Have you ever reached a Macro Limit and was unable to complete your Uber Macro?

Here are some Tips you may find useful to save those precious few macro characters!

IMPORTANT NOTE: All spells and macros here are purely EXAMPLES and are not 'decent' or 'to be used' macros.
So please don't say "Why did you do <this> macro when its completely useless or could be done better?"


Replacements:
Use "/use" instead of "/cast". It works exactly the same, but is one character shorter!
Use "/userandom" instead of "/castrandom"
Use "/s" "/p" "y" "/w or /t" "/g" etc instead of "/say" "/party" "/yell" "/whisper" "/guild" etc
Use "/cast <Spell>" instead of "/cast <Spell>(Rank #)" if you want to cast the maximum rank of that spell
Use "/use ##" instead of "/use <ItemNameHere>" when using an equipped item (EG: trinket). Info here: http://www.wowwiki.com/InventorySlotId
Use "/use item:#####" instead of "/use <VeryLongItemNameHere>" when using a non-equipped item (EG: Mount)
Use "/run" instead of "/script"
Use "/tar" instead of "/target"
Use "/a" instead of "/assist"
Use "[btn:#]" instead of "[button:#]"
Use "[mod:###]" instead of "[modifier:###]"
Use "[worn:####]" instead of "[equipped:####]"
Use "[form:#]" instead of "[stance:#]"
Use "[bar:#]" instead of "[actionbar:#]"


Formatting:
Reduce the use of repeated spell names. For example:
/cast [target=targettarget,help] Flash Heal; [help] Flash Heal; [target=mouseover,help] Flash Heal
Can be made much shorter:
/cast [target=targettarget,help][help][target=mouseover,help] Flash Heal

Reduce the use of repeated slash commands. For example:
/cast [stance:1] Retaliation
/cast [stance:2] Shield Wall
/cast [stance:3] Recklessness
Is much shorter if it was written:
/cast [stance:1] Retaliation; [stance:3] Recklessness; Shield Wall

Do not use: /cast [help,exists] Flash Heal
Because [help], [harm], [dead], [party], and [raid] all include the effect of [exists].

Reversing the order of conditions may produce a shorter macro:
/cast [noequipped:shields] Revenge; Shield Slam
Is shorter if reversed:
/cast [equipped:shields] Shield Slam; Revenge
Another example:
"[nostance:3]" is shorter then "[stance:1/2/4/5]"

Use a "/stopmacro [option]" instead of many repeats of a "[option]" condition. For example:
/cast [mod:ctrl,target=targettarget,help][mod:ctrl,help][mod:ctrl,target=mouseover,help] Flash Heal
/cast [nomod:ctrl,target=targettarget,help][nomod:ctrl,help][nomod:ctrl,target=mouseover,help] Greater Heal
Is shorter if it was:
/cast [mod:ctrl,target=targettarget,help][mod:ctrl,help][mod:ctrl,target=mouseover,help] Flash Heal
/stopmacro [mod:ctrl]
/cast [target=targettarget,help][help][target=mouseover,help] Greater Heal

Reduce the number of spaces you use. For example:
/cast [mod:ctrl,target=targettarget,help][mod:ctrl,help][mod:ctrl,target=mouseover,help]Flash Heal;[target=targettarget,help][help][target=mouseover,help][]Greater Heal
Is shorter then:
/cast [ mod:ctrl, target=targettarget, help ] [ mod:ctrl, help ] [ mod:ctrl, target=mouseover, help ] Flash Heal; [ target=targettarget, help ] [ help ] [ target=mouseover, help ] [ ] Greater Heal
You must have a space between a slash command and the first spell/option, but the rest can be space-less.
Note: Special commands such as resets in castsequences require spaces as below:
/castsequence reset=combat [option]<spell>,<spell>,<spell>;[option]<spell>,<spell>,<spell>
Generally though this makes macros harder to read, so only do this if you really need to!

#showtooltips with [options] can (usually) be far simpler then a repeat of your macro's conditions.
For example:
#showtooltip [mod:ctrl] Flash Heal; Greater Heal
instead of:
#showtooltip [mod:ctrl,target=targettarget,help][mod:ctrl,help][mod:ctrl,target=mouseover,help] Flash Heal; [target=targettarget,help][help][target=mouseover,help] Greater Heal
This is only applicable if you use something between the #showtooltip and the spell(s), for example a trinket. (Thanx Gotai)


If you find any errors (see Important Note at the top first!) or can suggest improvements or have better examples, please let me know.
If you have your own Tips please (please!) reply with them and i shall add them to the list and Credit you
If you found this guide usefull please feel free to report for sticky.

The #showtooltip bit is completely redundant. The whole purpose of #showtooltip is to show which spell it is going to cast. Unless you're using anything that messes this up (trinket before a spell for example), you should just be using #showtooltip.

