Do mods conflict? How do I know if they will? How do I find conflicts? How do I prevent conflicts? How do I fix conflicts?

Most mods do not conflict with other mods. Conflicts arise a few different ways in a few different situations.

The first, and probably most common conflict, is when two (or more) mods change the same thing. This could be as obvious as two mods that change the character creation process, to as subtle as two mods that edit the same candle in a house in Balmora.

Now, there are two different problems a conflict like this can cause. First, the mod that is loaded later in the load order could just override any previous ones editing the same object. This may or may not cause any problems. Second, the conflict could be major, and cause problems such as crashes, non-functioning mods, errors, etc.

These conflicts cannot usually be fixed unless there is a patch made to fix the conflict. You can however, control them to an extent. If mods are simply overriding eachother, make sure the one you want is loaded later in the load order than the one it is conflict with.

The second, less common, type of conflict, is when two mods "collide." This can, again, be as obvious as two mods that add buildings to the same place, or two islands added to the same area, to as subtle as 1 house in a huge mod being on top of 1 NPC in another huge mod.

Usually, these conflicts ruin both mods. Sometimes, the conflict is minor enough that it doesn't cause any problems, or can be worked around. Again, these cannot usually be fixed without a patch made to move things for compatability.

The third, and least common, type of conflict, is when two mods have objects with the same ID. For example, Mod 1 has a sword with ID Quest_Sword3, and Mod 2 has a sword with ID Quest_Sword3. This can cause problems, usually errors and/or CTDs.

These also happen to be one of the easiest conflicts to fix. Someone only has to edit the ID(s) of the object(s) in one mod.

Many conflicts cannot normally be detected until you encounter them in-game. There is a program called TES Plugin Conflict Detector which finds a good majority of conflicts, but not all.

There is some more detailed information about conflicts on UESPWiki.

Also, here is a map showing a bunch of landmass mods and where they add land, so you can have at least some idea of which landmasses will conflict with each other:

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