New to Vinyl - Need Some Advice

Zygat, poor directions are always a drag. I went to the ALS Group website and downloaded some that seem pretty thorough. They have 7 models and not knowing exactly which you have I can't be more help there.
Though I do not have a Nottingham, I do know I had to adjust the cueing and or armrest on many of my tables when initially setting up. Be patient you will figure it out.

The instructions for the Nottingham Tables are legendary bad. I can't believe they haven't done something about it. They were even grilled in an Absolute Sound review recently for it.

Your cueing device should not be affected by the VTA (height of the back of the arm) Just drop the whole assembly into the armboard and set it so the armtube is roughly parallel to the surface of the record when it is sitting on it. The cueing has a small adjustment screw as well, but I've never had to mess with that. If your cartridge is already aligned then you shouldn't have to mess with that, but it is a good idea to double check it.

The amount of side to side play can be adjusted to your liking so that the far stops of the arm are where you want them. This shouldn't affect cartridge alignment either.

Then you adjust the VTA to suit your liking. Slightly down in back from parallel is a good starting point. Raising the back will bring out the highs more and lowering it the opposite generally.

Go to the ASL web site and download the dealer manual instructions, they are pretty good.