ChatBar - World of Warcraft Addon

A lightweight, customizable chat channel switcher addon for World of Warcraft that displays quick-access buttons above your active chat frame.

Usage

Slash Commands

• /chatbar or /cb - Open settings panel
• /chatbar toggle - Toggle bar visibility
• /chatbar show - Show the bar
• /chatbar hide - Hide the bar
• /chatbar reset - Reset all settings to defaults
• /chatbar help - Display help information

Settings Panel

Access via:

• /chatbar or /cb command
• Interface → AddOns → ChatBar
• Game Menu (ESC) → Interface → AddOns → ChatBar

Localization

• Supported Languages: English (enUS), German (deDE), Spanish (esES), French (frFR), Russian (ruRU)
• UTF-8 Support: Full multi-byte character support for Cyrillic, Asian, and other multi-byte character sets
• Auto-detection: Uses your WoW client's language automatically
• Fallback System: Defaults to English if translation missing
• Smart Text Extraction: Properly handles first-character extraction for all languages

SavedVariables

• ChatBarDB - Account-wide settings (shared across all characters)
• ChatBarCharDB - Per-character settings (unique to each character)

Performance

• Lightweight: Minimal memory footprint (~100KB)
• Event-driven: Only updates when game state changes
• No continuous polling: Uses WoW's event system efficiently
• Texture caching: Reuses button objects from pool

Advanced

File Structure

ChatBar/
├── ChatBar.lua          # Main addon logic
├── ChatBar.toc          # Addon manifest
├── ChatBar.tga          # Addon icon
├── Config.lua           # Settings panel UI
├── README.md            # Documentation
└── Locales/
    ├── Locales.lua      # English (base)
    ├── deDE.lua         # German
    ├── esES.lua         # Spanish
    ├── frFR.lua         # French
    └── ruRU.lua         # Russian

Extending Localization

To add a new language:

1. Create Locales/xxXX.lua (e.g., zhCN.lua for Chinese)
2. Add to ChatBar.toc file list
3. Copy structure from Locales.lua
4. Translate all strings
5. Submit as contribution

Support & Contribution

Reporting Issues

When reporting bugs, please include:

• WoW Version: Game patch number (e.g., 12.0.0.65560)
• Addon Version: ChatBar version (shown in /chatbar)
• Steps to Reproduce: Clear description of what you did
• Expected vs Actual: What should happen vs what actually happens
• Error Messages: Any Lua errors from BugSack or similar addon
• Other Addons: List of other chat addons installed

Feature Requests

Feature suggestions are welcome! Prioritization based on:

• Community interest
• Technical feasibility
• Alignment with addon purpose (lightweight chat channel switcher)

Contributing

Contributions welcome via:

• Bug reports and testing
• Localization translations
• Code improvements
• Documentation updates

Release Process (For Maintainers)

ChatBar uses automated publishing to CurseForge via GitHub Actions.

Creating a New Release

1. Ensure all changes are committed and pushed to the main branch
2. Create an annotated Git tag with the version number:

   git tag -a v2.3.0 -m "Release 2.3.0"

3. Push the tag to trigger the release workflow:

   git push origin v2.3.0

4. Monitor the workflow at https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/chatbar/actions
5. Verify the release:
   • Check CurseForge project page for the new version
   • Review the auto-generated changelog from commit messages

Version Numbering

• Stable releases: v2.3.0, v2.4.0, v3.0.0
• Beta releases: v2.3.0-beta, v2.3.0-beta.2 (marked as beta on CurseForge)
• Alpha releases: v2.3.0-alpha, v3.0.0-alpha.1 (marked as alpha on CurseForge)

Changelog Best Practices

The packager automatically generates changelogs from Git commits between tags. Write commit messages for end users:

• ✅ Good: "Fix memory leak in button pooling", "Add Korean translation", "Update TOC to 11.0.5"
• ❌ Avoid: "fix", "wip", "updates", "misc changes"

What Gets Published

The following files are included in the CurseForge package:

• All .lua and .xml files
• ChatBar.toc (with version automatically updated from tag)
• Bindings.xml
• All files in Locales/ and Skins/ directories

The following are excluded:

• .github/ directory (except workflow runs)
• .vscode/ directory
• README.md
• .gitignore, .pkgmeta

License

This addon is free software provided as-is for World of Warcraft players. Feel free to modify and distribute with attribution.