Addon Corner: Data Broker
And now for something a little more complex, Data Broker isn’t a specific addon, but more a new way for addons to display information. Addons that utilise Data Broker (or LDB) expose their information but don’t actually display it, that job is done by a specific display addon.
Sound complicated? I guess it does, but it’s really not any different from using FuBar or Titan and their associated addons except for two important differences. The first being that for the addon programmer they no longer have to write code for all the possible “bar” addons and secondly it gives the end user (you and me) choice on how we want to display stuff.
Okay, okay, so how does this work you ask?
Basically it works much like FuBar or Titan does now, but instead of grabbing say FuBar and having to grab other FuBar mods, you now just pick a display and any Data Broker mods will work with it. This gives you choice and versatility.
First you need to grab something to display. LDB has been accepted by the community really quickly which means that pretty much anything you used to display on your old FuBar or Titan bars has been adapted to LDB. There is a category for Data Broker addons here at WoWInterface.
Second you need to choose a display addon. This is what makes Data Broker such a cool development, it gives you choice in how you want to display things.
Here are a few display mods:
ButtonBin - A simple tray-like display.
Carousel - A single block that enables you to rotate through your various Data Broker addons.
Fortress - Individual blocks that can be snapped together however you see fit. Can replicate a FuBar-style display easily.
MakeRocketGoNow - Focussed on displaying “launchers” for various addons. Generally used alongside a more traditional display.
StatBlockCore - Also uses individual blocks, similar to Fortress but with a slightly different design intent.
I personally use Fortress with blocks snapped horizontally to look a bit like FuBar/Titan, but you can snap the blocks together however you want. Prior to trying Fortress I used StatBlockCore which is very similar, I just prefer how Fortress looks and feels when snapping blocks together.
There are no doubt other displays than the ones mentioned above, these are just the more popular/visible ones. I suggest simply trying a few out and see how it goes.
Tags: addon, Addon Corner, Data Broker, LDB
