When running a Drupal website, some useful modules are necessities if you require more functionality, better control, enhanced security, optimized website performance, or some other advantages. As thousands of developers are working on Drupal core and modules, there are numerous Drupal modules available on the web, including over 23,600 free ones at Drupal.org.
In this article, we have introduced the top 5 must-have Drupal modules that are recommended to be installed and used on every Drupal website. All of the 5 modules are carefully tested by ourselves, and their quality makes them deserve to be awarded as the best ones.
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When Drupal has been properly installed on a web hosting account, now it's time to get some must-have modules. Here are the best 5 modules with great features and popularity.
No.1: Views
Requirement: Drupal 6.x or higher & CTools
Downloads: 4,359,987
Maintenance status: Actively maintained
Views tops the Drupal module recommendation lists at many websites for its brilliant features that allow you arrange the content on the Drupal website as you want by defining a set of criteria. It is basically a powerful GUI interface to the Drupal database.
With the use of Views, you can present website content in lists, grids, tables, and some other styles. This module is flexible and easy-to-use, so you can handle it by yourself even if you are relatively inexperienced in database management and the related fields. Of course, it would be better if you have some SQL knowledge which enables you to know what the advanced functions of Views is doing in the backgrounds.
Download Views Module
No.2: Content Construction Kit (CCK)
Requirement: Drupal 6.x or higher
Downloads: 1,856,089
Maintenance status: Actively maintained
Content Construction Kit (CCK) is a valuable Drupal module that allows you to add custom fields to different types of Drupal content (nodes) or define a new content type using a web browser. Combined with Views, you can create detailed lists of almost any type of content you may think of.
The installation and use of CCK requires no coding or any other complicated tasks, and you can order the fields according to your own preference, without limitations. Besides Views, the module can well integrate with some other modules, such as Panels, Token, and Devel.
Download Content Construction Kit Module
No.3: Pathauto
Requirement: Drupal 6.x or higher & Token
Downloads: 2,094,030
Maintenance status: Actively maintained
Pathauto is a necessity for every modern Drupal website that requires clean and readable URLs. The module automatically generates URL/path aliases for various kinds of content – modes, taxonomy terms, and users – without requiring the user to manually specify the path alias.
For example, Pathauto enables you to post your blog posts under blog/blog-page-title/ instead of the default node/123/. The aliases of blog-page-title are based upon a "pattern" system that uses tokens which you can change. Doing like this, your website pages are not only memorable for readers and visitors, but also findable for search engines.
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No.4: Token
Requirement: Drupal 6.x or higher
Downloads: 3,030,703
Maintenance status: Actively maintained
Tokens are little snippets of text that can be used as replacement patterns. The Token module, therefore, provides a central API for modules to use tokens to achieve their own values. For example, if your website sends out an email and you want to add in the user's name, Tokens saves your time and energy.
It may sound confusing for newbies, but when you have installed some other modules that use Token and provide tokens via the API, such as Organic Groups, Pathauto, Commerce, and Comment Notify, you will find that Token is easy-to-use and more than helpful.
Download Tokens Module
No.5: Administration Menu
Requirement: Drupal 6.x or higher
Downloads: 2,059,848
Maintenance status: Actively maintained
The Administration Menu module, which is available since Drupal 6, is a lightweight module that renders all the administrative features below "administer" in a clean and purely CSS-based menu along the top of the screen for logged in users and then gives access to admin features. As the module is permission based, it only gives the user access to the level that your permissions allow.
Besides, Administration Menu is theme-independent, which means that no matter you are novice user coming from another CMS, a site administrator, or web developer, this module is a helpful tool and time-saver. It can work well in all themes and browsers.
Download Administration Menu Module