/HoldToShow
HoldToShow Team
