the BASICS: where do I put this ?

When you first download an addOn, most times it is in a .zip format. So first we need to UnZip the file. You can UnZip the file anywhere you like, My Documents, Desktop, anywhere easy to find. Make sure you watch to see the extracted folder's name as sometimes the folder is named after the addOn, sometimes it is inside a folder named Interface or AddOns.

Now we need to navigate to your WOW folder. This is, in a standard installation, found under

C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft

If you've done a custom installation you should know where you put it =p


The main folders we'll be working with are, of course, the addOn folder, located in your WOW folder under

World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns\

This is where you will put the folder you've extracted (make sure you see a file ending in .toc in the top folder of the addOn). An example would be

World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns\FuBar\Fubar.toc


Some addOns will also include some saved variables which will alter the starting state of the addOn. Saved variables let each addOn know where to place the visual aspects,and store data the addOn needs.

The Saved Variables are found under

World of Warcraft\WTF\Account\


We'll get in to saved variables more later.