To start, I just got into modding Skyrim around the end of December. I have tried to be very careful with mod selections and trying to read all I can about them and to test them out, but I ran into an issue. Game would CTD at random times about 3-4 times an hour, got really annoying. So, 2 days ago, I decided I was going to make a new character, then realized that since I used NMM, I would never be able to go back to my other character without keeping track of what all mods that save used and would then have to activate/inactive certain mods, and would really be a pain. In past forum posts, I read that you could use multiple profiles for mod setups in Mod Organizer.
So, my journey began. I decided to make the switchover. After installing MO, I then had to uninstall all my mods in NMM. Then I realized a problem I had with NMM was still existant, when I went to import my mods and stuff to MO from NMM. Using NMM, I had a mod not show up at all in the mod list of NMM, or the .esp, even though it was active. Couldn't find the archive, so next time it updated, I just installed it and overwrote the info, then uninstalled it, and reinstalled it again (hoping that NMM would revert the file to its virgin state). Well, I was wrong, I had that old .esp still loading ! Needless to say, I had both .esp's for the same mod running at the same time (were different versions of the mod). Also, while doing that, found a 2nd mod that was doing the same thing.
So, I ended up uninstalling Skyrim altogether, and reinstalling it. Then slowly installed all my mods (I wrote all my mods and current loadorder down by hand, just so I could check them off as I added them), into MO. I learned quite a bit about MO as I did it, and even learned that you can look at a save and it will tell you what .esp's you're missing for a save. But, finally I had all my mods installed into MO.
Next I went to run Boss, after setting up the .exe for it in MO, and of course, it couldn't find Skyrim LOL. !! Soon I realized that after uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim, you need to at least run it once, so BOSS can recognize it (so the game shows in your registry). Learned that by reading the Readme for BOSS. Got that going good.
Next step, redo my Bashed patch, but of course with profiles things are a bit different. Got the Wrye Bash exe setup to run through MO, then learned that it is best to zip the bashed patch , so you can load it like a mod, since with profiles you're going to have different bashed patches, then had to learn that the 'overwrite' thingy in MO should be cleared out (learned that by viewing the mod status triangle thingy in MO).
Finally got it all done, loaded up my existing save to try things out. Played for 5 hours straight, not a single CTD, and game seemed to run smoother too? No clue why, maybe the errors that were causing the CTD's were bogging it down? Btw, checked my save file, is no bloating that I can tell, He's level 46, done a lot of quests and area, and new worldspaces, and file is like 11.7 MB, so that isn't too bad in size.
Needless to say, I believe I fixed my issue, and feel so much better about things, but will still probably try a new playthrough, since it is easy now, and very easy to go back to my existing save, if I am in the mood to.
So far though, I'm really liking MO, even though I still have a lot to learn. But MO offers so much info, such as highlighting a save and seeing what all .esp's it requires, that thingy showing you if things should be fine. Plus in the mods list on the left it shows you exactly what mods are being overwritten and/or overwriting others. Another tab shows what data files are altering other data files, just a plethora of info, easily accessed. The ease of access makes it easier to learn where your issues are, and what exactly you need to learn about to fix the issues, since they show up in red.
Only quirky thing I saw, and might not be, might just be my lack of knowledge. But... until I ordered the mods in the left window in MO, it was showing load order issues in the overall status thingy. I could be wrong, but isn't the load order for a profile determined by the order of the .esp's in the plugin window in the right window that toggles between plugins-archives-data-saves-downloads ? But once I put the mods in the left window, the remainder of my issues went away and the triangle thingy went greyed out.
That triangle status thingy is exceptionally nice though, cause it identifies your issues and tells you where to look, and what to do.
Getting to be a long post, but if you have any tips for me, I'd be honored to take your advice or to learn what you have to share with me.