Finding Modules
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Finding Modules
with Joe Shindelar
In this tutorial,
we'll learn how to search for
and evaluate modules on Drupal.org.
By the end of this tutorial,
you'll know how to find
and evaluate modules
before installing them.
Before you get started
with this tutorial,
you want to make sure
that you're familiar with the concept
of Drupal
as a Content Management System,
and that you know what modules are
and the role that they play.
See the written version
of this tutorial for links
to each of these prerequisite tutorials.
Start by going to Drupal.org
and then the header at the top,
click on Download & Extend.
Scroll down the page,
and under the Extend section
click on Modules.
Filter your search using
the categories
on the Modules search page.
We'll be looking
for Actively maintained modules
in the Administration category,
that are compatible with Drupal 8
For Status,
sandbox projects
are experimental projects.
Full projects
have already gone through
an approval process
but they can still be in development.
We're going to choose
Full projects in this case.
In the Search field,
we can enter the text Admin toolbar,
a module that will be covered
in detail later.
Alternatively, you can also leave
this field blank,
if you're not sure
which module to search for.
You can order the results
by criteria like Most installed,
which is popular modules
that many sites use
or Last release, which is the date
of the last version released.
We'll leave it as Most installed.
Click Search and wait
for the filtered results to appear.
To further evaluate
a module click on its title
in the list of search results
to visit its project page.
When evaluating modules,
there are a few important aspects
to pay attention
to on these project pages.
First of all, the project description.
The description of the module
on its project page
should be clear and useful.
You should get an idea
of its features and requirements.
If you scroll down the page,
under the Project information section,
there's some more useful information.
Check for a maintenance status notice.
If a module is actively maintained,
you can be sure
that there will be security updates,
bug fixes, and feature improvements
provided on a regular basis.
If you don't see a status,
you can assume it's currently marked
as Actively maintained.
If the module is unmaintained or
abandoned or set to any other status,
you'll see a notice here.
Also check for a development status.
Modules that are currently marked
as Under active development
will not show a notification.
And the other status will show
a notice
in the Project information section.
Here's the current complete list
of possible status
for those 2 settings.
Maintenance status could be set
to one of Actively maintained,
Minimally maintained,
Seeking co-maintainers,
Seeking a new maintainer,
or Unsupported;
while Development status can be set
to Under active development,
Maintenance fixes only,
No further development, or Obsolete.
And here's an example of what it
looks like to have a module display
project information with one of these
non-default settings.
Another thing to look for:
check the reported installs
and downloads.
You can see how many people
have downloaded
and how many sites use the module.
If it's only used by a few sites,
it might be a unique solution
that not many people need
or it might be a warning sign
that you shouldn't use it either.
If you scroll back up in the sidebar,
check the maintainers;
when was the last time someone
updated something on the module
or the last release, new version.
If the project has few open issues,
a long time since commits
or releases might be appropriate.
But if it has a lot of open issues and
there are no commits or releases,
that would be a clue
that it might be abandoned.
Check the issues.
See if there are any open issues,
potential problems with the module.
And then check the statistics
to see how regularly issues
are responded to.
You can also scan
the available resources.
Check if the module
has documentation or a readme file
that can help you install, configure,
explore and test it.
In this tutorial, we took a look at the
Module search form
and learned how to use it to find the
type of modules we're interested in.
We also examined a project page
and walked through
the important aspects
to consider when evaluating
a potential module for your site.