Authors CurseForge

Before posting an addon idea/request in this forum, please review the following list of things which addons cannot do. Use your browser's "find in page" feature to help look for specific things. Posts requesting addons that do anything listed here may be deleted or mercilessly ridiculed.

If you notice something missing from this list, or erroneously included in this list, post a comment on this thread, and I will edit the list. This thread is also posted on the WoWInterface forums, here.

Do not post here about things that violate the WoW EULA and/or TOS.

This is an official fan site, and thus must abide by Blizzard's rules. Posting about things that violate the WoW EULA and/or TOS, or this site's own rules, will get you a warning and a locked thread the first time, and a ban the second time. Such topics include, but are not limited to:

• Model/skin changing
• Login screen changing
• Private servers
• Bots, hacks, or other third-party software that interferes with WoW's normal functioning
• Gold selling/buying, power leveling, account sharing/selling, etc.

Addons cannot access anything outside of WoW.

• You cannot read from or post to Facebook, Twitter, RSS, etc.
• You cannot connect to Facebook chat, Skype, etc.
• You cannot read from or write to files on the hard disk.
• You cannot show what song is currently playing in Winamp.
• You cannot show who's talking in Ventrilo.

Addons cannot load arbitrary URLs in the in-game browser.

• The in-game browser can only display specific Battle.net account and support pages allowed by Blizzard.

Addons cannot change models, textures, spell animations, enchant glows, or any other graphics.

• Anything that is part of the 3D game world is off-limits to addons.

Addons can only know about the threat tables of mobs you or someone in your party/raid are targeting.

• You cannot have a multi-target threat meter.
• You cannot automatically mark mobs that nobody in your group is targeting.

Addons cannot change or even see minimap tracking dots.

• You cannot have an alert when a tracking dot appears.
• You cannot change herbs and mines to have different icons from each other.

Addons cannot target mobs by their raid target icon.

• You cannot write an addon that lets you "target whatever mob has a skull on it right now".
• This addon is the closest you can get.

Addons cannot tell which direction mobs or other players are facing.

• You cannot have an addon that tells you if you can use Backstab right now.

Addons cannot tell whether mobs or players are within your line of sight.

• You can only catch the "not in line of sight" error message and make assumptions about whether the same mob/player is still out of LOS in the future.

Addons cannot determine the position of mobs or players outside of your group.

• You cannot tell exactly how far away something is from you.
• You can only get a general idea by checking to see if spells are in range.

Addons cannot get Z-coordinates (height above ground or relative to objects).

• You can only get X,Y coordinates.

Addons cannot determine the camera's direction and/or angle.

Addons cannot get information about auctions when you are not at the auction house.

Addons cannot automatically perform secure/protected actions.

These actions require a hardware event, such as clicking a button on your mouse or pressing a key on your keyboard, and include:

• Casting a spell
• Stopping a spell cast
• Cancelling a shapeshift type buff
• Cancelling a non-shapeshift buff while in combat
• Using an item
• Targeting or untargeting any unit
• Setting, clearing, or changing your focus unit
• Running a macro
• Stopping a macro
• Editing a macro while in combat
• Sending a guild invitation
• Accepting a Dungeon/Raid/Scenario Finder or Battleground group
• Completing a trade
• Moving the camera
• Moving your character
• Requesting a duel
• Accepting a duel
• Removing someone from your group while in combat
• Adding, removing, or changing key bindings while in combat
• Changing action bar pages
• Reloading the UI
• Changing your character's title
• Cancelling an automated logout, such as after you've been AFK for 30 minutes, while in an inn or major city (resting)

Addons cannot show, hide, move, or resize secure frames while in combat, except in response to certain limited conditions.

Secure frames are those which can perform one of the actions listed above when clicked on, such as action buttons or unit frames. The allowed conditions are the same as those usable in macros:

• Your actionbar page changed
• You entered/left combat
• A specific unit became hostile/friendly/dead/alive/existent/nonexistent (eg. your target, or your focus)
• You equipped a particular item type (eg. a shield, or a two-handed axe)
• You entered/left an area where flying mounts are usable
• You started/stopped flying
• You joined/left a party/raid group
• You entered/left an indoor/outdoor area
• You pressed/released a modifier key (shift, alt, or ctrl)
• You mounted/dismounted
• You switched specs
• You switched stances/forms
• You entered/left stealth
• You started/stopped swimming
• You or the specified unit entered/left a vehicle

Note that health, mana, buffs, debuffs, and cooldowns cannot be checked in a macro conditional, and cannot be used to show/hide a secure frame.

If you think something should be added to, removed from, or changed in this list, post here. Posts will be removed as their content is merged into the main post.

I don't use Twitter, in-game or otherwise, but I'm pretty sure it's in the same category as opening URLs; it's off-limits to addons. I've gotten a few reports that some types of chat frame modification can taint Twitter functionality, but it hasn't been a priority for me to investigate.

Is this "can't do" list getting bigger or smaller over the past years? Thanks