The mods that I posted.... NMM made that a piece of cake. NMM has come a long ways in terms of updates, features, and streamlining. I downloaded the right files, activated it, put the ESMs in the recommended order and all within a handful of minutes. It couldn't have been easier and more painless. Manual install isn't difficult, either. I just follow the instructions. If the modder recommends sticking to manual then that's what I do.
Unless the modder states to do it manually there is no point in NOT uisng NMM if the game and mods support it. It would be like having a large music collection on your PC and not using a media player to play and access the content.
This is why we get threads that go "installed mod, not working, need help!". Today I learned people like to do things the hard way because....reasons.