Total newbie help, hopefully a simple question

[alyssandra]

Hi all. I'm hoping this is a trivial question that someone will chime in about. I'm currently looking through threads but not seeing such a basic answer (and in fact see much more complex stuff being discussed), so I'm self-qualifying myself as "clueless". So I'm looking for a clue.

I don't like the new gigantic crafting window that came with the update. I like to keep it open, along with inventory, so that I can see the items, the progress etc., all with the ability to move my character around. The new window blocks my character view completely. I'd actually be fine with the original window more than a fancy bigger one or the new one. So I'm trying to figure out how to change it myself, and I think I just about have the idea, but I'm missing one important part:

How do you know what to place, and where? I've looked at some downloads and the crafting designs range from minimal to huge. 700 lines, one of them was! There's no way I'm going to figure out the meanings of 700 lines (even 100 would be too much) and then determine by trial and error all of the correct X and Y coords. But every time I search for an "xml viewer" no such thing seems to exist (I don't need an "xml editor" -- I have that), so I guess it isn't just about designing forms for UIs. I'm guessing it's more about storing generic values instead, and my lack of sureness on this point indicates I really am clueless.

How do you guys totally create a new layout of a window? Seems like a massive chore, and I'd as soon tolerate the new one before doing so much work. Heck, I just want a crafting window that's narrow enough so I can see my character at 1280. It can even be full height if it must.