Tes4Mod:Searching TESNexus

Introduction
There are many good ways to find mods on TESNexus, but many users seem to be unaware of this. A lot of the "What are the best mods?" and "Is there a mod that...?" threads would probably not exist, otherwise. The other feature that seems to confuse people is related to the "latest edit" and "last updated" dates. A new edit or update does not indicate that a new file has been uploaded. If you see that an old mod seems to have been "updated" recently, an appreciative user probably uploaded a "thank you" picture or the description was changed. If you want to quickly find out whether or not a file update has been done recently, view the "Action Log" or check the upload date of the actual available file uploads. The Action Log is the best way to figure out if a mod has been uploaded recently because sometime the date on an upload may just be the date on which the mod was reuploaded by an admin (for various reasons.) The Action Log is the most informative page for distinguishing between updates. Okay, on to the "do" stuff...


General Tips

See the "Key" section at the bottom of the "Updates today" page to learn what the different icons mean next to mod page names on the "Updates recently" and "Updates today" pages.
ReadMes: If an author has uploaded a ReadMe for a mod to its TESNexus page, there is a link to it under "Options" on the page.
Has it really been updated?: Check the Action Log for a "file" change to see if a mod has actually been updated. Also, file updates have the floppy drive icon on the "Updates recently" and "Updates today" pages.
Tracking a mod's updates: If you want to track a mod, go to the mod's page and select "track file" under options.
Alternative downloads?: See the "Mirrors" section on a mod's page. Some mods are only available through mirrors.
Where are the patches?: Make sure you scroll down a mods "Downloads" section to see if their are optional downloads, updates or patches.
0Kb downloads: Sometimes TESNexus has to do maintenance. Try a different server or wait a bit.
Finding by name problems: Mod page titles cannot have apostrophes, so try tacking the "s" directly on the end, and see if that works.
If your search turns up a bunch of variants of the same mod, sort by "Downloads" "DESC" to figure out which is the original or the "officially" (or "unofficially") recommended version.


Ways to find mods
...for those of you who are unaware or looking for alternative search methods.

"Casual browsing"
Overview of links along the right side

# Downloads Index - This is the page to which my TESNexus (bookmark toolbar) bookmark points. Check it to see what has been updated recently. "Latest Uploads" is a list of the five most newest uploads. "Latest Edits" is a list of the five existing uploads that have been edited. That does not mean that a new file has been uploaded. (See the General Tips for more info.)
# Today's updated - What qualifies as "today" is hard to pin down, but, in general, this page lists the new uploads and latest edits that have been made _today_. See the Key toward the bottom of the page to learn what the various icons next to the mod page names mean. Now, you can use the filter at the top to hide the extraneous image uploads when you are on the look out for file upload updates.
# Latest Files - These are the latest 100 uploads, actual file uploads. The contains completely new mods to TESNexus as well as new uploads (updates) to existing pages.
# Top 100 - The default list is the 25 mods to receive the most endorsements over the last two weeks, and there are links other "top" lists under "Top Lists." There are many different views on the new thumbs up, thumbs down system. The lists contain popular mods, but they miss many great mods as well. There are other ways of filtering out the other popular mods that some may find less skewed...
# Files of the Month - It is as accurate as getting users to vote can be...

Hunting and Finding the "Best" Mods
Overview of search options

# The search box - If you know part of the name of the mod, or even have a one word description that is a possible candidate of a mod's name, you should try this method out first. It is simple, and it either turns out the right results or it does not.
# Browse categories and Tag search - These are good ways to filter out the pages you do not care about. Some of the categories are small enough that using these option can make a tremendous difference. Searching by tags allows you to narrow down the results even more. Try to use as many as you can. Tag searching is the best method to use if you do not have specifics about a mod's TESNexus page.
# Advanced Search - This is the best search option when you know any specific details about a mod or its page, especially if you know the author's name. Use combinations of the "Author," "Description" and "File Name" fields. When in doubt, try to stick to one word in a field.
# Search Tips - After using one of the previously-mentioned methods to narrow down the results, if you do not know which upload page you are looking for...
#* Which version is the most recent? If you trying to figure out which page has the most recent version, you do not want to search by "Last update." That could turn up the result with the newest picture uploaded. The query you want is "Last upload" sorted "Desc". That does not always work if the mod is very old and was reuploaded by an admin, but that should only rarely post a problem. In that case, check the Action Log. If you are still not sure and do not feel like downloading the mods to check the ReadMes, ask in the BethSoft Mods forum.
#* Which mod is the best (of its kind) or more popular? There are two main methods for going about finding an answer to this question, sorting mods for most endorsements and most downloads. Some users feel that the latter is more important as users forget or do not care to endorse mods. (Everyone forgets, so do not worry about it. A lot of people disagree with that system anyway, and many authors disable endorsements as well.) Anyway, to sort the mods so that those with the most endorsements appear first, use the sort options "Endorsements" and "Desc." Sort by "Downloads" instead of the "Endorsements" in order to have the mods with the most downloads sorted first. (You will see a clear difference between the "Top Lists" and the results turned up via the latter method.) If you are looking for the "best" of a certain type of mod, use Tag Search or Browse Categories to narrow down the choices to the appropriate category first.

Pre-Made Searches
Most Downloads Tag search > Oblivion > Sort: Downloads, Desc
Most Endorsements Tag search > Oblivion > Sort: Endorsements, Desc
Most Downloaded Companions (not creatures or CM-based) Browse categories > Companions Other > Sort: Downloads, Desc
Most Downloaded New Lands Mods Tag search > New Lands > Sort: Downloads, Desc
Most Downloaded Quests Browse categories > Quests and Adventures > Sort: Downloads, Desc
Misses many quest mods (i.e., The Heart of the Dead, The Lost Spires) because they do not have direct downloads through TESNexus.
Most Downloaded Race Mods Tag search > Oblivion, Races New > Sort: Downloads, Desc
Misses mods such as Race Balancing Project (RBP) because RBP does not have direction download at TESNexus, and it is one of the most widely-used race compilation mods. RBP also has an OMOD installer available at TESNexus.
Mods for Robert's Female Body Tag search > Robert Female Bodybase
Unofficial Official Patches Regular search "Unofficial Patch" > Sort: Downloads, Desc