I was curious how people organize the zillion mods. I've downloaded prob 15 gigs and more. If I try making folders I just forget what is inside because there are so many twix mods, like not quite an armor/wep, fix or reskinned mod, or a mixed mod. I'd love to get a handle on all this. How to make notes?

I just have a folder containing all my mods. however, before, I had subfolders based on what the biggest part of a mod is

The mods I have downloaded are sorted into three folders: Installed, Resources, Unused. First is for mods and utilities actually used, second is resources from the community I hope to make use of, and the last is for stuff I have chosen not to use for some reason. All the information that I need beyond this is kept in text files (I probably have too many of these). Install order, mod ideas, current WIPs, changes to mods by others, notes about mods being used, and ini updates are all kept in separate text files in their own folder.

I use the same categories as the mod sites. Each category gets it's own sub-directory including a misc. category for those mods that defy description.




KF

i went with a-z folders for unpacked mods

Edit: with a folder with all the packed mods

Just 3 folders inside a mod containing folder.

-Done (installed mods)
-Standby (mods I must edit before installing)
-Original (backup files to revert changes of mods I'm testing)

I use to use folders with categories similar to those on PES. But over time as I've organized and sifted through things (I have a gajillion mods too) I've started to sort things relative to where/what is affected by a mod. For example 'the Ultimate Knight Shop' is an armor mod, but I found that 'armor' isn't as pertinent to me as 'Moonmoth' is in terms of organizing. Same with C&B Armors, which would be in my 'Leveled lists' folder these days, not armor. I also separate out things like TR stuff and my own personal work which tends to clutter things quite rapidly.

My current folder structure is:

- -- Buffer
- 01 Bethesda
- 02 Utility
- 03 Fix
-- General
-- Specific
- 04 CharGen
- 05 Land
-- Region
- 06 Quest
-- Guild
-- House
- 07 City
-- Addition
-- Expansion
-- Modification
- 08 Dungeon
- 09 Item
-- Armor
-- Clothing
-- Misc
-- Weapon
- 10 Sound
-- Ambient
-- Effects
-- Music
-- Voice
- 11 Creature
-- General
-- Specific
- 12 NPC
-- Atmosphere
-- Companion
-- Service
- 13 Dialogue
-- LGNPC
- 14 Tweaks
-- General
-- Simple
-- Specific
- 15 Graphics
-- General
-- Interface
-- Item
--- Armor
---- General
---- Specific
--- Book
--- Clothing
--- Magic
---- Enchantment
--- Misc
--- Weapon
---- General
---- Specific
-- NPC
--- Animation
--- Body
--- Creature
---- General
---- Specific
--- Head
-- World
--- Architecture
--- Flora
--- Lighting
--- Sign
--- Static
--- Furniture
--- Nature
--- Statue
---Weather
- 16 MGE
- xx Miscellaneous

Sure, it may not be coherent, but it works for me.

I was never good at organization of files, I have 3 folders for mods - Graphics, Gameplay & Utilities. Plus one at separate place for mods to be translated.

I use categorized folders:

- Third Party Programs
- Texture Replacers
- Gameplay Tweaks, Fixes, etc.
- Quests & Companions
- Body, Armor, Clothes
- Housing / City Mods

It's a sort of rudimentary system, and I find the "Gameplay" folder turns into a catch all for everything from the MPP to the Chalk mod, but it works for me.

I have three folders: "Changes," "Texture Replacers," and "Graphix."

Changes: anything that doesn't go into the other two folders. I.e. anything that changes the game, gameplay, worldspace, NPCs, game mechanics, etc.
Texture Replacers: anything that changes/replaces textures and/or meshes for objects, actors, etc.
Graphix: anything for MGE or the Animation kit.

I used to have more folders when I unpacked mods, but now I just accumulate them in their archived form.

EDIT: I'm not nearly so concise when it comes to my workspace folders: http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr50/Alaisiagae/Random/messy_workspace.jpg. :hehe:

I'm using Wrye Mash's installer function so every mod (be it texture replacers or the usual .esps) has its own folder inside the installers folder.