Essential Drupal Modules for New Sites

Everyone hates having to dig through Drupal's module pages every time they want to start a new Drupal site. This post gives you all the essentials in one place. This can also help users that are new to Drupal to get an idea of what to upload to get going.

To upload Drupal modules you need to do the following:

1. Read about the module on Drupal if you're new to it and browse through the different versions of the releases to see witch one is right for you. Use modules with file names that include "dev" "alpha" or "beta" cautiously. They may not be stable.
2. Download the module from Drupal
3. Upload it to your modules folder
4. Extract the files
5. If you're new the module read the "read me" file in the module
6. Go into your Admin -> Module section and enable the module by checking it

Links to Essential Starting Modules for Drupal Sites

Below are the key modules needed for any new Drupal site.

• Views
• CCK - Content Construction Kit
• ImageField
• ImageCache
• ViewField
• Link Field for CCK
• Panels
• Token Module
• Poor Man's Cron
• Views Bonus Pack

Here some others that are good for social sites:

• Bio Module
• Buddy List

Here are some crucial modules for SEO and Drupal:

• Global Redirect
• Page Titles Module
• PathAuto Module
• Meta Tags

If words like "views" and "cck" don't mean anything to you than you probably need to read some documentation before you start on any of this.