Newbie News: Two great modules

Modules modules modules!

If you're like me, you have a hard time resisting tossing mass handfuls of shiny new modules into your installations. ("Wow, I'll be able to do this... and this... and this... and – hey, something's not working!")

I've learned the hard way to turn module fever down a notch, and proceed slowly with trying out new ones. That said, I'm happy to report that Drupal third-party modules pretty much do all work nicely together (there are some fantastic programmers out there!), and every day brings great new modules or updates to old favorites.

Rambling aside, here are a couple making me happy about today:

Fivestar

This module adds little "stars" allowing readers to rate nodes. I've had this installed on some sites for a while, and the latest update looks great. Check out these features from the Read Me:

* jQuery rollover effects and AJAX no-reload voting
* Customizable star sets
* Graceful degradation to an HTML rating form when JavaScript is turned off
* Per-nodetype configurability
* Support for anonymous voters
* Spam protection to keep users from filling your DB with bogus votes
* Easy-to-use integration with Views module for lists sorted by rating, or filtered by min/max ratings
* A Fivestar CCK field for use in custom node types
* An easy-to-use Form API element type for use in other modules

Mmm, mouthwatering. And I really like the customizability. Or will, that is, when I get around to trying it. How to add custom star sets isn't spelled out in the Read Me, but I'm sure that following the pattern of the included star sets will be an obvious process.

(Naturally, you're going to see little spade-spaped "stars" gracing this page soon.)

http://drupal.org/project/fivestar

Side Content

Woo-hoo, I've been waiting for this one to make the jump to Drupal 5.x! Side Content lets you add "sidebar" text to any node you create – perfect for background info or other notes on the node content. The module then creates a single Side Content block, which displays the appropriate content for the node viewed.

Sure, you can do that now by creating a custom block with your sidebar notes, and have it show up on only the desired node(s). But as you create custom sidebar blocks for page after page, you get massive block proliferation. Side Content lets you easily add sidebar content to as many nodes as you like, with the support of a single added block.

This one is so good, I wish per-node sidebar content was a core feature. I've tested Side Content successfully on other 5.x sites, and will certainly be adding spiffy sidebar notes to these pages as well.

http://drupal.org/project/sidecontent

Mmm, I loves me them modules. Got any faves of your own, fellow Drupalators?