How to install a custom class

[hendricius]

To be honest, I was getting kind of annoyed with all the posts saying "i copyd teh clas 2 da fldr but it dun wrk. hlp!!!!!!11!!!1!!!1" Very useless, if you ask me. So, I spent a couple hours and put together a quick tutorial on how to get started. Please excuse the quality of the pictures, and the M$ Paint-style drawing... I just took screenshots and pasted them into M$ Paint

Alright, let's get going!

1. Before you start, make sure you get the newest version of Glider here!

In this example I will be using OoberMage, however this guide applies to 99% of custom classes out there, although it may require one or two different steps when it comes to finding and downloading the classes and keys.

2. Downloading and installing the class
   • Start out by going to the Class Development section of the Glider Forums. Find the class you want, and click the thread. On the main page you will see a download link for that class, either at the top or bottom of the first post; OoberMage's were at the top.
   • Download the class:
     
   • I'm using WinRAR in these examples, so if youre using something else, these screenshots wont apply, but the instructions remain the same. Open the file you just downloaded, hit Extract Files (1), pick your Glider\Classes directory (2 - you can either type it in or pick it in the directory listing on the right, either way works) and hit Ok (3):
     
   • After it's done extracting, close WinRAR and go back to the page where you downloaded the class from.
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3. Installing and Configuring the Keys
   
   *NOTE*This step varies with classes. Some, like the OOber- series of classes, have a separate link for the keys.xml file you need. Others have the keys.xml included in the class archive. If you dont see a separate link to the keys.xml file, open up your Glider\Classes folder, and look for a keys.xml there. If you see it, open it with Notepad and skip down a couple steps. If you dont see a keys.xml file, check the readme.txt file that is usually packaged with the class. If you STILL cant find it, ask in the thread for that class.
   • On the class's thread, you will see a link for the keys.xml file (in this case, its zipped). Download it and open the archive:
     
   • This step also varies with the archiving program you use. With the keys.zip archive you just download open in WinRAR, right-click the keys.xml file, and hit View, or press Alt+V:
     
   • The Oober- series of classes includes all of the keys for all the classes in one keys.xml file, and in this guide, we're only going to use the ones we need. So, highlight all the UberMage.xxxxxx keys, circled in red, and hit CTRL+C to copy them:
     
   • You can close off the viewer and WinRAR now. Open your x:\Glider folder, and open the Keys.xml file (I use Notepad2 as it highlights things in colour, making it easier to read; but notepad, wordpad, M$ word, etc work just as well):
     
     
     *NOTE* If you cannot find a keys.xml file in the Glider directory, simply copy the one included with the custom class and skip the following steps involving copying keys into your keys file. It is assumed that you already have custom keys set up - if you dont care about erasing your old keys, you dont need to copy the keys into your existing keys.xml file, and can overwrite your existing keys.xml with the one included with the class
   • Go to the end of the keys.xml file, and insert the new set of keys at the end of the file by pressing CTRL+V, before the </keys> marker, so it looks like this (I have more sets of keys in there, so pretend the first <Key Keyname="SXS..." says </Keys>):
     
   • Save your edited keys.xml, but minimize it for now, we'll come back to it.
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4. Choosing and Configuring the Custom Class (And Loading Your Keys)
   • Now, fire up Launchpad. Open the config dialog:
     
   • Click the Classes tab, the last one on the right:
     
   • Now, you will probably only have OoberMage.cs in the list (or whichever one you installed), so ignore the rest. Click on the class, just once:
     
   • This next step, Im not sure if its necessary, but Ive always done it anyways. Click the test compile button. If it says this, youre good to go:
     
   • Now click the check box to mark it:
     
   • Hit the Keys tab at the top, and click Load Keys:
     
   • You should see this show up in the log:
     
   • Click the General tab, and click the arrow to drop down a list of classes. The first time you load the class, it will be at the bottom of the list, but the next time you load Glider, and from then on, it will be in the alphabetical list:
     
   • To set up the class, click Options:
     
   • Set up your options, and Ok out:
     
   • Ok again:
     
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5. Setting Up Your Character's Spells
   • Youre almost done now! Log into your Mage (or whatever character uses the class you just installed). Open your keys.xml back up. It might help to print it out, or if you have two screens like me, just put the keys.xml on the other screen, so you can see your keys and WoW at the same time. Now, see where Ive circled BarState and Char? This tells you where the spell will go in your bars. In this example, Frostbolt is in bar 1, slot 1:
     
   • Open your spellbook, and put Frostbolt in slot 1 on bar 1 (press SHIFT+1 to change to bar 1, SHIFT+4 to change to bar 4, etc):
     
     
     
     Keep doing this for the rest of the spells you use. If you come across a spell in your Keys.xml file that you dont have, 99% of classes dont mind if you just leave that slot in WoW empty. HOWEVER, Im sure there is one class out there that will whine and complain if a Key is defined but there is no spell in that slot, so then you have to do a bit more work.
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   *NOTE* Skip this step, and try out the class. If Glider errors out, and it has to do with your keys (if you dont know, post up and someone will refer you to this thread should you need it), you will need to do this to each key you dont have:
   
   
   See how Ive changed BarState to "Indifferent" and Char to "Undefined" ? That tells Glider that that certain key can be used on any bar (so it doesnt flip to that certain bar to try to use a spell), but that its undefined, so there is no spell in that slot. Remember, only do this if you are told to! Now, Im sure youve noticed that there are a few keys in any class which come preloaded with a few Indifferent's and Undefined's. Thats okay, they wont be used when youre just starting out. However, when you get to the level that you can use them (lets say, OoberMage.Trinket1 for example), you pick a BarState and a Char that are free in WoW, drag the trinket from your Character Pane to that slot, then fill in your keys.xml with that info. Don't forget to reload your keys, as per above! Once you re-load your keys and configure it to use this trinket, again, as per above, it will use it when you want!
   
   
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Congrats, you've just set up your first custom class!
Once you click Glide, it should do what its supposed to. If you see something wrong, check the settings. For example, if it doesnt pull with Pyroblast, make sure you set up the options to use Pyroblast before just complaining to the author.

If you have problems with the custom classes, please disable any bar modification addons, such as Bongo, bartender, etc., before posting.

Also, if you get an error regarding a missing WoWTriangles.dll file, download this archive and extract it to your \Glider (root) folder:
http://glpontus.tripod.com/PPather031.zip
(Be sure to copy & paste the address into your browser to avoid hotlinking errors)

This has been made by SpikedCola on the Glider forums. All credits go to him.