Finding a new UI can be a tough job. The first thing to know is what you are looking for. Do you need a particular bar mod? How about  your unit frames? Don’t have a clue where to start? Then your best option is to search your options. There are three great locations to go forth and build the UI of your dreams.
Â
Â
Â
1. Curse.com
The most commonly used site for UI needs is Curse.com. Curse is a great database of all available UI’s out there. Once you’ve headed over to the site, click the WoW Addons link and begin the search for a few ideas, or search directly to find one you already have in mind. The pros to Curse are that most any UI is listed there, the cons are that the site is used heavily, and during prime times and new patches, is often down due to excessive use. However, Curse does offer an automatic installer through their website.
Â
Â
Â
WoWInterface.com is less used then Curse, mostly because the amount of addons and UIs it hosts is smaller. It doesn’t have every addon and UI out there, but I still use it personally to update a few, or to find new ones. I like WoWInterface better than Curse because it’s less cluttered with ads and various other website noise, but again, it’s got less to choose from. Like Curse, all you need to do is either select a category, or search directly for that addon you desire.
Â
Â
Â
WoWMatrix.com is the site that is home to a third party addon. Basically it’s an addon to update your addons. There is a lot of nay sayers out there that don’t like WoWMatrix. However, I’ve used it for over a year now without any issues, so the cries of keylogger hold no justice to me. WoWMatrix holds less addons than Curse does, but it is also an automatic installer and updater. The program will find the addons you are currently running, and make sure they are up to date. You can add new addons through the program, too, the same way you would search directly for an addon using the other two.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Outside of these major search engines, you also have a few other options for finding your UI needs. Some developers host their own websites and even offer minimal support. Places like AuctioneerAddon.com and SpartanUI.com are great examples. If your favorite UI has their own website, you can usually find out in the notes at the site where you originally found the addon.
Happy Searching!
Found a cool addon? Want to share a UI tip? In the mood to contribute a guest post? Have some ideas for future posts? Feel free to 
[...] Where to Find Your New UI [...]
I’ve used several Automatic Updaters going all the way back to when Ace was first on the scene. WoWMatrix is my updater of choice now. It may not have 100% all the possible mods out there but it does have 99% of the most popular ones and thats all I need.
Sure Curse has an updater but last time I tried it I absolutely hated it. It seemed really really cumbersome and not very intuitive.
Aurdon’s last blog post..What Blizzard should do: Hire Better Guards
The biggest issue with wowmatrix is it is not a addon host and because of that it costs authors money when people use it due to lost donations or increased bandwidth to self-hosted author sites.
Curse and WoW-Interface are actively working to prevent Wowmatrix from getting any addons from them and the way it is coded it will continue to look for a new source which may or may not be the most current.
Curse has a new updater that is 1000x better then the original. Even they omit Curse Client 1.0 was DoA.
I wish Wow-Interface had even a crap updater.
Hey folks, (Tried to send this thru the Contact Us page, but it doesn’t appear to be working?)
A Google recommendation suggested I might be interested in this site, and I am glad I stumbled upon you. I sometimes joke that half the entertainment I get from the game is from fiddling with my addons…and I think it is true.
Thought I would pass along a few suggestions for your site if you haven’t thought of them already:
1) One thing that might be useful to people is more class-specific articles. For example, an article dedicated to healers, etc.
2) A screenshot gallery or contest where people can discuss the pros & cons of different layouts, and compare/rate designs.
3) An article about reducing our dependency on addons. We love them, of course, however too many addons lags our systems and then when the next big patch comes along – they break – transforming us into bumbling noobs! Sometimes the addon we love is just no longer maintained. How to minimize this problem and reduce frustration. This could also cover UI maintenance such as how to copy your settings from one character to another and other housekeeping advice.
4) A beginners guide to using addons.
5) UI News / Blue Posts (i.e. Blizzard is seeking input from players on how to make the default UI more healer friendly)
Good luck!
P.S. Did Lilith ever play on the Dalaran server? =P
I use the Curse Client now, it is fast and very good in my opinion. Much better than Version 1 of the client :)
I just published a post about the exact same topic. In addition to just download resources, I listed great sites for inspiration too.
On the WoWMatrix topic: I’m torn. It works just perfect and will get nearly every addon I use. But as already mentioned by GwolfGarona, those guys seem to be the bad guys.
drug’s last blog post..Addons: Ressources
[...] Where to Find Your New UI [...]
I’ve been using WoWMatrix since it was originally a Mac-only client. Love it.
From their FAQ page:
“Q. I am an AddOn author. How do I get my AddOn listed in WowMatrix?
A. You may contact us at any time via the Feedback Form at our website. Please include the name(s) of the AddOn(s) and the webpage URL(s) at which you normally post the latest version(s) of your AddOn(s).
In addition, we can (if you like) link to your Donations page from within the updater and on our website, and optionally, if bandwidth usage is a concern for you, host your AddOn(s) on our servers at no charge.”
So those of you crying about WoWMatrix being the bad guy…do some research before you bad-mouth them.
WoWinterface does in fact have a downloader, although it is currently being rewritten.
Windows Version – http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info8239-WoWInterfaceUIManager-Windows.html
Mac/Linux Version – http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info8242-WoWInterfaceUIManager-GenericLinuxMacintosh.html
As stated in the following post:
http://www.wowinterface.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20417
It is being rewritten and you may come up against some issues (although I run it on mac with no issues at all).
Scourged’s last blog post..Facebook Connect
@ iain:
The problem that a lot of authors have with WoWMatrix is that they are distributing their work without permission. Sure they’ve made is nice and easy for an author to get their addon included, but good luck trying to get it off the list if you don’t want it there.
Here’s the way I look at it: I develop an addon and Curse/Wowace provides me with access to an SVN server for source control and the ability to distribute my work through their website if I please. Curse then sells ad-space on the pages to cover the cost of running the SVN and other associated servers. WoWMatrix comes in and writes an app to deep-link directly to the files on Curse, etc thus bypassing all the ads that keep Curse in business. However, Curse still has to pay for the bandwidth associated downloading the addon. What happens if Curse goes under due to WoWMatrix’s parasitic method? Where do you get your addons then?
It’s also important to note that WoWMatrix doesn’t always deliver to latest / correct version of an addon. It’s been known download addons that will only work on the PTR or worse download addons that are significantly older than the current version.
The last thing to keep in mind is that if most authors post to WoWInterface and/or Curse, who do you think is going to have the latest version come patch-day?
[...] For all the basics, see wow.com’s guide. It talks about what addons are, where to find them and how to install them. There is also this guide to finding and installing addons and this one for sources of addons. [...]