Edit: Also, /use item:itemID is often shorter than /use ItemName for non equipped items (healthstones and such). As for shortening Lua code, if you find yourself using the same string/function a lot, throw them into a one letter variable. (a = EquipItemByName, then call a(item))

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Q u o t e:
The #showtooltip bit is completely redundant. The whole purpose of #showtooltip is to show which spell it is going to cast. Unless you're using anything that messes this up (trinket before a spell for example), you should just be using #showtooltip.

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exactly, you answered urself why you would do it O.o Please re-read important note :P
EDIT: though i'll add something explaining that. THank you for pointing it out.

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Q u o t e:
Edit: Also, /use item:itemID is often shorter than /use ItemName for non equipped items (healthstones and such). As for shortening Lua code, if you find yourself using the same string/function a lot, throw them into a one letter variable. (a = EquipItemByName, then call a(item))

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aye i must have added that while you were typing your message :>

EDIT again: Love ur sig. Nakor ftw.

I don't read Important Notes. 9 out of 10 times simply saying "No" is sufficient on this forum. ;)

Edit: Oh yes, and I love not finishing my post and editing it later. ^^ You might also want to add that leaving out #showtooltip is the easiest way to free up some space. Selecting the question mark icon will still show the spell icon, all you're missing is the tooltip, which is pretty pointless in combat anyway.

The only thing where /script is "better" than /run is if you want to link a item and you use item linking addons, let me show you:

This code will output exactly what you see, with Void Crystal being a link and the "trash" strings since the addon already made the item into a link so the other strings around will be included and make the message longer than necessary -try it if you got a item link addon, hehe.

/run DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Shift-click this to place a link into a chat message: \124cffa335ee\124Hitem:22450:0:0:0:0:0:0:0\124h[Void Crystal]\124h\124r");

With /script the addons won't make the [Void Crystal] into a link, but keep it as text, thus making the message look like it should.

/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Shift-click this to place a link into a chat message: \124cffa335ee\124Hitem:22450:0:0:0:0:0:0:0\124h[Void Crystal]\124h\124r");

So (bold are the click able links)..

/run version outputs:
"Shift-click this to place a link into a chat message: |cffa335ee|Hitem:22450:0:0:0:0:0:0:0|h[Void Crystal]|h|r"

/script version outputs:
"Shift-click this to place a link into a chat message: [Void Crystal]"

Ofc, this does not apply if you don't use any item linking addons, hehe. ^_^

Btw, imba topic.. hope people will use it! ;)

You've been here long enough to know that 9 out of 10 won't Zuo. ;)

http://www.wowwiki.com/Shrinking_a_macro is also a decent read, though somewhat outdated at some points.

omg http://www.wowwiki.com/Shrinking_a_macro ?

someone beat me to it :<

Maybe i can ninja some ideas >: D

Half of the guide is still pre-2.0, so if you're feeling bored there's plenty you can fix. :)

yeah... but my /script knowledge is poor.

Can we not just have a general macro FAQ actually stickied along with an Addon FAQ. Noone bothers reading the Sticky Compilation thread as it is now, and with the search as crappy as it is, we're having to say no to people asking if they can do something based on cooldowns about three times per day.

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Q u o t e:
Can we not just have a general macro FAQ actually stickied along with an Addon FAQ. Noone bothers reading the Sticky Compilation thread as it is now, and with the search as crappy as it is, we're having to say no to people asking if they can do something based on cooldowns about three times per day.

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++

Actually a few lines in the top of the sticky would suffice:

How do I change my character model to look like ... ?
You can't.

How do I write a macro that casts x if target is a and y if target is b ?
You can't.

Hey, a blue! First one I've seen in months :)

Jhorxia: Agreed. That and changing the name to 'Read this before posting or loose your account.' or something. Just would be easier if a 'normal' user made the post, so we can poke him to update it.

cheers guys for hijacking my first blue post :P

No worries Zeph. /hug

Posted for cogwheel of US forums:

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Q u o t e:
Use "[mod:###]" instead of "[moderator:###]"

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Should be modifier not moderator ;)

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Q u o t e:
Posted for cogwheel of US forums:
Should be modifier not moderator ;)

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thanx for the typo

yey thx for the great guide :)

I just meant to ask one quick question :)

u said one can use:

/use instead of /cast

so for instance when you mentioned:

Reversing the order of conditions may produce a shorter macro:

/cast [noequipped:shields] Revenge; Shield Slam

Is shorter if reversed:

/cast [equipped:shields] Shield Slam; Revenge

could i make the macro

/use [equipped:shields] Shield Slam; Revenge ?

or /use [harm] Lightning Bolt; [help] Lesser Healing Wave

again thx for the guide :)

EDIT: soz just wanted to confirm that it could be done before i change every single one of my macros :P

yes. i just used /cast to help people understand what i'm trying to do in the examples :>