Publish to the Workshop

What goes where #

Install from the Workshop #

• On the website: open the Workshop, pick an addon, press Install. It opens the launcher, which downloads the package, checks its fingerprint and installs it into AddOns\Enabled. Collections install several at once.
• In the launcher: Workshop → Addons. Installed lists yours, with Enable/Disable each.
• From a zip: Workshop → Installed → Install from .zip. It accepts plain addon zips, packs of several addons and GitHub "Download ZIP" archives, renames folders to match their .toc, and refuses anything that would land outside your AddOns folder.
• From GitHub: in Advanced mode, the GitHub tab searches repos (presets: Repacks, Vanilla addons) and installs a repo's default branch.

Check the label first: Works (loaded and logged in clean), Partly (uses parts of the API the checker can't test), Needs fixes, Not checked, and Ours for the Open Vanilla addons.

Before you publish #

1. It runs on Vanilla. ## Interface: 11200 in the .toc, Lua 5.0 only (the rules), folder name = .toc name.
2. It passes the scanner: python3 tools/workshop_scan.py MyAddon --json (details). Aim for works.
3. It has a licence that lets others share it, as a LICENSE file in the folder. The Workshop can host copies only under: MIT, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, Apache-2.0, GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0, LGPL-2.1, LGPL-3.0, MPL-2.0, Unlicense, CC0-1.0.
4. It's yours to share. You wrote it, or its licence allows sharing and you credit the author.
5. Screenshots and a one-line summary ready. An AI agent can draft the listing: see Connect an AI.

Upload an addon #

On the Workshop page, Share an addon (signed in):

Tick I wrote this addon, or its licence lets anyone share it, and the licence file is in the zip, and send. You'll see "Upload #n is in the review queue". You can upload five a day, with at most five waiting.

The review gate #

Every upload is scanned in the fake Vanilla client before a person looks at it. The scanner flags anything that sends chat when it loads or on a timer, reads other addons' saved data, uses os or io, moves gold or items, or runs arbitrary code. Anything serious holds the upload for a moderator. Uploads are never served to players until a moderator approves them; approved ones become catalogue entries.

Send a catalogue entry #

The Workshop's source is one file per addon in workshop/catalog/<id>.yml in the repo. Adding yours by pull request:

id: my-theme              # lowercase, digits, dashes; 2-48 characters
name: MyTheme
author: You
summary: A dark, minimal skin for the Vanilla Remastered windows.
description: |
  What it does, how to open it (/mytheme), what to expect.
category: interface       # interface, unitframes, combat, raid, quests, bags, maps,
                          # social, economy, professions, macros, tooltips, utility, classicplus
tags: [theme, minimal]
license: MIT
rehost: true
source_url: https://github.com/you/MyTheme
homepage: https://github.com/you/MyTheme
upstream:
  how: git
  repo: you/MyTheme
  branch: main
screenshots: []

Maintainers run python3 tools/workshop_build.py --fetch --only my-theme, which pins your current commit, scans it, zips it with a credits file and records its fingerprint. New versions: the next index run picks up your newest commit and the build re-pins it.

Get found automatically #

Add one of these topics to your GitHub repo: wow-vanilla-addon, vanilla-wow-addon or turtle-wow. The indexer finds tagged repos, and a person reviews each before it's listed.

Port an open addon into Vanilla Remastered #

Vanilla Remastered addons get the suite's settings window and look. To wrap an openly licensed addon:

python3 tools/workshop_port.py path\to\SomeAddon --license MIT --name SomeAddonPlus --author "You" --source https://...

It writes workshop/ports/<Folder>Plus/ (a .toc, a Lua file and PORT_NOTES.txt), refuses addons without an allowed licence, and never publishes anything by itself. Test it in the sim and the game, then upload it.

Collections #

A collection is a curated list of addons for a play style (raiders, roleplayers...), installed with one click. They live in workshop/collections/<id>.yml: id, name, curator, summary, description, banner and addons: [ids]. Send one by pull request.

Ratings and reviews #

Signed-in players can rate and review addons on each addon's page. Moderators can hide a review's text if it breaks the rules. Install counts are anonymous.

List a fork, repo or project #

Forks of Open Vanilla, other clients, server projects, repacks and games built on the same tech go in the Projects directory (www/community/directory.json). Each gets a page at project.html#<id> and a spot in the launcher's Workshop → Projects tab.

To be listed, open an issue with the name, link, a short description, the credits and a screenshot. An entry looks like this:

{
  "id": "my-fork",
  "name": "My Fork",
  "kind": "source",
  "client": "1.12.1",
  "version": "0.3",
  "author": "You",
  "license": "MIT",
  "tags": ["fork", "pvp"],
  "url": "https://github.com/you/my-fork",
  "homepage": "https://you.example",
  "description": "One line.",
  "about": "A paragraph: what's different and who it's for.",
  "credits": ["Open Vanilla", "benilla by samwhosung"],
  "images": ["https://..."]
}

kind is client, source or game.

Fork Open Vanilla #

1. Fork the repo on GitHub (orionopenwow/OpenVanilla) or clone it to another host.
2. Keep the credits. Open Vanilla is built on benilla (MIT / Apache-2.0); keep its licence files and credit line.
3. Keep Blizzard's files out. The repo's checks refuse them, and so should your fork: players bring their own Vanilla Client v1.3.
4. Rename it. Use your own name and art; don't present your fork as the official Open Vanilla.
5. Point it at your own realm. Realm addresses live in the launcher's defaults and the site's config; your fork's players should never sign in to a realm you don't run.
6. List it in the Projects directory so players can find it.