Copying WoW Addon settings between characters

Question

I have several alts, and I try to keep all the addon settings consistent between them. With the exception of ones like Gatherer on my tailor/enchanter all the addons are on for all the characters. Certain addons like Recount (and Gatherer) claim to be able to set a profile that can be referenced across all characters, but these don't seem to exactly work; load the 'profile', make a change, but it is not reflected on another character, even after reloading the profile.

So, is it advisable to simply copy the files from one character folder to the others to get all settings consistent? Is there a better way to accomplish the same? I would hope something short of doing a diff on the files and reconciling.

UPDATE: I just went through and copied the files over to my other characters, no significant issues. I did check the files first just to see if anything would get fubar. There are actually only a handful of files that you need to copy if you want to get the layout and config and addons in sync.

In your main character folder (or from wherever you want to copy the settings):

• layout-local.txt
• config-cache.wtf
• SavedVariables (directory)

Thats it! You will probably have to recheck the 'character specific' key bindings box if you have set any up. Copying only the above files will prevent you from overwriting those bindings.

Answer 1

Note: Before making *any* changes inside the WTF folder in your World of Warcraft folder, always back it up.

As you mention, the way each addon implements this is really inconsistent. Basically, it breaks down as follows:

• Some addons use a framework (for example ACE) that allow settings to be easily transferred between characters - with these addons it is usually just a case of loading the addon's config page and selecting the profile to use.

• Other addons will store settings at realm level. The settings for these addons should be easily visible across all characters on the same realm, again by opening up the configuration page for the addon. These settings are stored in the WTF\Account\<account id>\Realm Name folder if you want to copy them between realms, keeping in mind that if your character(s) on the additional realm are not named the same, you'll probably still have to export the settings from the addon and reimport them.

• Many addons will store settings at the character level. These settings are invisible to each of your characters across multiple networks. These settings are stored in the WTF\Account\<account id>\Realm Name\Character Name folder. If you want to copy them between characters, you can simply copy the files from one character to the other.

Keep in mind that this won't always work in all instances and with all addons, and for the instances that it doesn't work, it will normally reset the settings your addons are already using on the account you overwrote.

Normally the most effective and consistent way to move settings between characters/realms is to open up the configuration page for each addon and use the addon's "export" or "save settings" function. This should output the settings for the addon to a file which can then be re-imported on the other character(s).