Thread Tools Display Modes
07/23/20, 11:52 AM   #1
Sharlikran
 
Sharlikran's Avatar
AddOn Author - Click to view addons
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 626
Out Of Date Addons / "Outdated & Discontinued" addon category

When you say API what does that mean?

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface. The way you might think about it in regards to ESO mods, is that it is the internal game code mod authors are allowed to use to make mods. As mentioned in this post there are certain things that are not available to mod authors.

Allow Out Of Date Addons is Removed



Previously after an update to the game all the Out of Date mods would not load to prevent you from having errors that may not allow you to activate or deactivate mods or even use the UI.

Without this checkbox all mods will load regardless of the Out Of Date notification and you will need to deactivate them from the character screen if you are troubleshooting any issues.

What does "Out Of Date" mean?

As of 8/23/2021 the version of the API changed to 101031. There is a text file provided with each mod that defines how the game should interact with the mod. You can read the syntax on the ESOUI Wiki.

Only one line is used to check if 101031 is present in the mods text file.Below is an example of MailR.txt from the mod MailR



When the line with APIVersion does not contain the same value as the current API then you will see a notification of "Out of Date" on the same line as the name of the mod in the UI.



I know what "Out Of Date" means, what next?

The following points will seem contradictory as you read them. Please read slowly as this is intentional.

Out of Date does not mean any of the following

- That the mod will not have errors
- That the mod was abandon
- That the mod was not updated at some point
- That the mod will not cause conflicts with other mods
- That the mod author needs to edit any file so it doesn't say out of date
- That the mod author needs to update the mod to work with the current API
- That the mod isn't silently breaking the game even though no errors pop up on the screen
- That the mod will be more compatible with the game if it doesn't say "Out of Date"

As you can see by the above points "Out of Date" is completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

What real world situation could use a notification like "Out of Date"? Well take driving in a car. Wouldn't it be helpful if there was a glowing sign floating above each car stating "Competent Driver" or "Idiot Driver"? Granted that may not be beneficial if you didn't pay attention to where you were going and only looked for idiot drivers. The point is though that at a glance you would know which drivers you may want to pay closer attention to as you attempt to drive safely to your destination.

That is all "Out of Date" really does for users. Deactivating mods is how you troubleshoot issues. If you deactivate a mod your issue may not be there the next time you load the game. All I am saying is that the notification itself does not mean anything other then this mod is something you should pay closer attention to if you have issues.

What should users do when they see "Out Of Date"?



Load the game and if the mod does not work then deactivate it or uninstall it.

There are no wiki pages of lists of compatible mods, there are no wiki pages with lists of known conflicts between mods, if you see "Out of Date" that doesn't mean the mod will work properly, if you do not see "Out of Date" that doesn't mean the mod will work properly. There really is nothing out there to tell users ahead of time that a mod will or will not work properly.

It is simply up to the user to make that evaluation themselves by loading the game and see what happens.

Mod authors need to be more thorough!

I bet you are not alone if you feel "this is stupid" or that "mod authors need to be more thorough". I would dig for some posts as I have seen a few, but I don't have the patience to find them. Really they would only reassure you that yes you are not alone.

Posts that whine about "Out of Date" never lead to any beneficial conclusion. In the end the situation is exactly the same. What is worse, if the mod author spitefully changes the number in the text file it simply removes the notification. It doesn't really mean the mod author took the time to review ZOS changes.

In the end this is why posts and discussions on the topic are simply pointless.

Last edited by Sharlikran : 10/17/22 at 04:11 PM.
  Reply With Quote
04/12/22, 02:13 AM   #2
Baertram
Super Moderator
 
Baertram's Avatar
WoWInterface Super Mod
AddOn Author - Click to view addons
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 4,912
Addon category "Outdated & Discontinued"

Addons are added to categories (inventory, attributes, combat, ...) here at www.esoui.com -> And thus also within the addon manager Minion.

The addon category "Outdated & Discontinued" means: This addon is not working anymore or not worked on anymore. Feel free to use it as long as it works but do not expect any update, error fix or other work on it anymore!
Better move on to a replacement addon.

You can see the category at the top of each addon -> breadcrumbs at the website.
https://i.imgur.com/4Xb9PXs.png
And at the addon search as own column:

And at the category search as well


Important - Minion and "Outdated & Discontinued"
Minion will not show addons in that category at all!
Minion3 is NOT telling you that an addon was moved to outdated meanwhile -> it's not able to do such (technically)

If you have any outdated & discontinued addon in your live/AddOns folder it's most likely because it was already installed before it was moved to the outdated & discontinued category, and you did not notice.

You are responsible to check your addons for outdated/discontinued state yourself! At least once a year this makes sense.
  Reply With Quote

ESOUI » AddOns » AddOn Help/Support » Out Of Date Addons / "Outdated & Discontinued" addon category

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off