Installing an addon


 * 1) Exit "World of Warcraft" completely
 * 2) Downloading the mod you want to install
 * 3) * Make a folder on your desktop called "My Mods"
 * 4) * Save the .zip/.rar files to this folder.
 * 5) Extracting the file - commonly known as 'unzipping'
 * Windows
 * Windows XP features a built in zip file 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"
 * 7-zip: Right click the file, choose 7-zip and "Extract files".
 * Mac Users
 * StuffitExpander: Double click the archive to extract it to a folder in the current directory.
 * 1) Verify your WoW Installation Path
 * That is where you are running WoW from and THAT is where you need to install your mods.
 * 1) Moving to the Addon folder
 * 2) * Open your World of Warcraft folder. It can normally be found at `C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\` or `C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\`.
 * 3) * Go into the "Interface" subfolder. If one does not exist, create it.
 * 4) * Go into the "AddOns" subfolder. If one does not exist, create it.
 * 5) * In a new window, open the "My Mods" folder.
 * 6) * The "My Mods" folder should have the "Addonname" folder in it.
 * 7) * Move the "Addonname" folder into the "AddOns" folder
 * 8) Start World of Warcraft
 * 9) Making sure AddOns are installed
 * 10) * Log in
 * 11) * At the Character Select screen, look in lower left corner for the "addons" button.
 * 12) * If button is there: make sure all the mods you installed are listed and make sure "load out of date addons" is checked.
 * 13) * 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TOC Numbers (Out of Date Mods)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 This means that all mods will be "out of date" unless or until the author releases a new version for that interface.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)...
 * Credits : Curse.com