Help
Drupal is one of the more well-known open source Content Management Systems out there. Chances are, if you're looking to accomplish some specific content management task, there's probably a Drupal module for it. This excerpt from Byron, et al.'s Using Drupal will help you find the module you're looking for.
The first step to choosing the right module for your needs is actually finding it. Fortunately, all Drupal modules (with only a few rare exceptions) are located directly on the main Drupal.org website, so there’s only one resource for finding them. Here’s how you do it.
The module listing pages at http://drupal.org/project/Modules, pictured in Figure B.1, list modules by category (such as CCK or mail-related modules), by name alphabetically, and by the date they were last updated. Browsing these category-based pages can be useful for determining the modules that exist in a particular space, and keeping an eye on the modules that are frequently at the top of the date list helps highlight those with active maintainers.
Warning
Drupal 5.x modules are not compatible with Drupal 6.x, and vice versa. To see an accurate list for your site, make sure to change the “Filter by Drupal Core compatibility” filter to show only those modules that are compatible with your Drupal version. You will have access to apply this filter only if you are logged in to the Drupal.org website. Getting an account is free and easy, and opens up many useful tools to you.
Note
Another nice Drupal.org “hack” is keeping an RSS reader pointed at http://drupal.org/taxonomy/term/14, which is a list of all the newest modules on Drupal.org as they are created.
Drupal.org also provides a block for searching the downloads on the site, also pictured in Figure B.1. For example, searching for “wiki” brings up a list of modules with that keyword in their name or description. This allows you to drill down to modules specific to your needs faster than browsing by the default category view.
The Drupal.org support forums at http://drupal.org/forum, particularly the “Before you start” forum at http://drupal.org/forum/20, can provide a wealth of information in the form of questions from other users about the modules they used for their own projects. Often, you can receive some helpful advice not only about the feature you’re trying to implement now, but also for future things your website will need to take into consideration. The “Drupal showcase” forum at http://drupal.org/forum/25 is also filled with people showing off websites they built with Drupal—and they are often more than happy to share details about how they built a particular piece.
Chances are good that no matter how crazy the use case, someone else has had to solve the very same problem with Drupal as you have. You can cut down the time required to find modules tremendously by finding out how they went about it. The Drupal handbook contains a section for case studies at http://drupal.org/cases. These consist of detailed write-ups, often about major websites using Drupal, about why exactly Drupal was chosen and how the site was put together. Some of the more comprehensive case studies include:
Popular Science magazine: http://drupal.org/node/233090
Sony BMG MyPlay: http://drupal.org/node/241344
New York Observer: http://drupal.org/node/141187
Planet Drupal (http://drupal.org/planet), pictured in Figure B.2, is an aggregation of Drupal contributing members’ blogs and is a great way to find out what’s new and hot in the module world. Module tutorials, reviews, and news are often posted there, and Planet Drupal also a great general resource for keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the larger community.
http://drupal.org/node/289913 provides a list of third-party websites—that is, separate from Drupal.org—that often provide useful information when evaluating modules. For example, http://drupalmodules.com provides user ratings and reviews of Drupal modules, and http://www.lullabot.com has a variety of articles, videos, and podcasts, many of which highlight popular modules and how to use them.
With the recipes in this book, you can take full advantage of the vast collection of community-contributed modules that make the Drupal web framework useful and unique. You'll get the information you need about how to combine modules in interesting ways (with a minimum of code-wrangling) to develop a variety of community-driven websites -- including a wiki, publishing workflow site, photo gallery, product review site, online store, user group site, and more.
