XalUtility

A collection of miscellaneous utilities designed to either reduce annoyances or provide convenience

I designed this addon as a solution to some common annoyes I have with the game. It's based upon a previous (never released) addon I wrote during Dragonflight, but slimmed down with only a specific set of features that I actually use.

All functionality listed below can be changed via /xu

Force-leave trade-services channel (requires receiving a message via that channel before triggering) I'm glad this channel exists, but I'm less happy about being forced into it on new characters. On my realm, it's 10+ messages every single second of every single day. This feature will automatically leave the channel after receiving a message from it. If you attempt to rejoin, you'll leave the channel again after receiving another message.

Force-leave trade channel (requires receiving a message via that channel before triggering) Trade-chat is less noisy these days, but it's still often noisy or repetitive enough that you might want to leave it automatically.

Disable automatically adding abilities to actionbars (convenience for a CVar toggle) I've never liked this functionality in the game. I much prefer that my bars aren't spammed up with abilities that probably won't be relevant for max level, and would rather choose what abilities go where.

Stops talking heads Talking heads are annoying to me - they pop up outta nowhere, like an unwanted notification on a phone. There are many addons which can disable talking heads, but every single one I tried also broke voice files and some other completely. Determined not to be forced to listen to them or have the talking head taking up screen space, I made this feature. The implementation I have used doesn't interfere with audio in any way - rather, it automatically taps the 'close' button on the talking head frame after a very short delay (to avoid it breaking audio). You will still hear the start of the talking head audio, and the frame will still appear for a short time, but both will disappear after a short time.

Delete items after 5 seconds I run a lot of legacy content for appearances. Most items I can either vendor or disenchant, but pets? I have to destroy them if I've learned 3/3. Unfortunately, I really hate having to type 'DELETE' and press enter, so I added functionality to type that automatically, and then confirm the delete after 5 seconds. I could of course just delete automatically, but I don't want to accidentally delete something I didn't mean to.

Fade buffs/debuffs/minimap This feature is aimed at folks using the default buff and debuff frames, and any minimap which uses Minimap as the frame name. It will fade out these 3 frames to 40% when you are out of combat. The primary benefactors of this are people who use OLED screens (where burn-in of static elements is a real concern).

(Experimental) Hide vehicle override frame I can't be the only person who hates how much space the vehicle action bar and art takes up when using the stock action bars (i.e. not an addon). If I'm trying to aim far out using a turret for example, then I have to angle the camera far up, which means that less of the ground is visible. By default, the ground becomes hidden behind the vehicle action bar art, making it impossible to see where you're aiming. This feature will attempt to hide much of this art. Due to how this feature is implemented in the game, there's lots of smaller frames that need hiding in order to maintain the ability to use the vehicle (rather than just a single frame), so there may be bugs with this option.

Outgoing message filter This feature will filter your outgoing messages, in an attempt to stop you from sending rage-filled messages. If you try to type a word which is in the predefined filter list (even if it's included within another word), the message box will close automatically. The words and phrases within the filter list are those which I deem are likely to be used in an offensive manner. This isn't about policing peoples speech in-game - the option can be disabled after all. Rather, it's for anyone who struggles to contain their rage and doesn't like the idea of being muted, banned, etc. Ideally, you wouldn't type those sorts of messages in the first place, but this option exists if you really need to let off steam, but you perhaps don't think of the consequences until afterwards (if at all).

Mounts

I also implemented functionality to summon mounts based upon the type of area you're in. For example, if I'm in a ground-only area, I want to summon a ground-specific mount. If I'm in a steady flying (i.e. TBC-era flying) area, I want a different mount than if I'm in a Skyriding area. If I'm in an Arena or Battleground, I want to use a PVP-specific mount. If I'm swimming, I definitely want a mount that's faster in water.

To choose the mounts you want for each type, open the Mount Journal, select a mount, and then choose which areas that mount should be summoned in.

To actually summon a mount you selected, use /xu mount - this can be placed into a macro and dropped onto your bars for convenience.

You can force a specific type of mount to be summoned with modifier keys while using the /xu mount command (or pressing the macro button you created):

• Hold [CTRL] to summon your ground mount
• Hold [SHIFT] to summon your steady flying mount
• Hold [ALT] to summon your swimming mount
• Hold [CTRL] + [SHIFT] to summon your PVP mount

If no modifier is held, it will summon the appropriate mount for the area you're in.

If you don't have a mount selected for a specific type of zone, then no mount will be summoned.