Drupal Modules

Drupal Modules can be found at: http://drupal.org/project/Modules

The current version of Drupal is 6 with Drupal 7 due out soon. Although Drupal 7 is available, it is currently not recommended and there will still be support for Drupal 6 for several years. When you download a module ensure that the version matches the version of Drupal you are using.

There are several modules that I consider essential to all sites that you can find on the next few pages.  The first module I always install is ‎Administration menu‎.  It provides an indespensible menu for quick access to everything in Drupal so lets download and install it now.

To install a module:

1. Download the correct version to your computer.
2. Extract the folder
3. Upload the folder to /sites/all/modules/

The modules folder will not exist if you didn't create it earlier so you will need to create it yourself. You may want to create two folders within the themes folder called 'contrib' and 'custom'. That way you can put any downloaded modules into the 'contrib' folder and your custom modules (should you create them later on) into the 'custom' folder.

Once you have uploaded a Module you must first enable it at Administer > Site building > Modules, yoursite.com/admin/build/modules. When you have 'Admin menu' installed you can enable modules under Site building > Modules.

Most modules have a configuration section as well as a section where you actually use the module.  For example the FCKEditor must be configured to use IMCE image library before IMCE will work when editing a page.  See .

Now we've got the admin menu setup let's change a couple of settings.

1. Go to: Site configuration > Clean URLs
2. Click Enable and then save

You may find you cannot enable Clean URLs.  If you can't then it may be because you didn't uncomment RewriteBase in your .htaccess file. See . You'll need to edit .htaccess and then upload it again.

I also like to set the admin menu to stay at the top of the screen.

1. Go to: Site configuration > Administration menu
2. Select 'Keep menu at top of page' and save

Now that you know how to install modules don't just go installing everything you come across.  Each one adds overhead (some more than others) which will require more processing power especially if your site isn't configured correctly.  We will be talking more about site performance later. Also there are often modules that are similar.  In this case it is a good idea to check the date the module was last updated, any release notes and documentation.