WoW recently added an in-game upgrade to its map system, integrating it with your quest log so that you can see where the goal or end-point of any quest you're on is located, approximately.

Personally I don't use any map add-ons, nor do I recommend any to a new player. The current default map system is pretty good, unless you want to use your map for hunting rare creatures or unless you want the whole zone map visible to you right off the bat. Either of those functions is permissable, you just have to download the corresponding add-on. But I don't recommend them. I think it's better for a starting player to not know instantly what the whole map is like. Go out and explore it. If nothing else, the greyed out map areas show you where you haven't been yet. If you can see it all from the start, you might miss out on a cool place.

Once you get a feel for the game, add-ons you might like include Bartender (gives you more places to stick abilities for use in-game, because often the default bars don't have enough spaces), Decursive if you're doing any grouping (one-click debuff removal for classes with such abilities, ie. mages can remove curses from friendly players, but normally you don't know when someone is cursed; Decursive makes a sound to let you know, and shows you who in your party is cursed), and Auctioneer (though I recommend you get a feel for how the auction house works normally before you try any of the advanced auction money making tactics).

Some people like to really customize their interface, but don't worry about that for the most part. The game's default interface is perfectly serviceable, despite longtime players and heavy raiders telling you that you're not a real player if you're not maximizing your interface efficiency. Bartender for more action slots is about the only thing you'll really need eventually ... but even then, you won't need it until later levels when you have more abilities you want to put on your screen for easy access. I recommend sticking to the basics and learning the game and your class first.

Helpful interface tips, though: Press Escape, go to Interface, and change the following things.

- Under the action bars section, I think, you can add action bars, including one above the default bar and two bars on the right. Turn them all on, you'll need them. Then put any useful ability somewhere on your action bars, saving the ones you use most for the 1-6 key spaces. If you're like me, you might want to consider mapping the F1-F4 keys onto your bars too, and the ~ key. I also map Q, E, and R onto abilities because they're close, but that's personal preference. Only stick combat abilities onto your key-mapped buttons. Out of combat stuff you can just point and click on, but keyed combat abilities will sometimes save your life once you learn them.

- If you don't like the look of a hat you're wearing, open Interface and click off the "display helmet" button. You can hide your cloak too if you want. A matter of how you want your character to look. I never display a helmet, it ruins my awesome hair.

- In the interface menu still, I think it's under combat, make sure the self-cast option is enabled. Without this, the game will get confused when you try to use an ability on yourself while targeting an enemy.

... as you can tell, I love talking about this game. If you have any questions about any part of the game, post 'em here and I'll answer. That includes class questions, I know them all pretty well except shaman, which is a goddamn mystery.