How to install a World of Warcraft add on

Add ons for World of Warcraft (WoW) are small programs contributed by WoW enthusiats which make the game more straightforward, easier to handle, or simply nicer to look at. Although WoW is online for a few years now, I am often asked by old and new players alike how to install such add ons. I will explain this here in a few easy to follow steps.

First you need to download the desired add on from the internet. I will use the add on "Guild Event Manager" (GEM) as an example here. This is a calendar which allows you to schedule events - like your guild's raids - in the game.

You can download GEM here: http://christophe.calmejane.free.fr/wow/gem/. (See picture 1) Scroll down a bit on that page and you will find the headline "Download". Choose the newest version. (As of today, 13th of September 2008, that is version 2.30, which was provided at the 10th of April; see picture 2)

Add ons for World of Warcraft usually come in ZIP-archives. I included the current version in the attachments of this step. It is recommended to always use the newest version of an add on. As an example of the installation process, the included version will suffice anyways.

Now you need to open the downloaded ZIP-archive and save the files therein to your harddisk - preferably somewhere where you will find them again.

With Windows XP this is quite simple: Double click on the icon of the ZIP-archive. (See picture 1) A new window pops up, listing the files in this archive. Usually ZIP-archives of WoW add ons consist of only one folder containing all necessary files. For GEM, this is a folder called "GuildEventManager2". (See picture 2) You only need to copy this folder to your hard drive.

In case your computer does not open the ZIP-archive automatically on double clicking, you can download and use a special program for that task, like WinZip.