PhanxChat is a chat addon that aims to reduce chat frame clutter while increasing chat frame usability.
Use /pchat with the following commands:
- buttons - Hide the scroll buttons
- channels - Shorten channel names and chat strings
- clear - Clear the chat frame
- edit arrows - Enable arrow keys in the edit box
- edit move - Move the edit box to the top of the chat frame
- fade <N> - Set the text fade time in minutes (0 = disabled)
- flash - Stop tabs from flashing
- font <N> - Set the font size for all chat frames at once
- log - Start chat logging automatically
- names - Color player names by class if known
- scroll - Enable mousewheel scrolling
- sticky - Make more chat types sticky
- suppress channels - Suppress channel notification messages
- suppress repeats - Suppress repeated messages in public channels
- tabs - Lock tabs in place (hold ALT to drag)
- urls - Link URLs for easy copying
Use /tt or /wt to send a message to your current target.
For answers to common questions about PhanxChat and its features, see the PhanxChat FAQ page on my WoWInterface portal.
For more information, including planned features, advanced configuration options, declined features, and a list of companion addons, please see the PhanxChat extra info page on my WoWInterface portal.
Localizaton
PhanxChat currently has translations for English, German (deDE), French (frFR), Russian (ruRU), Korean (koKR), Simplified Chinese (zhCN), and Traditional Chinese (zhTW).
If no translations exist for your locale, PhanxChat will default to English, but some locale-dependent features may not work completely (like short channel names) or work in undesirable ways (like short chat strings using English abbreviations that might not make sense for your language).
If you are interested in helping to translate PhanxChat for Spanish (esES) or Latin American Spanish (esMX) locales, please send me a PM on this site, on WoWInterface.com, or on WowAce.com.
Requesting Features
Post a ticket to suggest a new feature you would like to see in PhanxChat. Keep in mind that I intend to keep this addon limited to simple, uncluttered chat frame modifications, and that I am the final arbiter of what is added or not added to my addon; if I choose not to add a feature you request, it is not a personal insult. The following features have already been requested and declined:
- Timestamps
- Center- or right-aligned chat text
- Extra entries in player name right-click menu
- Special actions on player name modified clicks (such as alt-click to invite)
- Nicknames, main/alt aliases, or other arbitrary extra text
- Player levels or other extra text that does not affect gameplay
- Alerts when certain words or messages types are seen in chat
- Free movement of the edit box
- Reskinning of the edit box or other chat frame components
- Keybindings to open chat in specific channels
- Item links in custom channels (FYI: these dump obnoxious gibberish into chat for people not using a compatible addon)
Reporting Bugs
If you are experiencing a problem with PhanxChat, first follow these basic troubleshooting steps:
- Double-check that you have the latest version of PhanxChat.
- Delete your PhanxChat saved variables. If the issue disappears, try recreating your previous settings. If the problem reappears, please tell me which settings you changed from the default settings to cause the issue.
- Log in with only PhanxChat enabled, and all other addons disabled. If the issue does not occur then it is a conflict with another addon, and you will need to enable your other addons one at a time to find out which addon is causing the conflict.
After you've verified that you're up-to-date and the problem is not caused by a conflict with another addon (or you've identified the conflicting addon), please post a ticket. Be sure to include all of the information requested in the ticket.
License
Please do not redistribute PhanxChat in compilations without asking me first. See the license page or the README included in the download for the full license terms under which PhanxChat is released. Thanks!
Installation Guide
- Exit "World of Warcraft" completely
- Download the mod you want to install
- Make a folder on your desktop called "My Mods"
- Save the .zip/.rar files to this folder.
- If, when you try to download the file, it automatically "opens" it... you need to RIGHT click on the link and "save as..." or "Save Target As".
- Extract the file - commonly known as 'unzipping'
Do this ONE FILE AT A TIME!
- Windows
- Windows XP has a built in ZIP extractor. Double click on the file to open it, inside should be the file or folders needed. Copy these outside to the "My Mods" folder.
- WinRAR: Right click the file, select "Extract Here"
- WinZip: You MUST make sure the option to "Use Folder Names" is CHECKED or it will just extract the files and not make the proper folders how the Authors designed
- Mac Users
- StuffitExpander: Double click the archive to extract it to a folder in the current directory.
- Verify your WoW Installation Path
That is where you are running WoW from and THAT is where you need to install your mods.
- Move to the Addon folder
- Open your World of Warcraft folder. (default is C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\)
- Go into the "Interface" folder.
- Go into the "AddOns" folder.
- In a new window, open the "My Mods" folder.
- The "My Mods" folder should have the "Addonname" folder in it.
- Move the "Addonname" folder into the "AddOns" folder
- Start World of Warcraft
- Make sure AddOns are installed
- Log in
- At the Character Select screen, look in lower left corner for the "addons" button.
- If button is there: make sure all the mods you installed are listed and make sure "load out of date addons" is checked.
- If the button is NOT there: means you did not install the addons properly. Look at the above screenshots. Try repeating the steps or getting someone who knows more about computers than you do to help.
Translations
When you download a mod, please be sure that the mod is compatible with your translation of wow. Some mods only work on the US versions, while some only work on some of the various European versions. These variations are called "Localizations".
TOC Numbers (Out of Date Mods)
When Blizzard patches WoW, they change the Interface number. This means that all mods will be "out of date" unless or until the author releases a new version for that interface. Some people go into the .toc files and update the numbers themselves, but this is STRONGLY advised against as it will cause problems locating possible incompatibilities addons. When you log into WoW after a patch, you DO NOT have to delete your interface directory. All you have to do is simply tell WoW to ignore the interface numbers and load all the mods anyway. All you have to do is, while at the "character select" screen, look in the lower left corner and click on the "addons" button. A window will pop up listing all your installed mods.
If you look in the upper left corner of that window there should be a box that says "Load Out of Date AddOns". You want to CHECK this box. Now simply go into WoW normally and all your mods should load. As of the 1.9 patch, you will have to do this after EVERY patch/update that Blizzard posts! If you encounter any problems with a mod after a patch, please be sure to let the author of the mod know so they can fix it.
See also: About "Out Of Date AddOns"
Mac Support
WoW addons are not platformed based. As such, they can be used on either Mac or PC. You can extract both .zip and .rar files on a Mac using StuffitExpander.
Directory Structure
World of Warcraft
|_ Interface
|_AddOns
|_*AddonName*
|_ *AddonName*.toc
|_ *AddonName*.xml
|_ *AddonName*.lua
|_ (possibly others as well)...
