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.

Go team MO! I started using mod organizer from the start because my brother and I would both be playing and we wanted different mods.

As far as I know, everything to do with load order is done in the left window. They lightning bolts show you pluses and minuses to represent overwrites and you can even view the specific files being overwritten. Very intuitive and easy to use.

The thing is, BOSS moves the plugins in the right window, not the actual mods in the left window, that is what is confusing me, but of course it moves .esp's , before never really thought about things that just alter meshes like Glowing Ore Veins, which don't use a .esp and where they should be , if they matter, since they aren't being overwritten by anything.

Btw, the issue with NMM , I used the previous version of NMM. Installed WetandCold-holidays version 3. The .esp showed in plugins in NMM, but the mod didn't show in the modlist page. When version 5 of that mod was released, I went to uninstall the old version, but couldn't using NMM, then noticed a new version of NMM was available, and did a full uninstall of NMM, and installed the new version, and the old version of WetandCold-holidays still didn't show in the mod list (where you can uninstall a mod). So I just installed the new version 5 overtop of it, copy&replacing files when it asked, then uninstalled and reinstalled it (figuring it would just overwrite all the old files since the same mod and minor changes involved in the update).

But when I saw in MO that the old .esp was there, I did realize it was still there and activated in my load order (never really noticed when I ran BOSS, cause I normally just checked for issues).

Thing is, after uninstalling all the mods in NMM, I noticed that The Dance of Death mod, had also disappeared from my mod list in NMM, because I uninstalled ever mod that was in the NMM mod list, and the .esp for The Dance of Death was still showing as active in the plugins list, but the mod was no where to be found in the mod list in NMM. And that's using the most recent version of NMM, so there's definitely some sort of issue with NMM. Btw, I initially got The Dance of Death mod, a few days after I got the most recent version of NMM, so the bug must still be present, especially since I'd previously done full uninstalls of NMM, including all settings and all. Btw, I hadn't installed ANY mods manually either, so that couldn't be an issue at play. I installed everything using NMM, except for the couple things you can't , such as SKSE, SSME...

IIRC, the left windows is your install order. The right is your load order.

They are different. Higher priority loose files (or with the BSA unpack option ticked) will appear in game.

For example you install a mod that changes the some textures with a priority 1. You install another mod that changes the same textures with priority 2.

The priority 2 textures will appear in game even though you may have the priority 1 mod loading later than the priority 2 mod.

ok, I see now. As for the textures and such, the order they load won't cause a CTD, but will affect what you see in game. Their order in the left window only affects what you see, so place the ones you want to see, as close to the bottom of the list , as possible, like right above the Bashed patch? Yes, I'm just learning all this...before relied heavily on BOSS for my load order lol,

A more simple question to ask: Where, in the install order, should texture mods load? Like after High Res & Unoff High Res Patch, and after anything that may alter it?