[Feature Request] Add the retail-style Proc based glow as an option instead of only the default OG glow from years back

[Optimizer2347]

Hello, it would be cool if the more modernized retail action bar glow could be added as an option, in weakauras it is called 'Proc Glow' for what it's worth, and the default glow that is used in this addon is called 'Action Button Glow' in weakauras. pictures provided:

[ennvina]

Hi and thank you for your feedback. It looks a very nice addition!

The one thing to note, is that the addon does not always control the type of glow that is used. For example, players who have installed ElvUI will get their glowing buttons from ElvUI's settings.

With that said, I don't mind adding extra features like this for players using the standard action bars.

PS. while I'd love to add this functionality, I am currently under heavy load to get things ready for Mists of Pandaria. TL;DR: I can't promise anything for at least the next weeks.

[Optimizer2347]

Hi and thank you for your feedback. It looks a very nice addition!

The one thing to note, is that the addon does not always control the type of glow that is used. For example, players who have installed ElvUI will get their glowing buttons from ElvUI's settings.

With that said, I don't mind adding extra features like this for players using the standard action bars.

PS. while I'd love to add this functionality, I am currently under heavy load to get things ready for Mists of Pandaria. TL;DR: I can't promise anything for at least the next weeks.

Thank you! And I appreciate the updates for MoP for all classes, best action-bar addon for classic!

[ennvina]

OK, so I've looked into it and bring bad news.

LibProcGlow

The "Proc Glow" functionality requires specific code to display the glow effect. For the current glow added to SpellActivationOverlay, we use LibButtonGlow which mimics what is sometimes called "Blizzard Glow". Unfortunately there is no library such as LicProcGlow.

Since the Proc Glow option is available in WeakAuras, I searched how they do it. The good news is, they use a widely available library called LibCustomGlow that supports Proc Glow. The bad news is, they protected it behind this code

if WeakAuras.IsRetail() then
  local build = select(4, GetBuildInfo())
  if build >= 100105 then
    Private.glow_types.Proc = L["Proc Glow"]
  end
end

What it means, is they explicitly want to support Proc Glow exclusively for Retail, and only for patch 10.1.5 or later. I'm not sure why they did it, nor if it is still justified in 2025, but it doesn't look good.

Game client glow

When using the default interface, the Mists of Pandaria game client already glows a lot of buttons, and we have no control over them.

Actually, we used to believe we had control, but it led to what was maybe the most critical bug of all time for this addon. It simply made the game sometimes unusable after e.g. getting Mind Controlled on Nefarian at Blackwing Descent. This was ultimately fixed in v2.3 by using LibButtonGlow instead of messing up with the game's glow.

Because we cannot change the game client's glow, and because the game client started to glow buttons in Cataclysm Classic — not to mention they glow much, much more buttons in Mists of Pandaria — having a User Interface that switches between Blizzard Glow (when the game client glows buttons) and Proc Glow (when this addon glows buttons) would look weird.

Also, since very recently we now support the smooth glow transition between the game client glow and the addon glow. For example, when a shadow Priest gets a 3rd Shadow Orb in Combat, it glows the Devouring Plague button

• the game glows this button for no more than 30 seconds
• the addon also wants to glow this button, but after the 30-second mark, if the Priest is still is combat
• the addon makes sure there is a smooth transition at this 30-second mark, making the transition imperceptible

There is still a transition happening, but players should barely notice it. Even when you start a timer and watch out for to exact 30th second, you will still have a hard time noticing the transition.

Now imagine if there was a different glow effect before and after the 30th second? That wouldn't be smooth anymore. That would be pretty much the opposite of smooth.

Final thoughts

I know this reply sounds pessimistic. That doesn't mean I don't want the functionality to be added, it just means we must overcome both problems, and they're quite heavy.

The 'LibProcGlow' issue maybe isn't so bad. Best case scenario, WeakAuras was just too cautious and we could now use Proc Glow in WoW Classic. Worst case scenario, we'd have to look into it and fix it, if possible. The very worst case scenario would be if Proc Glow requires a functionality that just isn't available to WoW Classic. I've done stuff like that very recently, so I'm a bit optimistic on this.

Conflicts with the game client's glow, however, is something I simply I have no idea how to solve without making a big mess. Unlike spell alert overlays, there is no option we can tweak to disable the game's spell alert glows. At the moment, that would be the biggest hurdle, in my opinion.

[Optimizer2347]

OK, so I've looked into it and bring bad news.

LibProcGlow

The "Proc Glow" functionality requires specific code to display the glow effect. For the current glow added to SpellActivationOverlay, we use LibButtonGlow which mimics what is sometimes called "Blizzard Glow". Unfortunately there is no library such as LicProcGlow.

Since the Proc Glow option is available in WeakAuras, I searched how they do it. The good news is, they use a widely available library called LibCustomGlow that supports Proc Glow. The bad news is, they protected it behind this code

if WeakAuras.IsRetail() then
local build = select(4, GetBuildInfo())
if build >= 100105 then
Private.glow_types.Proc = L["Proc Glow"]
end
end
What it means, is they explicitly want to support Proc Glow exclusively for Retail, and only for patch 10.1.5 or later. I'm not sure why they did it, nor if it is still justified in 2025, but it doesn't look good.

Game client glow

When using the default interface, the Mists of Pandaria game client already glows a lot of buttons, and we have no control over them.

Actually, we used to believe we had control, but it led to what was maybe the most critical bug of all time for this addon. It simply made the game sometimes unusable after e.g. getting Mind Controlled on Nefarian at Blackwing Descent. This was ultimately fixed in v2.3 by using LibButtonGlow instead of messing up with the game's glow.

Because we cannot change the game client's glow, and because the game client started to glow buttons in Cataclysm Classic — not to mention they glow much, much more buttons in Mists of Pandaria — having a User Interface that switches between Blizzard Glow (when the game client glows buttons) and Proc Glow (when this addon glows buttons) would look weird.

Also, since very recently we now support the smooth glow transition between the game client glow and the addon glow. For example, when a shadow Priest gets a 3rd Shadow Orb in Combat, it glows the Devouring Plague button

• the game glows this button for no more than 30 seconds
• the addon also wants to glow this button, but after the 30-second mark, if the Priest is still is combat
• the addon makes sure there is a smooth transition at this 30-second mark, making the transition imperceptible

There is still a transition happening, but players should barely notice it. Even when you start a timer and watch out for to exact 30th second, you will still have a hard time noticing the transition.

Now imagine if there was a different glow effect before and after the 30th second? That wouldn't be smooth anymore. That would be pretty much the opposite of smooth.

Final thoughts

I know this reply sounds pessimistic. That doesn't mean I don't want the functionality to be added, it just means we must overcome both problems, and they're quite heavy.

The 'LibProcGlow' issue maybe isn't so bad. Best case scenario, WeakAuras was just too cautious and we could now use Proc Glow in WoW Classic. Worst case scenario, we'd have to look into it and fix it, if possible. The very worst case scenario would be if Proc Glow requires a functionality that just isn't available to WoW Classic. I've done stuff like that very recently, so I'm a bit optimistic on this.

Conflicts with the game client's glow, however, is something I simply I have no idea how to solve without making a big mess. Unlike spell alert overlays, there is no option we can tweak to disable the game's spell alert glows. At the moment, that would be the biggest hurdle, in my opinion.

Incredible response, wow.. I really appreciate all of the explanations and agree with you about the goofiness that some interactions would cause with differing visual glows. At the end of the day it’s strictly an aesthetic preference so its priority level shouldn’t be too high, but that new retail glow sure is clean looking haha. Thank you for breaking everything down in a way that I can understand.

[Optimizer2347]

OK, so I've looked into it and bring bad news.

LibProcGlow

The "Proc Glow" functionality requires specific code to display the glow effect. For the current glow added to SpellActivationOverlay, we use LibButtonGlow which mimics what is sometimes called "Blizzard Glow". Unfortunately there is no library such as LicProcGlow.

Since the Proc Glow option is available in WeakAuras, I searched how they do it. The good news is, they use a widely available library called LibCustomGlow that supports Proc Glow. The bad news is, they protected it behind this code

if WeakAuras.IsRetail() then
local build = select(4, GetBuildInfo())
if build >= 100105 then
Private.glow_types.Proc = L["Proc Glow"]
end
end
What it means, is they explicitly want to support Proc Glow exclusively for Retail, and only for patch 10.1.5 or later. I'm not sure why they did it, nor if it is still justified in 2025, but it doesn't look good.

Game client glow

When using the default interface, the Mists of Pandaria game client already glows a lot of buttons, and we have no control over them.

Actually, we used to believe we had control, but it led to what was maybe the most critical bug of all time for this addon. It simply made the game sometimes unusable after e.g. getting Mind Controlled on Nefarian at Blackwing Descent. This was ultimately fixed in v2.3 by using LibButtonGlow instead of messing up with the game's glow.

Because we cannot change the game client's glow, and because the game client started to glow buttons in Cataclysm Classic — not to mention they glow much, much more buttons in Mists of Pandaria — having a User Interface that switches between Blizzard Glow (when the game client glows buttons) and Proc Glow (when this addon glows buttons) would look weird.

Also, since very recently we now support the smooth glow transition between the game client glow and the addon glow. For example, when a shadow Priest gets a 3rd Shadow Orb in Combat, it glows the Devouring Plague button

• the game glows this button for no more than 30 seconds
• the addon also wants to glow this button, but after the 30-second mark, if the Priest is still is combat
• the addon makes sure there is a smooth transition at this 30-second mark, making the transition imperceptible

There is still a transition happening, but players should barely notice it. Even when you start a timer and watch out for to exact 30th second, you will still have a hard time noticing the transition.

Now imagine if there was a different glow effect before and after the 30th second? That wouldn't be smooth anymore. That would be pretty much the opposite of smooth.

Final thoughts

I know this reply sounds pessimistic. That doesn't mean I don't want the functionality to be added, it just means we must overcome both problems, and they're quite heavy.

The 'LibProcGlow' issue maybe isn't so bad. Best case scenario, WeakAuras was just too cautious and we could now use Proc Glow in WoW Classic. Worst case scenario, we'd have to look into it and fix it, if possible. The very worst case scenario would be if Proc Glow requires a functionality that just isn't available to WoW Classic. I've done stuff like that very recently, so I'm a bit optimistic on this.

Conflicts with the game client's glow, however, is something I simply I have no idea how to solve without making a big mess. Unlike spell alert overlays, there is no option we can tweak to disable the game's spell alert glows. At the moment, that would be the biggest hurdle, in my opinion.

Incredible response, wow.. I really appreciate all of the explanations and agree with you about the goofiness that some interactions would cause with differing visual glows. At the end of the day it’s strictly an aesthetic preference so its priority level shouldn’t be too high, but that new retail glow sure is clean looking haha. Thank you for breaking everything down in a way that I can understand.